Ancient Philosophy

Ontological Issues in the Pre-Socratic Period of Ancient Philosophy

Prior to the Athenian philosopher Socrates, ancient thought was predominantly cosmocentric, directed towards cosmology, which sought to explain the universe as a whole. Among the ontological questions most frequently raised were: how are the many and the one connected? How do the mutability of things and their constancy relate to each other? What is the first cause (the principle) of all that exists, or "What is everything?" During this time, questions regarding the possibilities and conditions of knowledge—what is now termed epistemology—were not yet actively considered. The first philosophical schools that emerged in Greece were primarily concerned with these ontological issues and exhibited great diversity. Let us briefly examine them.

The Milesian School

In Ionia, where the city of Miletus was located, the roots of culture ran deep. As early as the second millennium BCE, there was a high level of technological and artistic development, along with significant influences from Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon. During the Mycenaean era, colonization of Asia Minor occurred. Maritime navigation and trade flourished. The Mediterranean Sea became known as far as Gibraltar. Interactions with numerous peoples, along with their customs, religions, and knowledge, revealed the conventionality and relativity of all human narratives and religions, paving the way for free inquiry and rationalist critique. All this contributed to a diversification of social life; old forms began to disintegrate while new ones emerged. A need arose for legislation that would ensure a stable state structure. Among the notable forms of ancient arts, the art of politics emerged, which was celebrated by the early Greek sages (Solon, Pittakos, Biantes, and others). Among them was Thales, the founder of ancient Greek philosophy.

Thales (c. 640-562 BCE) was not only the first philosopher of Greece but also the first scientist (mathematician, astronomer). While traveling the world as a merchant, he acquired extensive knowledge in Egypt, Babylon, and other lands. It is said that he predicted a solar eclipse on May 28, 585 BCE based on calculations. Thales was also a capable advisor in state affairs and practical matters. Wishing to demonstrate that it was quite easy for him to become wealthy, provided he had the will, he once leased all the olive presses, anticipating a great harvest, thus amassing considerable wealth.

As for Thales's philosophy, only two propositions have reached us: 1) everything originated from water; 2) everything is filled with gods [demons, spirits]. According to Hegel, philosophy emerges from the formulation of questions regarding essence, which are not only articulated but resolved beyond the methodology and terminology of mythological thinking (without allegories or personifications). If we accept Hegel's criterion for philosophy, then these two conclusions reached by Thales represent, in their essence, the first genuinely philosophical propositions.

The second representative of the Milesian school was Anaximander (c. 611-546 BCE). He is credited with creating the first geographical map, constructing a globe, and producing several instruments, among which is mentioned the gnomon, which indicated solstices and equinoxes, as well as a sundial. Anaximander was the first to advance the idea of multiple worlds, positing that Earth is but a part of the cosmos, a meteor surrounded by boundless cosmic space. The physical principle from which all arises and into which all transforms in the process of eternal motion (Anaximander gave it the terminological name "archê"—principle, beginning) is something "infinite" (apeiron - άπειρον) and “divine,” which governs all. The term apeiron, as some researchers believe, characterizes one of the eternal properties of the first principle, which is neither water, air, nor fire, yet is still a substantial, corporeal beginning. Perhaps this first principle was a mixture of many elements. Anaximander explained the emergence of the world through the struggle and separation of opposites (primarily cold and hot). Within the depths of the “infinite,” the seed of the world first arises, where a moist and cold core is surrounded by a fiery envelope. Under the influence of heat, the core dries out, and its vapor expands the outer envelope until it shatters. The envelope breaks apart into several rings. Somewhere after this, the cylindrical Earth emerges, suspended motionless at the center of the spherical universe. According to Anaximander, these processes are repeated periodically: after a certain time, the world is once again absorbed by the surrounding “infinite” principle.

