Thales-The Origin of Ancient Greek Philosophy
The origin of philosophy
Let’s talk about the origin of ‘philosophy’ first. To be more precise, it is correct to say that it is the origin of “Western philosophy.” It is generally said that the Western iron crane originated in ancient Greece.
The English word philosophy, which means philosophy, is also derived from ancient Greek, a compound word that combines ‘’, which means ‘love’, and ‘’, which means ‘wisdom’. Considering the etymology of “philosophy”, After all, it is easy to see that philosophy means “I love wisdom.”
By analogy, what kind of person is a philosopher? It is “a person who loves wisdom, that is, a person who likes to think and pursues the truth.”
Let us now turn to the country ‘Greece’. If you look for Greece with a worldview, you can see that it is located on a peninsula with the Mediterranean Sea spread out among European continents.
Greece has a lot of mountains so agriculture is not developed. However, people began to live in these places mainly because the land was fertile for mountain weaving between mountainous areas. These areas were mostly isolated cities surrounded by the sea.
As the saying goes, “If you are in the mountains, you live on the mountains, If you are in the sea, you live on the sea, the ancient Greeks went to the sea and began to pioneer small islands on the sea. Because of this survival environment, the ancient Greeks enjoyed exploration and thinking.
Then let’s think about it. What was the most necessary knowledge for the Greeks who often had to go out to sea? That’s right. It was knowledge about astronomy, weather, and ocean currents. This is not only closely related to navigation, but also safety. The Greeks have already begun to explore this knowledge 2500 years ago.
Imagine. Wouldn’t it be a desire and curiosity to think if you were looking at countless stars and endless galaxies in the dark sea?
Curiosity about the world is the seed that sprouted ‘philosophy’. However, if people were immersed in thought and curiosity every day, the seeds of philosophy would not have sprouted properly and would have disappeared. Anyway, even in ancient times, it would have been more important to live on a full meal.
There is an Eastern proverb that says, “You need to be full of barns to know manners, you need to have plenty of life to know spiritual bathing.” This means that only when there is plenty to eat and wear do you care about courtesy, honor, and face. In other words, the problem of food, clothing, and shelter must be solved first to have time to think and think.
This logic is in common, whether in the East or the West. Even in ancient Greek cities, only those who did not have to worry about their livelihoods could afford to observe life, travel, and think about certain problems. Who were they? It is the nobles and merchants. The first philosophers were also born among these people.
Now, let’s introduce Thales, the first protagonist of this book. Thales is generally the first to appear in the history of Western philosophy. What’s wrong? The reason is that Thales is the first philosopher of ancient Greece recognized by everyone.
Thales was born in the ancient Greek port city of Miletus. Miletus was a very convenient place for transportation. Thanks to that, Thales also learned Babylon’s astronomy and Egyptian mathematics. Thales was able to do what he wanted to do as much as he wanted because he was a nobleman with a lot of money and time.
For a while here, the fact that Thales did not enjoy pleasure and pursued wisdom even though he lived an abundant life should be appreciated.
Thales not only acquired a lot of knowledge but also worked hard on various studies. There are many records in ancient books praising Thales’ intelligence and talent.
It is one of Thales’ famous anecdotes that accurately predicted the date of the eclipse. At that time, there were two countries at war for five years. On the day Thales predicted a solar eclipse, the sun was covered with black shadows without any notice, and the whole world was engulfed in darkness.
Because of the strange phenomenon without me, the troops of both countries were scared and perplexed and decided to stop the war. At that time, people did not know that the earth was round yet. Naturally, people had no choice but to worship Thales even more because they did not understand the principle of the solar eclipse.
Later, the exact solar eclipse date calculated by astronomers based on the records at the time was May 28, 585 B.C. Based on this, we could roughly confirm when Thales lived. As a result, it was also revealed that Thales lived a little earlier than Confucius.
Thales not only predicted a solar eclipse but also measured the height of the Egyptian pyramid. As you know, the pyramid is a very huge building. But how did Thales calculate the height in those days when there was no proper measuring instrument?
