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ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY

INTRODUCTION
Philosophy as a discipline started fro the !est in the ancient "ree# !orld d$rin% the
periods &et!een the '
th
cent$ry (C to )
th
cent$ry AD *'++(C,)++AD-. Etyolo%ically
philosophy eans lo/er*s- of !isdo. Philosophers startin% fro the on set of philosophy ha/e
&een tryin% to identify the $ltiate eleent*s-0 the $ltiate $nderlyin% principle or eleent of
reality accordin% to the ancient cosolo%ists.
Ana1a%oras !as a pl$ralist and 2$st li#e his predecessors has his o!n etaphysical and
episteolo%ical reflection to pro/e his points !ith re%ards to philosophy. Ana1a%oras !as part of
the pl$ralists !ho held and &elie/ed that reality is a coposition of ore than one 3eleent or
entity4 that is5 the eleents that &ro$%ht a&o$t 3(ein% and Non,(ein%4 are n$ero$s.
Ana1a%oras !as the son of He%esi&$l$s and !as &orn aro$nd 6++ (.C at Cla7oenae. He
!as fro Asia 8inor and also !as the first philosopher to settle at Athens0 he !as the first pre,
Socratic philosopher to teach in Athens tho$%h he left Athens !hen he !as prosec$ted for
ipiety. Aon% his disciples are Pericles and E$ripides. He !as Ana1ienes9 disciple.
Ana1a%oras on his reflections s$&2ected on ri%oro$s thin#in%. He !as the first !estern
philosopher to rise a&o/e the le/el of atter and physical entities in his post$lation to the le/el of
iaterial and spirit$al :&ein%9. He !as the first to post$late the e1istence of :Ato9 and
distin%$ish &et!een aterial and spirit$al reality. He said that the then "ree# philosophers do
not ha/e a correct notion of %eneration and destr$ction. Accordin% to hi nothin% is totally
destr$cti&le or %enerated &$t thin%s are coin%led !ith and dissociated fro the e1istents. To
this e1tent5 he s$%%ested that they &etter co$ld refer to that they call %eneration as coin%lin%
and destr$ction as dissociation.
Accordin% to Ana1a%oras5 nothin% ne! coes into e1istence and nothin% totally ceases to
e1ist &eca$se there is no a&sol$te %eneration or destr$ction. Here5 I a %oin% to disc$ss
Ana1a%oras9 philosophical reflection $nder three theatic concerns;
<. The ethod and content of his philosophy.
=. E/al$ation; the erits and deerits of his philosophy.
>. Concl$sion.
THE METHOD AND CONTENT OF ANAXAGORAS PHILOSOPHY
Ana1a%oras9 ethod of philosophy entails his ri%oro$s5 critical and systeatic thin#in% a&o$t the
philosophical positions of his predecessors and the cosos in %eneral.
ANAXAGORAS METAPHYSICS AND EPISTEMOLOGY
Ana1a%oras9 philosophy is a coposition or rather5 consists of etaphysical and
episteolo%ical facts. It ephasises on the Eleents responsi&le for :(ein% and Non,(ein%9.
The etaphysical and episteolo%ical reflections of Ana1a%oras cannot &e totally separated off
&eca$se they are inter!o/en. Ana1a%oras 2$st li#e his predecessor Epedoc$s also tried to
reconcile the opposed positions that Heraclit$s and Parenides propo$nded respecti/ely.
Epedoc$s9 sol$tion to this pro&le of chan%e and peranence interested Ana1a%oras &$t did
not satisfy hi0 so he !ent into a deeper reflection than Epedoc$s to say that the eleents are
not only fo$r as Epedoc$s post$lated &$t that they are inn$era&le. His style of reflection !as
not poetry &$t concise prose not ysticis &$t ri%oro$s science.
In Ana1a%oras9 etaphysical and episteolo%ical reflections he said that the fo$r
eleents0 Air5 ?ater5 @ire and Earth post$lated &y Epedoc$s are co&inations of se/eral other
inn$era&le particles. Accordin% to Ana1a%oras5 the particles are infinite and in the case of &ein%
infinite they are also indestr$cti&le. The co&ination of these particles res$lts in thin%s coin%
into e1istence. Accordin% to and !ith re%ards to Ana1a%oras9 reflections5 e/erythin% in e1istence
is the co&ination of the particles of all thin%s0 there are particles of all thin%s in e/erythin%
therefore Ana1a%oras clais that e/ery s$&stance contains a portion of e/ery other s$&stance.
Tho$%h thin%s are the co&ination of e/ery other particle5 Ana1a%oras clarified that one
$st doinate and that an e1istent is naed after the particle that doinated in it. In other !ords
a thin% deri/es its nae fro the doinatin% particle of its constit$ents. 3@or instance5 a paper is
called a paper &eca$se the particle of paper doinated in it. If e/ent$ally the paper is &$rnt5 it
!ill t$rn to ash !hyA This is &eca$se the particle of ash is no! doinatin% !hile the particle of
paper doinated &efore.