The third notable Milesian philosopher was Anaximenes (c. 585-524 BCE), a disciple of Anaximander and the last representative of this school. Anaximenes considered air to be the principle of all things, rather than something indeterminate, as his teacher had posited. Everything arises from air and returns to it. The rarification of air leads to the emergence of fire, while its densification results in wind, clouds, water, earth, stones, and so forth. Anaximenes compared the process of the Earth's emergence from air to the process of felting wool into felt, from which boots are made. The “felt-like” Earth appears table-like and, unlike Anaximander's view, does not hang motionlessly at the center of the world but is supported from below by air. Overall, Anaximenes's teachings bore more distinctly Greek motifs than those of his Milesian predecessors and played a significant role in shaping the views of Anaxagoras, Leucippus, and Democritus.

Pythagoras and the Pythagorean Society

The figure of Pythagoras, the founder of one of the earliest philosophical schools, was surrounded by legends by the fifth century BCE, and there is very little precise information about his life and teachings. He lived approximately from 584 to 500 BCE, initially on the island of Samos and later traveling to Southern Italy (the city of Croton), where he established a society with his followers. The collective of teachings known as “Pythagorean philosophy” existed from the sixth century BCE to the third century CE, but by the fourth century BCE, the Pythagorean society was known as a mystical, religious sect.

Pythagoras was one of the most prominent Greek thinkers and scholars. He established that the pitch of a tone depends on the length of a string, provided mathematical ratios in sculpture and architecture ("golden section," correct quantitative relationships among different parts of structures). From the idea of a perfect figure, he deduced the sphericity of the Earth. It should also be noted that Pythagoras is the creator of scientific geometry, the theory of numbers, and an original philosophical worldview according to which mathematical laws govern the universe. As a political figure, Pythagoras sought to create a new aristocracy and establish a state governed by the best among men through a religious alliance and education in a philosophical school. Indeed, he succeeded in uniting numerous representatives of the intellectual aristocracy.

The Pythagoreans opened the path to absolutely true knowledge in mathematics. The world is an organized (structured, ordered) whole, an order, or "cosmos." Pythagoras was the first philosopher to use the term "cosmos" in the sense of "universe." The philosopher's task is to understand the structure and order of the universe and its laws. Mathematics, indeed, provides the key to such understanding.

The Pythagoreans reduced all qualitative differences in the world to quantitative ones. From this arises the conclusion that "the entire cosmos is harmony and number." Grasping the idea that number is the origin of all things is not straightforward. In essence, the Pythagoreans transformed a methodological principle into a certain metaphysical reality, particularly regarding the unit. The unit is the beginning of numbers, the source of their unity (for example, 7 = 3 + 1 + 3; 5 = 2 + 1 + 2). The "sacred numbers" were considered to be 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, and 10. The somewhat semi-mystical teachings of the Pythagoreans led them to regard number as a symbol of unity, the regularity of the universe. The true knowledge accessible to humanity is mathematical knowledge; it is universal, perfect, divine knowledge: since we come to know the world through number, "number" is the arche of all things.

Heraclitus of Ephesus (540-480)
Heraclitus's native city is Ephesus, located in Asia Minor. He hailed from a wealthy family and could have become king as the eldest son but renounced such a position in favor of his brother and left the city. Throughout his life, Heraclitus despised democracy as the rule of the mob, the tyranny of the majority. "One is worth ten thousand to me if he is the best," he wrote. According to legend, having grown to loathe people and leaving the city, Heraclitus lived in the mountains, subsisting on plants and herbs. Upon falling ill with dropsy, he returned to the city and approached doctors with a mysterious request that they "transform prolonged rains into drought." However, the doctors misunderstood him, and so he buried himself in a cattle shed, hoping to evaporate the bad moisture. Yet relief did not come, and Heraclitus died.

