From Myth to Logos
Before the 6th century BCE, the Greeks explained the world through mythology. Natural events like lightning or the change of seasons were attributed to the whims of the gods (Zeus, Demeter, etc.). The Pre-Socratics (philosophers living before Socrates) inaugurated a radical “paradigm shift.” They began to seek natural explanations for natural phenomena, moving from mythos (narrative) to logos (rational account).
They were primarily concerned with “cosmology”—the study of the origin and structure of the universe—and “ontology”—the study of being.
The Milesian School: The Search for the ‘Arche’
The first philosophers came from Ionia (modern-day Turkey). They were “monists,” believing that all the diversity of the world could be traced back to a single underlying substance (arche).
Thales (The Father of Philosophy)
Thales argued that the arche is Water. While this seems primitive today, his reasoning was revolutionary: he noticed that water is essential for life, it exists in different states (solid, liquid, gas), and the earth seems to rest upon it. Most importantly, he proposed a material cause rather than a divine one.
Anaximander
A student of Thales, he argued that the arche could not be a specific element like water (because water cannot create fire). Instead, he proposed the Apeiron—the “Boundless” or “Infinite.” This was an abstract, eternal, and indestructible source from which everything arises and to which everything returns.
Anaximenes
He proposed that the fundamental substance was Air. He introduced the concepts of rarefaction and condensation to explain how air could become fire (when thinned) or stone (when thickened), providing the first mechanical explanation of qualitative change.
The Problem of Change: Heraclitus vs. Parmenides
One of the most profound debates in Pre-Socratic philosophy concerned the nature of change and stability.
Heraclitus (The Weeping Philosopher)
Heraclitus believed that the universe is in a state of constant flux. He famously said, “You cannot step into the same river twice,” because the water is constantly moving. For him, the arche was Fire, representing dynamic energy. However, he also believed in a “Logos”—a universal principle of order that governs this constant change.
Parmenides (The Philosopher of Being)
Parmenides took the opposite view. He argued that change is logically impossible. He reasoned:
- Being “is.”
- Non-being “is not.”
- For something to change, it must go from being to non-being (or vice versa).
- But non-being cannot exist.
- Therefore, change is an illusion of the senses. Reality, for Parmenides, is a single, unchanging, eternal, and indivisible sphere.
The Pluralists and Atomists
Later thinkers tried to reconcile the permanence of Parmenides with the change observed by Heraclitus.
Empedocles
He proposed that there are four roots (elements): Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. These elements are unchanging (satisfying Parmenides), but they combine and separate in different proportions to create the world we see (satisfying Heraclitus). The forces driving this were “Love” (attraction) and “Strife” (repulsion).
Democritus and Leucippus (The Atomists)
They proposed that the world is made of tiny, indivisible particles called Atoms (from atomos, meaning “uncuttable”) moving in a Void. Different arrangements of atoms create different objects. This was the first materialist and reductionist theory of the universe, anticipating modern physics.
Legacy of the Pre-Socratics
The Pre-Socratics laid the foundations for all subsequent Western thought. They established the principle that the universe is an intelligible “cosmos” governed by laws, rather than a chaotic playground for the gods. Their questions about the one and the many, change and permanence, and the nature of matter continue to drive both philosophy and science.