ANCIENT
PHILOSOPHY
INTRODUCTION
Philosophy as a discipline started from the west in the ancient
Greek world during the periods between the 6th century BC to 4th
century AD (600BC-400AD). Etymologically philosophy means lover(s) of wisdom. Philosophers
starting from the on set of philosophy have been trying to identify the
ultimate element(s); the ultimate underlying principle or element of reality
according to the ancient cosmologists.
Anaxagoras was a pluralist and just
like his predecessors has his own metaphysical and epistemological reflection
to prove his points with regards to philosophy. Anaxagoras was part of the
pluralists who held and believed that reality is a composition of more than one
“element or entity” that is, the elements that brought about “Being and
Non-Being” are numerous.
Anaxagoras was the son of Hegesibulus and was born around 500 B.C at
Clazomenae. He was from Asia Minor and also was the first philosopher to settle
at Athens; he was the first pre-Socratic philosopher to teach in Athens though
he left Athens when he was prosecuted for impiety. Among his disciples are
Pericles and Euripides. He was Anaximenes’ disciple. Anaxagoras on his reflections
subjected on rigorous thinking. He was the first western philosopher to rise
above the level of matter and physical entities in his postulation to the level
of immaterial and spiritual ‘being’. He was the first to postulate the
existence of ‘Atom’ and distinguish between material and spiritual reality. He
said that the then Greek philosophers do not have a correct notion of
generation and destruction. According to him nothing is totally destructible or
generated but things are commingled with and dissociated from the existents. To
this extent, he suggested that they better could refer to that they call
generation as commingling and destruction as dissociation.
According to Anaxagoras, nothing new
comes into existence and nothing totally ceases to exist because there is no
absolute generation or destruction. Here, I am going to discuss Anaxagoras’ philosophical
reflection under three thematic concerns:
- The method and content of his philosophy.
- Evaluation: the merits and demerits of his philosophy.
- Conclusion.
THE METHOD AND CONTENT OF ANAXAGORAS’ PHILOSOPHY
Anaxagoras’
method of philosophy entails his rigorous, critical and systematic thinking
about the philosophical positions of his predecessors and the cosmos in
general.
ANAXAGORAS’ METAPHYSICS AND EPISTEMOLOGY
Anaxagoras’ philosophy is a composition or rather, consists of
metaphysical and epistemological facts. It emphasises on the Elements
responsible for ‘Being and Non-Being’. The metaphysical and epistemological
reflections of Anaxagoras cannot be totally separated off because they are interwoven.
Anaxagoras just like his predecessor Empedocus also tried to reconcile the
opposed positions that Heraclitus and Parmenides propounded respectively.
Empedocus’ solution to this problem of change and permanence interested
Anaxagoras but did not satisfy him; so he went into a deeper reflection than
Empedocus to say that the elements are not only four as Empedocus postulated
but that they are innumerable. His style of reflection was not poetry but concise
prose not mysticism but rigorous science.
In Anaxagoras’ metaphysical and epistemological reflections he said
that the four elements; Air, Water, Fire and Earth postulated by Empedocus are
combinations of several other innumerable particles. According to Anaxagoras,
the particles are infinite and in the case of being infinite they are also indestructible.
The combination of these particles results in things coming into existence.
According to and with regards to Anaxagoras’ reflections, everything in
existence is the combination of the particles of all things; there are
particles of all things in everything therefore Anaxagoras claims that every substance
contains a portion of every other substance.
Though things are the combination of every other particle,
Anaxagoras clarified that one must dominate and that an existent is named after
the particle that dominated in it. In other words a thing derives its name from
the dominating particle of its constituents. “For instance, a paper is called a
paper because the particle of paper dominated in it. If eventually the paper is
burnt, it will turn to ash why? This is because the particle of ash is now
dominating while the particle of paper dominated before.
The particles according to Anaxagoras are ‘infinitely divisible’,
there can always be a smaller but there can never be a smallest. He said that
matter is composed of infinite material particles with each having its own
properties. From the metaphysics and epistemology of Anaxagoras, one can deduce
that he tried to prove that nothing is new in existence. Everything that ever
could exist already did exist. Nothing really comes into existence and also
nothing really goes out of existence, they can only dominate in an element or
be among the constitutive particles of an element. To this extent, Anaxagoras
agreed with Parmenides on his position of permanence. In the terms of going out
of existence, they don’t, rather they cease to dominate in an element. That doesn’t
mean they are no longer there. This ceasing to dominate of a particle and
another particle coming up to dominate entails change in the elements. So to
this extent Anaxagoras agreed with Heraclitus in his position of change. There
is no ultimate gap between reality and appearance; anything that can be
perceived is real.
Anaxagoras also postulated that the particles combines and
separates. The combination and the separating off of these particles bring
about change in the particle dominating in an element. The combination of the
particles and their separating off is caused by the revolution of the heavenly
bodies, the sun, the moon, and the stars. According to Anaxagoras the principle
responsible for a particle predominating is one and that he called NOUS; a
Greek equivalence of mind, intelligence, consciousness or spirit. Anaxagoras’
theory of mind provides the first hint of mind-matter dualism.
According to Anaxagoras, the ‘Mind’ is distinct from other
substances. It is the free source of all movement; it has the knowledge of all
things in the past, in the present and in the future. It is the arranger and
the cause of all things and it also brings order to all things that were to be,
all things that were now and all things that will be. The ‘Mind’ is responsible
for the revolution of the heavenly bodies that causes the combining and
separating off of the particles. The ‘Mind’ has power over all things that have
life both great and small; it has understanding of the whole of reality and it is
the motivational force which brought about separation of everything out of the
original mixture. Anaxagoras postulated that there is a portion of everything
in everything except the mind; it is not an individual thing to be found in
each object.
EVALUTIONS: MERITS OF
ANAXAGORAS’ PHILOSOPHY
The merits of
Anaxagoras’ philosophical reflections consists of his systematic method of
clarifying the change and permanence positions of Heraclitus and Parmenides
when he said there is no total coming to Being or going out of Being and this
implies that things are not totally changed and when he said that a particle
can cease to dominate though that doesn’t mean the particle is no longer in the
constituting particles and this entails that things are not totally permanent.
Another merit of Anaxagoras’
reflection is that after his postulation that some thing or rather a principle
is responsible for the order in the cosmos and he still went on to name the
principle which he said was the Nous (Mind).
Yet another merit of Anaxagoras’
reflections is that his reflections was so rigorous that he rose from the level
of matter to the level of an immaterial entity and that merited him the record
of being the first western philosopher to rise above the level of matter in his
reflections.
DEMERITS OF ANAXAGORAS’ PHILOSOPHY
In spite of the merits of Anaxagoras philosophical reflections
above, I can still argue rationally that his reflections have some weaknesses.
Anaxagoras’ was so careless in his choice and use of words that he used
material qualification for the Nous (Mind) which is a non-material entity. This
was when he used the words like purest, finest, and most powerful to qualify
the Nous.
Anaxagoras made a complication of
his words when he said there is a particle of everything in everything except
the mind. As a philosopher who knows the principles of logic, Anaxagoras
supposed to know that when one means everything there should be no cause of
exception. Anaxagoras did not explain critically why the Nous (Mind) is the
only constituent of itself, why there are no other constitutive particles in it.
Another demerit of Anaxagoras’
reflections is that there is a complication in his postulation; he said that
the particles are infinitely divisible and he also said that everything
ultimately is made up of indivisible units (atoms).
CONCLUSION
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