He articulated his philosophy in a work titled "On Nature" (“Περι φυσεως”), which consisted of three parts: concerning all things, concerning the state, and concerning the divine.
The most crucial concept in Heraclitus's philosophical system is logos. Its meaning is multifaceted. It signifies a certain law that governs the universe, yet it is also a word, even the very language of Heraclitus himself. He laments that people fail to understand this logos because, for him, logos is simultaneously truth: "Although this logos has existed eternally, people do not understand it—neither before they hear of it, nor upon hearing it for the first time. For all things happen according to this logos." Most people do not comprehend logos, as they possess insensible, barbaric souls. Heraclitus classified Hesiod, Xenophanes, and Pythagoras among the ignorant. The latter he called "the leader of frauds." In Heraclitus's view, people behave as if each of them possesses some personal consciousness. They are akin to those who sleep, for each sleeper lives in his own world, while for those who are awake, the world is always one, common to all.

The second fundamental concept of Heraclitus's philosophy is "fire." Fire is the primal source of all that exists, the arche. It is identified with the cosmos, the ordered, organized universe: "This cosmos, one and the same for all that exists, was not created by any god or man, but has always been, is, and will be an everlasting living fire, flaring up by measures and going out by measures."
Regarding Heraclitus's ideas, the first and foremost is the notion of unity and the struggle of opposites. In his view, everything in the world consists of opposites, and the essence of any phenomenon or thing is defined by the struggle of these opposites: "War is the father of all and the king of all"; "Both good and evil (are one)"; "The immortal are mortal, the mortal are immortal. By dying for one another they live, by living for one another they die." Simultaneously acting, oppositely directed forces create a tense state, which defines the harmony of things. This profound thought of Heraclitus was illustrated by the famous example of the bow and the lyre. Both ends of the bow strive to straighten, yet the string pulls and holds them together.

Heraclitus's second idea is that of the fluidity of all things, the ceaseless change. "For the one who enters the same river, fresh waters flow in." Thus, Heraclitus illustrated his cardinal idea regarding the predominance of change over stability.

The Eleatics
The name of this philosophical school derives from the city of Elea, located in southern Italy. However, its founder was Xenophanes, a citizen of Colophon (565-470). He expressed his thoughts in poetic form, a tradition that was inherited by his pupil Parmenides (540-470). Xenophanes vehemently opposed mythological polytheism and the mythological worldview in general. He rebelled against Homer and Hesiod for ascribing human flaws to the gods. He also believed that a supreme being, that is, God, could only be one. Xenophanes's teaching is pantheistic, for "all is one" and "the one is God": "All is filled with God." The true deity is the one, eternal, and infinite principle. The infinite is identified with the world, surrounded by the boundless sky, which is the visible image of divinity. In Xenophanes, a skepticism regarding human knowledge emerges.

Deceptive appearance is the common fate of all human judgments regarding nature and the divine. Although it is challenging to delineate a clearly defined philosophical system in Xenophanes, he undoubtedly provided the Eleatic school with a program of action, which Parmenides executed. It is said that when Parmenides was 65 years old, he visited Athens and had a conversation with Socrates, who was then still quite young. It is also said that in his time, Parmenides was initiated into the Pythagorean union, just as his pupil and follower Zeno was.

Parmenides expressed his philosophical views in a poem titled "On Nature," which was divided into two parts: "On the Truly Existing" (when following the path of truth) and "On the Apparent" (the pursuit of knowledge along the path of falsehood). The author presents his thoughts as divine revelation. The poem recounts how a certain young man (as the author calls himself) arrives by chariot at the goddess of Truth, Justice (Dike), who reveals to him the truth about the world. The teaching is built upon the fundamental assertion that thought and the object of thought are one and the same. It posits that thought is always a thought about an object, or, as Parmenides writes: "For that which is not cannot be either known or articulated... For to think is the same as to be. One can only speak and think about what is; being is, while nothing is: I implore you to ponder this. The same is thought and that about which thought arises, for without being, which it articulates, thoughts cannot be found. For there is nothing and will be nothing beyond being." The argument here is that thought can pertain only to what exists; hence, it is being. Thought cannot be separated from its object, from being. Thought is always being. Even when we strive to think of non-being, it still exists, has being, and is even being itself. For when I say "Non-being is," with the verb "is," I have automatically transformed "non-being" into "being," since all that "is" pertains to being. Therefore, non-being cannot even be conceived; thus, only being exists.

