Early Greek Philosophy: Ionian Physics (Natural Philosophy). The Milesians and Heraclitus of Ephesus

Mythological Component of Ionian Natural Philosophy

The mythological aspect of Ionian natural philosophy is primarily expressed through the deification of nature itself, stemming from the replacement of divine forces with natural ones: nature took the place of the gods, and the material principles themselves were declared divine. It is reported that Thales believed "divine power permeates even the primary moisture." For Anaximander, the apeiron (the boundless) was considered a deity, being immortal and indestructible. Anaximenes taught that "air is god."

These views can be described as manifestations of natural theism or pantheism, which involves the identification of the universe with divinity. The deification of natural forces is vividly illustrated in Aristophanes' comedy The Clouds, which we will refer to again. In this play, philosophers are depicted as worshipping natural phenomena rather than gods:

"I swear by Chaos, Vapor, and Air,

O Lord and Master, holy Air, encompassing,

Enveloping the Earth,

O sparkling, clear Ether, Thunderous Clouds, mother of lightning!"

The philosopher Heraclitus, as studied by S. N. Muravyov, sees the essence of Ionian thought as a scientific response to the question of the physical nature of the supreme deity, which took forms such as water, the indefinite, or air, and concludes that "All these pantheistic views... are manifestations of the pre-philosophical theogonic substratum of ancient Greek philosophy."

Among the pantheistic ideas are hylomorphism and animism, which involve the animation and spiritualization of matter. These concepts are present in the biomorphic models of cosmology discussed earlier. For instance, Thales considered the world to be "animated and full of deities." K. K. Zelinskii summarized this by stating that philosophical systems represented a mixture of science, philosophy, and religion.

Overall, Ionian natural philosophy represents both the first steps of developing philosophy and a particular approach to understanding nature based on a scientific-philosophical perspective. This approach created a worldview grounded in empirical sensory experiences of nature. Such considerations were noted by philosophers as early as the first half of the 19th century. The German scholar Albert Schwegler wrote: "Thales should not be celebrated as the founder of philosophy for the principle itself (i.e., the arche) but for liberating this principle from its mythological elements and introducing a scientific approach."