Thales first placed a wooden stick in front of the pyramid, and when the shadow of the bar and the length of the stick were the same, Thales immediately called a person to mark it at the top of the shadow of the pyramid. Then, he said that the length of the pyramid shadow is the height of the pyramid.
On what grounds did Thales say this? Initially, at the same time, that is, when the height of the sun is the same, the height of different objects is proportional to the length of its shadow. If you are curious, you should observe it for yourself.
It is great that Thales realized this principle 2,500 years ago. As such, Thales was simply a “wisdom lover” as an owner of extensive knowledge.
Then there may be people who want to ask like this at this point.
“I understand that Thales excelled in mathematics, astronomy, and physics, but what on earth do these have to do with philosophy?” Science and philosophy dealing with astronomy and physics have one thing in common. It is to find the rules of things.
As mentioned earlier, no one understood the principle of a solar eclipse when the sun was covered by the moon in the days when Thales lived. However, Thales already knew exactly that solar eclipses occur every 18 years and 10 days.
Philosophers, on the other hand, are not simply satisfied with finding superficial discipline and like to think while analyzing the problem in a little more depth. For example, philosophers not only look at solar eclipses and find cycles but also approach the question ‘what is the nature of the formation and movement of the universe?’ Thales was the first philosopher to think about these problems.
Let’s take a look at another episode of Thales. One evening, Thales was walking in deep thought, looking up at the vast night sky. Then I ended up falling into a muddy tooth. Just in time, a passerby saw the scene and burst into laughter. He spoke sarcastically to Thales.
He said, “Don’t you think you’re going through that because you only look at the sky and don’t see under your feet?”
Thales spoke calmly as he got out of the pit and brushed off the dirt from his clothes.
“It’s only those who never look at the sky that don’t fall into the pit.”
What does Thales’ answer mean? He is an expression of regret revealed to a person who always looks at the ground, a person who never looks up at the sky so as not to fall into a pit Thales is not saying you don’t have to look under your feet when you go down the street. It means that anything that sometimes seems unrelated to real life can be as important as it appears.
As such, philosophers are those who like to look at the vast night sky and think or think about the essence of things.
However, I hope you don’t misunderstand that “philosophers are always delusional by reading books, far from reality.” As Aristotle, another great philosopher of ancient Greece said.
“Philosophers can make a lot of money immediately as long as they are interested in real life. “
Don’t you believe me? Then let’s take a look at another episode of Thales. One day, after observing the climate and agricultural status of the year in detail, Thales decided that Eullib farming would be advantageous when predicting the weather for the next year.
He immediately started buying a large amount of milking machines at a low price. The following year, as Thales expected, olive farming was prosperous, and there was a shortage of milking machines to produce olive oil here and there. People were forced to pay Thales a lot of money and borrow a milking machine. Thanks to him, Thales was able to earn a lot of money.
Look, Thales sometimes fantasizes about looking at the night sky, but on the other hand, isn’t it this realistic?
Now, there will be someone else I want to ask like this now.
What has Thales achieved as a philosopher? Isn’t his philosophy too profound?
Not at all. There are two famous sayings left by Thales, both of which are easy for anyone to understand.
Water is the source of all things.
As I said a while ago, what makes philosophers different from scientists is that they focus more on the nature of things than on studying specific problems.
Why did Thales say this? If you tell a scientist “water is the source of everything,” you will be scolded, “Who on earth said that? Don’t talk nonsense.”
It’s a natural response. From the point of view of modern science, it does not make sense to say that ‘water is the source of everything’. However, if you think about Thales’s words from a philosophical point of view, it can be understood as meaning that mankind has begun to think about the essence of the world through natural phenomena that change from moment to moment.
One might say, what a great thing this is. Of course, if you think about it now, it may be nothing, but it is very great to think about this 2,500 years ago.
Before philosophy was born, for the Greeks, the universe was a world created and dominated by God. If you are interested in Greek mythology, this worldview will not be unfamiliar.
According to Greek mythology, Gaia, the goddess of the earth, is born in a land of endless chaos, which creates all things on the earth, and Gaia gives birth to Uranos, the god of heaven, opening up a vast sky to the world.