Yet the double-minded mortals constantly wander in the realm of deceptive sensory appearances, for they conflate that which is with that which is not, placing non-being alongside being, although it is entirely absent. Thought cannot relate to non-being; it pertains solely to being, coinciding with it, and is wholly identical to it. One must divert one’s thoughts from the path of errors, renounce the misleading testimony of the senses, and direct the mind towards the testimony of truth itself.

From Parmenides’ perspective, all that exists as separate from something else must be conceived as untrue. Let us suppose that there are two distinct entities, which are, of course, separated by emptiness. In this case, we might consider the emptiness as “non-being.” However, this is not the case, for according to Parmenides' thesis, if emptiness exists, then it cannot be non-being; it falls within the scope of the concept of “being.” Thus, in reality, this Eleatic will assert, there is no interval between things, and therefore all is one. If, however, the interval or void is something that exists, then it must be acknowledged again: there can be no interval between one being and another; the being directly abuts another being, such that all is one, and all that is exists indivisibly together. True being is eternal, arising from nothing and vanishing into nothing; it is homogeneous, motionless, immutable, and perfect.

Parmenides' doctrine was directed against the Pythagoreans, who acknowledged a void that encompasses the world. According to their teachings, the living spherical body of the world breathes, drawing in the void from outside. Ultimately, this leads to the sphere being divided into separate entities that the void separates.

But how, then, should we account for the obvious existence of distinct entities? Does Parmenides deny this? No. Parmenides merely wishes to assert that within the confines of his rationalist doctrine of the truly existent, there is no world of separate, mobile entities. However, outside his framework, within the realm of the untrue, logically inconsistent knowledge, movement and change of separate entities are, of course, acknowledged. Parmenides distinctly marks the qualitative difference between sensory and rational knowledge. Plurality exists only for the senses, yet the senses do not provide a true picture of the world. Such a picture is revealed only to the intellect.

Parmenides’ teachings provoked sharp objections, especially among those who possessed “common sense.” The task of defending the views of his teacher fell to Zeno (circa 480-430 BCE). It is reported that he was allegedly an accomplice in a conspiracy against the tyrant Nearchus. When captured, Zeno turned to those surrounding him with these words: “I marvel at your cowardice; lest you suffer as I have, you grovel before the tyrant.” And having said this, he bit off his tongue and spat it in the tyrant’s face. This act so moved the citizens that they stoned the tyrant to death. Zeno was indeed steadfast, yet on one occasion, in response to insults, he did become angered. When reproached for this, he replied: “If I pretend that I am not being scolded, I will not feel it when I am praised.”

Thus, to defend the doctrine, Zeno adopted the method of proof by contradiction and formulated a series of paradoxes (from the Greek “α” - the particle “not” and “πόρος” - “way out”; problems that are difficult to solve). Among the forty or so paradoxes, particularly notable are those concerning motion, such as “Achilles and the Tortoise” and “Dichotomy.”

In the paradox “Achilles and the Tortoise,” it is argued that swift-footed Achilles will never overtake the slow tortoise, for by the time Achilles reaches the point from which the tortoise started, it will have managed to advance a bit further; and by the time Achilles reaches this new point, the tortoise will have moved ahead again. Hence, it follows that Achilles will never catch up to the tortoise. In the paradox “Dichotomy,” it is asserted that motion is impossible, since everything that moves, before it reaches the final point of its motion, must first cover half the distance, and so forth to infinity.

In essence, these two paradoxes target the continuity and infinite divisibility of space and time. The problem can also be formulated as follows: how can one traverse an infinite number of points in space within a finite interval of time?

Zeno’s arguments against motion inspired Alexander Pushkin to write the poem “Movement”: “Movement does not exist, said the wise bearded man.
Another kept silent and began to walk before him.
He could not contradict him more forcefully;
All praised the answer he had crafted.
But, gentlemen, this amusing case
Brings another example to my mind:
Every day, the sun moves before us,
Yet stubborn Galileo is right.”

