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Before Thales, the Greeks explained the origin and nature of the world through myths of anthropomorphic gods and heroes. Phenomena like lightning or earthquakes were attributed to actions of the gods. He explained earthquakes by hypothesizing that the Earth floats on water, and that earthquakes occur when the Earth is rocked by waves

"That from which is everything that exists and from which it first becomes and into which it is rendered at last, its substance remaining under it, but transforming in qualities that they say is the element and principle of things that are." And again: "For it is necessary that there be some nature, either one or more than one, from which become the other things of the object being saved... Thales the founder of this type of philosophy says that it is water.

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st Renowned as the 1 Philosopher He was included in the list of the Seven Sages of Greece The 1st thinker who tried to give a naturalistic explanations of the natural phenomena

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The best explanation of Thales' view is the following passage from A ristotle'sM e taphysics. The passage contains words from the theory of M atter and Form that were adopted by science with quite different meanings .

2nd major philosopher in ancient Greece Like Thales, he thought that there was a single material source of all things Anaximander understood the beginning or first principle to be an endless, unlimited primordial mass ( iron), subject to neither old ape age nor decay, that perpetually yielded fresh materials from which everything we perceive is derived.

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Anaximander is said to have identified it with 'the Boundless' or 'the Unlimited' (Greek: 'ape iron', i.e .'that which has no boundaries') Anaximander added two distinctive features to the concept of divinity: his Boundless is an impersonal something (or 'nature', the Greek word is 'phusis'), and it is not only immortal but also unborn

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one of the world's greatest men, but he wrote nothing. It is stated that he was a disciple of Anaximander, his astronomy was the natural development of Anaximander's. He is said to be the first to assert that the earth is a sphere. Pythagoras also taught the doctrine of Rebirth or transmigration of human souls into animal bodies.

Everything flows, and everything is in constant change We cannot step twice into the same river, when I step into the river for the second time, neither I nor the river are the same

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H e was said to be the student of A naximander, and like him he sought to give a quasi -scientific explanation of the world H e held that the original matter of the universe was air. -- A naximenesdiffers in essence in accordance with its rarity or density. When it is thinned it becomes fire, while when it is condensed it becomes wind, then cloud, when still more condensed it becomes water, then earth, then stones. Everything else comes from these.

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Opposites are necessary for life, but they are unified in a system of balanced exchanges. The world itself consists of a law -like interchange of elements, symbolized by fire. Thus the world is not to be identified with any particular substance, but rather with an ongoing process governed by a law of change. The underlying law of nature also manifests itself as a moral law for human beings. In analogies, he stresses the place of human beings as intermediate between the divine and animal worlds, between life and death, knowledge and ignorance, and walking an sleeping.

The key figure for the development of Presocratic philosophy. H is famous philosophical thesis is N othing comes from nothing. H e said that What is, is: what is not, is not Existence is necessarily eternal existed. H e believed that everything that exists had always H e argued that movement was impossible because it requires moving into "the void", and Parmenides identified "the void" with nothing, and therefore (by definition) it does not exist

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How could what is perish? How could it have cometo be ? For if it came into being, it is not; nor is it if eve it is going r to be Thus coming into be is extinguished, and . ing destruction unknown.Nor was [it] once, nor will [it] be, since [it] is, now, all togethe / One continuous; for what r, , coming -to-beof it will you se / In what way, whence did ek? , [it] grow? Ne r from what ithe -is-not shall I allow / You to say or think; for it is not to be said or thought / That [ is it] not. And what ne d could have impe d it to grow / Later or e lle sooner, if it began from nothing? Thus [it] must e ither be comple ly or not at all.[What e te xists] is now, all at once one , and continuous... Nor is it divisible since it is all alike; nor , is the any moreor le of it in one place which might re ss pre vent it from holding toge r, but all is full of what is. the And it is all one to me / Where I am to be gin; for I shall return the again. re

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The world that appears to our senses is in some way defective and filled with error, but there is a more real and perfect realm, populated by entities (called forms or ideas) that are eternal, changeless, and in some sense paradigmatic for the structure and character of our world In theSymposium,which is normally dated at the beginning of the middle period, and in the Phae drus,which is dated at the end of the middle period or later yet, Plato introduces his theory of e rs(usually translated as "love")

Plato clearly regards actual physical or sexual contact between lovers as degraded and wasteful forms of erotic expression. Because the true goal ofe is real beauty and rs real beauty is the Form of Beauty, what Plato calls Beauty Itself,e finds its fulfilment only rs in Platonic philosophy. Unless it channels its power of love into "higher pursuits," which culminate in the knowledge of the Form of Beauty, e is doomed to frustration. rs

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H e thought that nothing can come out of nothing, and nothing that exists can become nothing H e thought that there is no such thing as actual change, and nothing can become anything other than it was H e has a strong rationalists perspective Parmenides' considerable influence on the thinking of Plato is undeniable, and in this respect Parmenides has influenced the whole history of Western philosophy, and is often seen as its grandfather

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In that dialogue, we are told of the "ladder of love," by which the lover can ascend to direct cognitive contact with (usually compared to a kind of vision of) Beauty Itself. In the Phae drus,love is revealed to be the great "divine madness" through which the wings of the lover's soul may sprout, allowing the lover to take flight to all of the highest aspirations and achievements possible for humankind.

A student of Plato and teacher of A lexander the Great A ristotle examines the concept of substance in his Me taphysics Book VII and he concludes that a , particular substanceis a combination of both matter and form. A s he proceeds to the book VIII, he concludes that the matter of the substance is the substratum or the stuff of which it is composed, the e.g. matter of the house are the bricks, stones, timbers etc., or whatever constitutes the ntialhouse. While the pote form of the substance, is the actual house, namely covering for bodies and chattels or any other differentia. The formula that gives the components is the account of the matter, and the formula that gives the differentia is the account of the form

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The development of potentiality to actuality is one of the most important aspects of A ristotle's philosophy. It was intended to solve the difficulties which earlier thinkers had raised with reference to the beginnings of existence and the relations of the one and many. The actual vs. potential state of things is explained in terms of the causes which act on things. There are four causes:
M aterial cause, or the elements of whichan object is out created; Efficient cause, or the means whichit is created; by Formal cause, or the expression of what it is; Final cause, or the endfor whichit is.

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Aristotle taught that virtue has to do with the proper function of a thing. A n eye is only a good eye in so much as it can see, because the proper function of an eye is sight. Aristotle reasoned that man must have a function uncommon to anything else, and that this function must be an activity of the soul. Sources: Sophies World, Jostein Gaarden Wikipedia Stanford Encyclopediaof Philosophy Internet Encyclopediaof Philosophy Introduction to Greek Philosophy, J.V. Luce

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The substance is what things are made of, while the form is each things specific characteristics Substance always contains the potentiality to realize a specific form

Aristotle identified the best activity of the soul as eudaimonia/ happiness: a happiness or joy that pervades the good life. Aristotle taught that to achieve the good life, one must live a balanced life and avoid excess. This balance, he taught, varies among different persons and situations, and exists as a golden mean between two vices- one an excess and one a deficiency