Biography of Such of Mileto | Mathematician and philosopher.
(Do Miletus, Turkey today, 624 BC.-?, 548 BC) Greek mathematician and philosopher. When reviewing the ideas of previous philosophers in the first book of his metaphysics, Aristotle unwittingly became the first historian of ancient philosophy; in this work, Aristotle saw such as first suggested a single formative substrate of matter; In addition, in its intention to explain nature through the simplification of the observable phenomena and the search for causes in the same environment, such was one of the first to transcend the traditional mythological approach that had characterized the Greek philosophy of earlier centuries.
Such of MiletoThe rich and prosperous Greek city of Miletus, on the coast of the current Turkey, was the cradle of Western thought; It was developed, throughout the sixth century before Christ, the activity of milesios philosophers, i.e. originating from Miletus: such, Anaximander and Anaximenes. The transition from myth to logos, reason, defines the beginning of the philosophy. And milesios philosophers were, in effect, the first to set aside the mythological explanations and religious phenomena (the rays are product of the anger of Zeus) and give rational answers to the questions.
The most occupied the milesios was Arché (principle or origin). The physis, nature or physical universe, is a set of very diverse beings; is there a single constituent principle, a substance common to all this multiplicity of beings? Each one of the thinkers of milesia school gave a different answer: for such of Mileto the Arché is water; for Anaximander, apeiron, the indefinite; for Anaximenes, air. The issue would continue being treated by other outstanding thinkers of the thriving Greek philosophy, such as Pythagoras, Xenophanes, Parmenides, Anaxagoras and Heraclitus, to become one of the Central philosophical issues of antiquity.
The disparity and what now seems to be little justification for the answers may not undermine the significance of these contributions insofar as they represent the beginning of a rational attitude, is say, philosophical. In this regard, such was the first Greek philosopher who tried to give a physical explanation of the universe, which for him was a rational space despite its apparent disorder. Such was raised the following question: If a substance can be transformed into another, as a piece of bluish ore in copper red, what is the nature of both substances, ore and copper? Any substance can be transformed into another so that eventually all substances are diverse aspects of a same subject?
Such considered that the answer to this last question is Yes, and that being so could be introduced in the universe a basic order; It was to determine what was then the constitutive principle (in Greek, arje or arche). For such of Mileto the Arché is water, as it is a matter which lies in greater quantity, surrounds the Earth and runs across the continents. Everything was born from the water, which is the basic element of which all things are made. Water permeates the atmosphere in the form of steam, which is air, clouds and ether; water the solids are formed to condense it, and life is not possible without it. The Earth, for such, was a flat disc covered by the celestial hemisphere floating in an endless ocean.
This thesis on the existence of an element from which all things were formed gained wide acceptance among philosophers further, despite the fact that, as already indicated, they do not accept that water out such element. The importance of his thesis is the consideration that everything be comes from an original principle, or water, or any other. And look for it in a rational way, out of a series of observations and deductions, is what has earned the title of "father of the philosophy" to such.
The life of such of Mileto data and scattered anecdotes of impossible verification have reached us. Apparently, in his youth he travelled to Egypt, where he learned geometry of the priests of Memphis, and astronomy, which would later teach with the name of astrosofia. He directed a school's nautical in Miletus, built a canal to divert the waters of the Halis and gave successful political advice. He was master of Anaximenes and Pythagoras, and contemporary of Anaximander.
In geometry, and on the basis of the knowledge acquired in Egypt, such of Mileto developed a set of General theorems and deductive reasoning from the first. This was later compiled by Euclid in his elements, but is due to such the merit of having introduced interest by geometric studies in Greece. None of his writings have survived to this day; Despite this, there are numerous contributions that throughout history, from Xenophanes, Herodotus and Aristotle, attributed to him.
Such of Mileto
The most occupied the milesios was Arché (principle or origin). The physis, nature or physical universe, is a set of very diverse beings; is there a single constituent principle, a substance common to all this multiplicity of beings? Each one of the thinkers of milesia school gave a different answer: for such of Mileto the Arché is water; for Anaximander, apeiron, the indefinite; for Anaximenes, air. The issue would continue being treated by other outstanding thinkers of the thriving Greek philosophy, such as Pythagoras, Xenophanes, Parmenides, Anaxagoras and Heraclitus, to become one of the Central philosophical issues of antiquity.
The disparity and what now seems to be little justification for the answers may not undermine the significance of these contributions insofar as they represent the beginning of a rational attitude, is say, philosophical. In this regard, such was the first Greek philosopher who tried to give a physical explanation of the universe, which for him was a rational space despite its apparent disorder. Such was raised the following question: If a substance can be transformed into another, as a piece of bluish ore in copper red, what is the nature of both substances, ore and copper? Any substance can be transformed into another so that eventually all substances are diverse aspects of a same subject?
Such considered that the answer to this last question is Yes, and that being so could be introduced in the universe a basic order; It was to determine what was then the constitutive principle (in Greek, arje or arche). For such of Mileto the Arché is water, as it is a matter which lies in greater quantity, surrounds the Earth and runs across the continents. Everything was born from the water, which is the basic element of which all things are made. Water permeates the atmosphere in the form of steam, which is air, clouds and ether; water the solids are formed to condense it, and life is not possible without it. The Earth, for such, was a flat disc covered by the celestial hemisphere floating in an endless ocean.
This thesis on the existence of an element from which all things were formed gained wide acceptance among philosophers further, despite the fact that, as already indicated, they do not accept that water out such element. The importance of his thesis is the consideration that everything be comes from an original principle, or water, or any other. And look for it in a rational way, out of a series of observations and deductions, is what has earned the title of "father of the philosophy" to such.
The life of such of Mileto data and scattered anecdotes of impossible verification have reached us. Apparently, in his youth he travelled to Egypt, where he learned geometry of the priests of Memphis, and astronomy, which would later teach with the name of astrosofia. He directed a school's nautical in Miletus, built a canal to divert the waters of the Halis and gave successful political advice. He was master of Anaximenes and Pythagoras, and contemporary of Anaximander.
In geometry, and on the basis of the knowledge acquired in Egypt, such of Mileto developed a set of General theorems and deductive reasoning from the first. This was later compiled by Euclid in his elements, but is due to such the merit of having introduced interest by geometric studies in Greece. None of his writings have survived to this day; Despite this, there are numerous contributions that throughout history, from Xenophanes, Herodotus and Aristotle, attributed to him.
Extracted from the website: Biografías y Vidas