To the clever “other” wise man (according to tradition, he was Diogenes of Sinope, while the first wise man “bearded” was someone other than Zeno, for Diogenes died a century after Zeno's passing), one might counter with the argument that Lenin employed in the margins of his notes on Hegel’s lectures on the history of philosophy: “The question is not whether movement exists, but how to express it in the logic of concepts.” Hegel himself notes that “we must understand Zeno’s arguments not as a denial of the reality of motion, as they may appear at first glance, but as an indication of the necessary way to define motion and of the line of thought that must be followed in this definition.”

The last representative of the Eleatic school was Melissus of Samos, whose acme fell around 440 BCE (the term “acme” in ancient Greece referred to the age of life when a person is at the peak of their physical and intellectual form, which generally corresponds to around forty years). Melissus became renowned as a successful politician and adept naval commander. In 442 BCE, while serving as commander of the Samian naval forces, he defeated the Athenian fleet led by Pericles. Melissus believed that the universe is infinite, unchanging, immobile, one, homogeneous, and filled. The distinction from Parmenides lay in his acknowledgment of the infinity of the cosmos, whereas Parmenides insisted on the finiteness of the world in spatial terms.

Empedocles and Anaxagoras

Among the physicist-philosophers who, despite not leaving behind enduring schools, nonetheless exerted a powerful influence on their contemporaries and later ancient philosophers, were Empedocles and Anaxagoras. Empedocles (circa 481-421 BCE) hailed from Akragas in Sicily but achieved recognition throughout Greece. It is said that he studied under the Pythagoreans and embraced certain aspects of Parmenides’ teachings. Like Parmenides, Empedocles composed a significant poetic work traditionally titled “On Nature” and maintained that being is one, while non-being does not exist. However, the distinction lies in the assertion that the One is composed of the many, the foundation of which consists of six roots: four passive and two active (moving forces). The passive roots (which Empedocles refers to as “roots”) are Fire, Earth, Water, and Air, while the active roots are Love and Strife (Hatred). Both love and strife can lead to the unity, and the action of these active principles consists in the alternating mixing or separation of the primary elements and the creation of things. Based on this physical doctrine, Empedocles sought to explain our capacity for knowledge: like is known through like. A person is composed of the same elements (roots) as the surrounding things, making them akin to the essence of all that exists.

Anaxagoras (circa 500-428 BCE) hailed from Clazomenae in Ionia and possibly studied philosophy within circles associated with Anaximenes. At approximately the age of forty, he was invited by Pericles to Athens, where his active engagement introduced the Athenians to philosophy. There, as Aristotle attests, he initiated the study of rhetoric. For a time, Anaxagoras enjoyed considerable popularity in Athens; his work (undoubtedly the treatise "On Nature") was available for purchase in a bookstore for a mere drachma. However, as Pericles' influence waned, conservative factions among the Athenians accused Anaxagoras of disrespecting their religion, teaching that the Sun was a scorching stone and that the Moon resembled Earth, possessing settlements, mountains, and valleys. Consequently, the philosopher was compelled to leave Athens, relocating to his homeland in Ionia, where he established his own school in Lampsacus. When the city's rulers inquired what they could do for him, he responded, "Let the students be freed from their studies each year on the month of my death."

A notable feature of Anaxagoras's physical theory lies in his postulation of the existence of "seeds of things" (which Aristotle later termed "homeomerics," meaning "similar parts"). Homeomerics are the constituents of a mixture composed of elements representative of all things. Here, "things" should be understood as all that exists, encompassing forms, colors, scents, tastes, and so forth. Homeomerics are infinite in number and quality, existing from the beginning in a mixed state, thus creating a chaotic amalgamation. How, then, do the distinct entities we perceive come into being? Anaxagoras introduces yet another principle—Mind (Nous, from the Greek Νους). The passive, inert mass of homeomerics is set into motion through the influence of the active principle—Mind: "Mind is something unlimited and self-governing, not mixed with any thing, singular in itself... For it is the most subtle and purest of all things, it determines absolutely everything, and possesses the greatest power. Mind governs all living beings, both great and small. And the universal circulation of the world is directed by Mind, so that through it this circulation began at all. Initially, the circulation began small; it has now expanded, and in the future, it will expand even more. And that which mixes, and that which separates from the mixture, and that which divides—all this is determined by Mind."

