Why Do Thales Believe In Animism

Thales of Miletus was born into a privileged family he was the son of Examyes and Cleobuline. Although, we don’t know what exact date Thales was born. It is believed that he was born around 624BC in Asia Minor (present day Turkey) it was one of the most dominant cities when he was born. We also do not know what exact date Thales died on but it is believed it was around 574 BC believing he forecasted the solar eclipse. Though Asia Minor was powerful it was one of the academically declined than the its neighborhood countries. In Egypt and Babylon math was used in astronomy, trade, and for the construction purposes. Growing up Thales of Miletus was a merchant, with that line of work he would use mathematics. Which is believed to be the reason

Thales and Heraclitus, two Pre-Socratic philosophers, proposed two notable, but very different, belief systems to explain the world around them. Thales, the first Western philosopher, introduced a non-mythological way of viewing the world. Prior to Thales, the Greeks believed their gods controlled all natural forces. However, Thales philosophized that everything originated from some fundamental substance. He reasoned that this substance must be water. He based his belief on the idea that this fundamental substance needed to be both flexible and appear in different forms. Although, Thales' s water theory proved incorrect, his belief that the world could be explained in a simpler, non-divine manner opened the door for metaphysics and science.

Aristotle imagines an infinitely vast and eternally complicated universe, all under the control of a divine being. He states that the reason for the universe must be love because if God did not desire the universe, He would not allow the universe to exist. Through further observation, Aristotle then claims that a change must be caused to change. It is through these changes that all physical entities appear only temporarily. He then claims that there are four fundamental principles that describe all causes.

Miletus was also a great cultural center and produced many great citizens with different and new innovations that helped both Ionia and Greece. Thales of Miletus was one of the wisest men of the ancient times. He is seen as the father of Pre-Socratic Greek philosophy. He applied his knowledge of the natural causes of the world and originated the science of metaphysics. Thales will be followed by other great thinkers like the philosophers Anaximander, who learned from Thales, and Anaximenes, who was a student of Anaximander. They also had influence in the other humanities like the historian Hecataeus who was interested in geography, and the poet Phocylides who was known for his honest words, and the famous city-planner

He was the first to see the craters of the moon, but one of his most important observations was the phases of Venus, Venus phenomenon indicating that Venus revolved around the sun , confirming so, the heliocentric theory.

He taught that if there had ever been a time when nothing existed, nothing could ever have existed. Whatever is, always has been from eternity, without deriving its existence from any prior principles. Nature, he believed, is one and without limit; that what is one is similar in all its parts, else it would be many; that the one infinite, eternal, and homogeneous

The fourth Pre-Socrates philosopher was Pythagoras (Idealism) . He couldn’t see how it could be the case that someone can explain the existence of everything based on simply natural occurrences. Therefore, he came up with what ends up being a revolutionary idea. He believed that everything is composed of numbers.

Philosophy in Ancient Greece greatly influenced future civilizations and generations to come. The definition of Philosophy is lover of wisdom. Socrates who lived from around 470 B.C to 399 B.C was known as the “father of philosophy”. Socrates taught the people of Greece to question everything. One of his most famous quotes is in Document 3 which states, “The unexamined life is not worth living”. Socrates suggests that people who don't analyze, question, or examine their lives, beliefs, ideas and culture they do not deserve to live. The Socratic Method is used ask and answer questions with critical thinking. Socrates inspired many, even after his execution in 399 B.C where he

The people of Ancient Greece laid the foundations for mathematics and philosophy. Greek philosophers, full of knowledge and wisdom, believed that ordinary humans could understand the workings of nature. Ancient Greece became known for many great philosophers. Thales, who lived in a time when Greek mythology was popular, became known as the first philosopher and the first to consider that there might be natural explanations to the world Pythagoras, a mathematician and philosopher, gained notoriety for developing the Pythagorean Theorem. The Pythagorean Theorem, a well known theorem in geometry classes in the modern world today, states that the square of the hypotenuse of a right triangle equals the sum of the squares on the other sides . Aristotle, one of the most influential Greek philosophers known today, created the idea of the food chain. In this food chain, humans started at the top and animals such as sharks, birds, dogs, insects, and worms followed

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.

Plato was a philosopher of ancient Greek in Athens, Greece who was born in 427bce and die in 347, both of his parents are from Greek aristocracy. He is the founder of the Academy, the first institution in the Western world and best known for his works of unparalleled influence. Plato is considered to have laid the foundation of Western philosophy and science.

Considered as the first philosopher, Thales of Miletus was the first to examine the cause and effect of the natural world through scientific analysis (Adamson 6). Since Thales has left “no written work,” the only information that we know about Thales comes from testimonies, or paraphrase reports from later ancient authors. However, since we are uncertain of the reliability of the text, we only have different interpretations of what Thales’s theory.

Considered as the big three of Greek philosophy, Aristotle, Socrates, and Plato continue to have an undeniable influences classic philosophy (Perdue, 2014). Greek philosopher, Socrates (469/470-399 BCE) was considered the father of western philosophy and a rather revolutionary philosopher (Mark, 2009). Living in a polytheistic society, one in which the gods were created versus the gods creating the world, Socrates’ conception of the divine was that of benevolence, truthfulness, authorization, and wisdom (Ambury, n.d.). Plato, one of Socrates’ most famous students taught Aristotle who went on to tutor Alexander the Great (Mark, 2009). Initially development by Socrates, Greek philosophy spread throughout the known world during Alexander the Great’s conquests (Mark, 2009).

He proposed that under certain circumstances light could be considered a particles. He also hypothesized that the energy carried by a photon is depositional to the frequency of radiation. The formula E= HU proves this. Virtually no one accepted this theory but thought differently when Robert Andrews Millikan proved it.

If Thales was the first of all the great Greek philosophers, Plato must remain the best known of all the Greeks. The original name of this Athenian aristocrat was Aristiclis, but in his school days he received the nickname "Platon" (meaning "broad") because of his broad shoulders.