The particles accordin% to Ana1a%oras are :infinitely di/isi&le95 there can al!ays &e a
saller &$t there can ne/er &e a sallest. He said that atter is coposed of infinite aterial
particles !ith each ha/in% its o!n properties. @ro the etaphysics and episteolo%y of
Ana1a%oras5 one can ded$ce that he tried to pro/e that nothin% is ne! in e1istence. E/erythin%
that e/er co$ld e1ist already did e1ist. Nothin% really coes into e1istence and also nothin%
really %oes o$t of e1istence5 they can only doinate in an eleent or &e aon% the constit$ti/e
particles of an eleent. To this e1tent5 Ana1a%oras a%reed !ith Parenides on his position of
peranence. In the ters of %oin% o$t of e1istence5 they don9t5 rather they cease to doinate in
an eleent. That doesn9t ean they are no lon%er there. This ceasin% to doinate of a particle
and another particle coin% $p to doinate entails chan%e in the eleents. So to this e1tent
Ana1a%oras a%reed !ith Heraclit$s in his position of chan%e. There is no $ltiate %ap &et!een
reality and appearance0 anythin% that can &e percei/ed is real.
Ana1a%oras also post$lated that the particles co&ines and separates. The co&ination
and the separatin% off of these particles &rin% a&o$t chan%e in the particle doinatin% in an
eleent. The co&ination of the particles and their separatin% off is ca$sed &y the re/ol$tion of
the hea/enly &odies5 the s$n5 the oon5 and the stars. Accordin% to Ana1a%oras the principle
responsi&le for a particle predoinatin% is one and that he called NOUS0 a "ree# eB$i/alence of
ind5 intelli%ence5 conscio$sness or spirit. Ana1a%oras9 theory of ind pro/ides the first hint of
ind,atter d$alis.
Accordin% to Ana1a%oras5 the :8ind9 is distinct fro other s$&stances. It is the free
so$rce of all o/eent0 it has the #no!led%e of all thin%s in the past5 in the present and in the
f$t$re. It is the arran%er and the ca$se of all thin%s and it also &rin%s order to all thin%s that !ere
to &e5 all thin%s that !ere no! and all thin%s that !ill &e. The :8ind9 is responsi&le for the
re/ol$tion of the hea/enly &odies that ca$ses the co&inin% and separatin% off of the particles.
The :8ind9 has po!er o/er all thin%s that ha/e life &oth %reat and sall0 it has $nderstandin% of
the !hole of reality and it is the oti/ational force !hich &ro$%ht a&o$t separation of e/erythin%
o$t of the ori%inal i1t$re. Ana1a%oras post$lated that there is a portion of e/erythin% in
e/erythin% e1cept the ind0 it is not an indi/id$al thin% to &e fo$nd in each o&2ect.
EVALUTIONS: MERITS OF ANAXAGORAS PHILOSOPHY
The erits of Ana1a%oras9 philosophical reflections consists of his systeatic ethod of
clarifyin% the chan%e and peranence positions of Heraclit$s and Parenides !hen he said there
is no total coin% to (ein% or %oin% o$t of (ein% and this iplies that thin%s are not totally
chan%ed and !hen he said that a particle can cease to doinate tho$%h that doesn9t ean the
particle is no lon%er in the constit$tin% particles and this entails that thin%s are not totally
peranent.
Another erit of Ana1a%oras9 reflection is that after his post$lation that soe thin% or
rather a principle is responsi&le for the order in the cosos and he still !ent on to nae the
principle !hich he said !as the No$s *8ind-.
Yet another erit of Ana1a%oras9 reflections is that his reflections !as so ri%oro$s that he
rose fro the le/el of atter to the le/el of an iaterial entity and that erited hi the record
of &ein% the first !estern philosopher to rise a&o/e the le/el of atter in his reflections.
DEMERITS OF ANAXAGORAS PHILOSOPHY
In spite of the erits of Ana1a%oras philosophical reflections a&o/e5 I can still ar%$e
rationally that his reflections ha/e soe !ea#nesses. Ana1a%oras9 !as so careless in his choice
and $se of !ords that he $sed aterial B$alification for the No$s *8ind- !hich is a non,aterial
entity. This !as !hen he $sed the !ords li#e p$rest5 finest5 and ost po!erf$l to B$alify the
No$s.
Ana1a%oras ade a coplication of his !ords !hen he said there is a particle of
e/erythin% in e/erythin% e1cept the ind. As a philosopher !ho #no!s the principles of lo%ic5
Ana1a%oras s$pposed to #no! that !hen one eans e/erythin% there sho$ld &e no ca$se of
e1ception. Ana1a%oras did not e1plain critically !hy the No$s *8ind- is the only constit$ent of
itself5 !hy there are no other constit$ti/e particles in it.
Another deerit of Ana1a%oras9 reflections is that there is a coplication in his
post$lation0 he said that the particles are infinitely di/isi&le and he also said that e/erythin%
$ltiately is ade $p of indi/isi&le $nits *atos-.
CONCLUSION

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