As a consequence of this reasoning, a significant position in Anaxagoras's cosmology is occupied by the famous thesis "All things are in all things." This means that all bodies, all things contain the full multitude of representatives of the world of homeomerics, albeit in varying proportions, which accounts for the distinction among things and renders them similar. The family of things can be divided to infinity; however, it does not dissolve into nothingness, for "Nothing" does not exist. In this respect, Anaxagoras finds solidarity with the Eleatics.

Atomism

The founder of atomism is regarded as Leucippus of Miletus, a pupil of either Parmenides or Zeno, who lived around 500-540 BCE. Nevertheless, the most brilliant and prolific representative of atomism is acknowledged to be Democritus of Abdera (sometimes referred to as the Abderite), who lived approximately from 460 to 370 BCE. He hailed from an esteemed family and traveled extensively, spending all his resources in pursuit of knowledge and science. He authored about seventy works spanning various fields of knowledge. Cicero reported that Democritus blinded himself to minimize distractions to his thoughts. In turn, Diogenes Laertius noted that Democritus lived for over a hundred years, and when he had grown very old and anticipated his end, his sister mourned the possibility of his dying during the festive days. Democritus reassured her and instructed that warm loaves of bread be brought to him daily, which, by bringing to his nostrils, allowed him to sustain his life through the holiday period, before parting from life painlessly thereafter.

Democritus believed that nothing exists in the world except atoms and void. He explained the constant changes and origins of things through the multitude of diverse and eternally mobile elements (atoms). Atoms are indivisible, impenetrable particles of matter, absolutely solid, differing from one another in volume, position, and shape. Through the interaction of atoms, which eternally move through infinite space, all bodies and worlds are formed. The true qualities of things are those that belong to atoms. The rest (color, taste, temperature, etc.) exists not in the things themselves but in our sensory perceptions, that is, in our imagination. Everything, including mental processes and cognition, is explained materialistically or, more precisely, naturally. Thus, Democritus explained sight as the result of atoms emanating from visible objects that convey the outlines of things. This is nothing other than images (εἴδωλα). "We see," Democritus writes, "due to the ingress of images into us." Thinking is not fundamentally different from sensation; it is merely the movement of mental atoms.

An interesting ethical dimension of Democritus's teaching emerges: "He who wishes to maintain a good spirit should not undertake many tasks, neither in his private life nor in public, and whatever he does, he should not strive to exceed his capabilities and nature." Democritus regarded the purpose of life as attaining a good state of spirit (eudaimonia), which he also termed spiritual well-being or fearlessness. Here are some additional ethical positions of his: "Refrain from any enjoyment that is not beneficial... The nobility of cattle lies in the good quality of their bodies; the nobility of humans lies in the good direction of their character... To live poorly, foolishly, indulgently, and impiously means not merely to live poorly, but to die slowly. The prudent person does not grieve over what he lacks but rejoices in what he has. Speak not and do nothing disgraceful, even when alone. Learn to be much more ashamed of yourself than of others. People should care more for the soul than for the body, for the perfection of the soul rectifies the deficiencies of the body. One who is open to bribery can never be just. Only that love is just which aspires to the beautiful, without causing offense... He who is in need is not rich, while he who has no need is not poor. Those who praise fools do them great harm."

"The art of medicine treats diseases of the body, while philosophy frees the soul from passions..."

The overarching significance of ancient atomic theory undoubtedly resides in the idea of the atom. This idea has not been lost; it has traversed the ages and has always occupied the minds of eminent scholars.