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The Origins Of The Origin Of Philosophy

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The origins of philosophy began with the dynamic question of “What if?” followed by intellectual reasoning for the ways of the world. To look past the general purpose of life and the things that come with it; is when a new philosophy is discovered. The first recorded philosopher came about early on in the sixth century B.C.E. His name was Thales of Miletus or what is now Turkey. The first three philosophers, Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes, are known as the Milesians because they all came from the Greek colony of Miletus on the Persian coast and because they constitute the first school of philosophy. (Pg. 24) However, little is known about Thales due to the fact, there weren’t any pieces of literature connecting to him. However, he did make it known that everything is fundamentally made up of water. This belief went against the theological perspectives of Greek mythology, introducing a more scientific view of the cosmos. Thales made it known that he wanted to find the Arche or unifying principle that linked every aspect of life together. According to Thales, water is the one and only Arche.
Two of Thales successors and fellow Milesians, Anaximander and Anaximenes based their beliefs off of Thales philosophy. However, they didn’t seem to agree with Thales’ ideology of everything being broken down to water. Anaximander completely dismissed the idea of the four primary elements, earth, wind, fire, and water being the Arche. He believed the elements could not be the Arche,

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