Not only do the gods of thunder Zeus and Mt. Olympus dominate the world, but the Greeks have created various songs and myths that praise the gods based on their imagination, such as the movement of the universe and the fate of mankind. As such, literature is deeply related to imagination. Philosophy, on the other hand, is not only about imagination, it’s also about thinking
I am.
Philosopher Thales tried to see, feel, and understand the world directly through his sensory organs, contrary to how many people understood the movements of the universe through myths made based on their imagination
And he discovered that ‘water’ is strangely related to all things in the world. As everyone knows, all animals and plants on the planet cannot live without water.
Thales observed the ground directly after the flood and found that water not only made the soil fertile but also found plants sprouting and small insects living there.
As such, water supplies nourishment to life. If there is no water in any life, it leads to death. By combining this phenomenon with cosmic mythology, he concluded that “all things are created through water, and water is the source of all things.” Thales even claimed that the Earth was floating on water.
Just as a cow gets nutrients by eating grass, Land not only gets nourishment by absorbing water, but it was also considered that water vapor caused by water evaporation nourishes the sun of the sky, the moon, the stars, and the whole universe.
Thales thought that water was always active and that water itself had vitality. Rainwater gathers to become a river, and the river flows into the sea and turns into strong waves in the open sea. When it comes to water, the boat flips over in anger, and sometimes it gently takes the navigator to a distance.
So Thales said this.
“It means that there is a soul in the water! “
If he understood the background of the times when Thales lived and the starting point of his thoughts, he could easily understand the second quote he left.
All things have spirits.
Some people understand this saying that “all things have spirits”, and others understand that “all things have souls.” In the end, any interpretation means that the world is not dead, but alive and breathing.
Thales believed that the source of all things is water with vitality that these waters bring vitality to the whole universe.
Thales’ words, “All things have spirits,” actually have another important meaning. It is the belief that things and things are very closely connected.
As everyone knows, magnets attract iron. However, the magnet transmits the force to the iron, making it attract other irons like a magnet. Thales saw this phenomenon and thought that magnets and iron also had souls.
Someone will ask like this again.
These views of Thales have already turned out to be wrong, and we need to know now.
That’s right. It has already been revealed that these views asserted by Thales do not conform to the principles of modern science.
However, considering the background of the time when Thales lived, it is a great achievement, to draw such a conclusion by observing and thinking alone.
Now let us think about the need to understand Thales’point of view. We know these facts too well, such as ‘Objects are composed of molecules and atoms’, and “The reason why the magnet attracts iron is because of the magnetic force created by magnetism, not because there is a soul in it.”
But who taught us these things? A school teacher? Or a book? So did the teacher who taught it or the author of the book know this principle from birth? It’s not like that. This is the discipline and principle that mankind has gradually discovered through research and experiments over the generations. We are simply enjoying the research achievements of human civilization with ease.
Our ancestors have created valuable knowledge over a very long period in a blank state with nothing, After studying with bold imagination, we have realized this principle. And what led them to continue their research and experiment was a strong curiosity to know the origin of the world and the rules of all things. In other words, philosophy is one of the important sources of science.
There is a saying, “Philosophy is the starting point for mankind to understand the world.” Understanding the stories of philosophers and their philosophical changes can realize the various principles of everything in the world and the various ways of thinking and logic behind it.
Finally, philosophy makes us think about the really important problem of ‘how to look at the world’.
Scientists like Newton and Einstein, whom we are well aware of, were also great philosophers.
If scientists are the ones who tell us what the world is like, philosophers are the ones who make us think, ‘How should we look at the world?’
Of course, you may not understand what this means yet. There is no need to be impatient, however. You will realize the true meaning of philosophy step by step in the future.
According to Greek mythology, Gaia, the goddess of the earth, is born in a land of endless chaos, which creates all things on the earth, and Gaia gives birth to Uranos, the god of heaven, opening up a vast sky to the world.
