Milesian school

Philosophy has its origin in Ancient Greece, after some thinkers proposed rational explanations about the origin and physical constitution of the world, moving more and more away from mythical explanations of nature.

It is in the Greek city of Miletus that three thinkers appeared who marked the history of philosophy. They make up the so-called Milesian school.

Founder of the Milesian school

Thales of Miletus was the first philosopher to propose a rational and empirical explanation for the origin and constitution of the world. For this reason, he is considered the founder of the Milesian school.

Thales sought to determine the principle (arche) responsible for the origin of all things. In his reflections, Thales noticed that water was an essential element for the world and for the conservation of life, and he designated it as the principle of everything.

The main philosophers of the Milesian school

Thales

Among the main philosophers of the Milesian school was its own founder, Thales of Miletus. After Thales, two other philosophers from the city of Miletus continued the philosophical investigation about the physis, presenting new ideas and theories. These thinkers had in common the naturalistic philosophical line, but they followed different paths.

Anaximander

Anaximander was a disciple of Thales. He defined that the apeiron, the unlimited and infinite principle, was the true principle (arche) responsible for the origin of everything, which was present in all things.

Anaximenes

Anaximenes, a friend and disciple of Anaximander, defended air as the generating and primordial principle of everything. His theory said that all existing things, of the most varied forms, were generated through the condensation and rarefaction of air.

Key characteristics of the thinkers of Miletus

The Milesian school has as its main characteristics:

• The search for a rational explanation of physis, that is, nature;
• The attempt to establish a principle (arche) from which all things originate;
• Explaining, through the arche, the process of birth, generation, and movement of things;

The interest of the philosophers of the Milesian school is fundamentally to explain the origin, structure, and physical and biological processes present in nature. For this reason, Aristotle called these thinkers physikoi, which in Greek means “physicists,” or “philosophers of nature”.

This philosophical characteristic of seeking to explain nature is also found in other Greek Schools of Philosophy, such as the Italic, Eleatic, and Atomistic Schools.

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References

DONINI, Pierluigi; FERRARI, Franco. (2012). O exercício da razão no mundo clássico, perfil de filosofia antiga. (M. G. G. Pina, Trad.). São Paulo: Annablume Clássica.

MARÍAS, Julián. (2004). História da Filosofia. (C. Berliner, Trad.). São Paulo: Martins Fontes.