Not only do people dominate this world, including the gods of thunder Zeus, and Mount Olympus, but the Greeks have created various songs and myths that praise the gods based on their imagination, including the movement of the universe and the fate of mankind. As such, literature is deeply related to imagination. Philosophy, on the other hand, is closely related to thinking as well as imagination.
Philosopher Thales tried to see, feel, and understand the world directly through his sensory organs, contrary to how many people understood the movements of the universe through myths made based on their imagination he discovered that ‘water’ is strangely related to all things in the world.
As everyone knows, all animals and plants on the planet cannot live without water. Thales observed the ground directly after the flood, where water not only made the soil fertile but also found that plants sprouted and were inhabited by small insects.
As such, water supplies nutrients to live. If there is no water in any life, it leads to death. By combining this phenomenon with cosmic mythology, he concluded that “all things are created through water, and water is the source of all things.”
Thales even claimed that the Earth was floating on water. Just as a cow gets nutrients by eating grass, Lam not only gets nourishment by absorbing water, but it was also considered that water vapor from the evaporation of water nourishes the sun of the sky, the moon, the stars, and the whole universe.
Thales thought that water is always active and that water itself has vitality. Rainwater gathers to become a river, and the river flows into the sea and turns into strong waves in the open sea. When it comes to water, the boat flips over in anger, and sometimes it gently takes the navigator to a distance.
So Thales said this.
“It means that there is a soul in the water! “
If Thales understood the background of the times and the starting point of his thoughts at that time, The second quote he left can be easily understood.
All things have spirits.
Some people understand this as “all things have God,” while others understand that “all things have souls.” In the end, any interpretation means that the world is not dead, but alive and breathing. Thales believed that the source of all things is water with vitality and that these waters bring vitality to the whole universe.
Thales’ words, “All things have spirits,” actually have another important meaning. It is the belief that things and things are very closely connected. As everyone knows, magnets attract iron. However, the magnet transmits the force to the iron, making it attract other irons like a magnet. Thales saw this phenomenon and thought that magnets and iron also had souls.
Someone will ask like this again.
These views of Thales have already turned out to be wrong, and do we need to know now
That’s right. It has already been revealed that these views asserted by Thales do not conform to the principles of modern science. However, considering the background of the time when Thales lived, it is a great achievement for Thales to draw such a conclusion by observing and thinking alone.
Now let us think about the need to understand Thales’point of view. We know these facts too well, such as “objects are composed of molecules and atoms” and “The reason why the magnet attracts iron is because of the magnetic force created by magnetism, not because there is a soul in it.” But who taught us these things?
Did the teacher who taught this or the author of the book know this principle from birth? It’s not like that. This is the discipline and principle that mankind has gradually discovered through research and experiments over the generations.
We are simply enjoying the research achievements of human civilization with ease. Our ancestors created valuable knowledge over a very long period in a blank state with nothing, and after studying it with bold imagination, they realized this principle. And the driving force behind them to continue their research and experiments was their strong curiosity to know the source of the world and the rules of everything.
Our ancestors created valuable knowledge over a very long period in a blank state with nothing, and after studying it with bold imagination, they realized this principle.
And the driving force behind them to continue their research and experiments was their strong curiosity to know the source of the world and the rules of everything. In other words, philosophy is one of the important sources of science.
There is a saying, “Philosophy is the starting point for mankind to understand the world.” Understanding the stories of philosophers and their philosophical changes can realize the various principles of everything in the world and the various ways of thinking and logic behind it.
Finally, philosophy makes us think about the really important problem of ‘how to look at the world’. Scientists like Newton and Einstein, whom we know well, were also great philosophers.
If scientists are the ones who tell us what the world is like, philosophers are the ones who make us think, ‘How should we look at the world?’
Of course, you may not understand what this means yet. There is no need to be impatient, however. You will realize the true meaning of philosophy step by step in the future.
I’ve looked at the origins of ancient Greek philosophy with the first philosopher, Thales, and I sincerely welcome you for entering the world of ancient Greek philosophy! Now in the next chapter, let’s meet the second person, a philosopher, and mathematician at the same time.
Originally published at https://everyonehope.com on January 23, 2023.
