Anaxagoras

Anaxagoras
Anaxagorean /an'ak sag'euh ree"euhn/, adj.
/an'ak sag"euhr euhs/, n.
500?-428 B.C., Greek philosopher.

* * *

born с 500, Clazomenae, Anatolia
died с 428 BC, Lampsacus

Greek philosopher.

Though only a few fragments of his writings have survived, he is remembered for his cosmology and for his discovery of the true cause of eclipses. His cosmology grew out of the efforts of earlier pre-Socratics to explain the physical universe in terms of a single element. The most original aspect of his system was his doctrine of nous ("mind," or "reason"), according to which the cosmos, including all living things, was created by mind in a process of attraction of "like to like"; mind also accounts for the power of living things to extract nourishment from surrounding substances.

* * *

▪ Greek philosopher

born c. 500 BC, , Clazomenae, Anatolia [now in Turkey]
died c. 428, , Lampsacus

      Greek philosopher of nature remembered for his cosmology and for his discovery of the true cause of eclipses. He was associated with the Athenian statesman Pericles.

      About 480 Anaxagoras moved to Athens, then becoming the centre of Greek culture, and brought from Ionia the new practice of philosophy and the spirit of scientific inquiry. After 30 years' residence in Athens, he was prosecuted on a charge of impiety for asserting that the Sun is an incandescent stone somewhat larger than the region of the Peloponnese. The attack on him was intended as an indirect blow at Pericles, and, although Pericles managed to save him, Anaxagoras was compelled to leave Athens. He spent his last years in retirement at Lampsacus.

      Only a few fragments of Anaxagoras' writings have been preserved, and several different interpretations of his work have been made. The basic features, however, are clear. His cosmology grows out of the efforts of earlier Greek thinkers who had tried to explain the physical universe by an assumption of a single fundamental element. Parmenides, however, asserted that such an assumption could not account for movement and change, and, whereas Empedocles sought to resolve this difficulty by positing four basic ingredients, Anaxagoras posited an infinite number. Unlike his predecessors, who had chosen such elements as heat or water as the basic substance, Anaxagoras included those found in living bodies, such as flesh, bone, bark, and leaf. Otherwise, he asked, how could flesh come from what is not flesh? He also accounted for biological changes, in which substances appear under new manifestations: as men eat and drink, flesh, bone, and hair grow. In order to explain the great amount and diversity of change, he said that “there is a portion of every thing, i.e., of every elemental stuff, in every thing,” but “each is and was most manifestly those things of which there is most in it.”

      The most original aspect of Anaxagoras' system was his doctrine of nous (“mind,” or “reason”). The cosmos was formed by mind in two stages: first, by a revolving and mixing process that still continues; and, second, by the development of living things. In the first, all of “the dark” came together to form the night, “the fluid” came together to form the oceans, and so on with other elements. The same process of attraction of “like to like” occurred in the second stage, when flesh and other elements were brought together by mind in large amounts. This stage took place by means of animal and plant seeds inherent in the original mixture. The growth of living things, according to Anaxagoras, depends on the power of mind within the organisms that enables them to extract nourishment from surrounding substances. For this concept of mind, Anaxagoras was commended by Aristotle. Both Plato and Aristotle, however, objected that his notion of mind did not include a view that mind acts ethically—i.e., acts for the “best interests” of the universe.

Additional Reading
J. Zafiropulo, Anaxagore de Clazomène (1948); F.M. Cleve, Philosophy of Anaxagoras (1949).

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Anaxagoras — (griechisch Ἀναξαγόρας, * 499 v. Chr.; † 428 v. Chr.) war ein Vorsokratiker aus Klazomenai in Kleinasien. Sein nur in Fragmenten und hauptsächlich von Aristoteles überliefertes philosophisches Denken wird als Zusammenführung der Ansätze Heraklits …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Anaxagoras — (Greek: Unicode|Ἀναξαγόρας, c. 500 BC ndash; 428 BC) was a Pre Socratic Greek philosopher famous for introducing the cosmological concept of Nous (mind), the ordering force.BiographyAnaxagoras appears to have had some amount of property and… …   Wikipedia

  • Anaxágoras — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Anaxágoras (Αναξαγόρας) Anaxágoras Filosofía occidental Filosofía presocrática …   Wikipedia Español

  • Anaxagoras — Anaxagoras,   griechischer Philosoph aus Klazomenai in Ionien, * um 500 v. Chr., ✝ Lampsakos (Hellespont) 428 v. Chr.; kam mit zwanzig Jahren nach Athen. Weil er die Sonne für eine glühende Steinmasse hielt, wurde er der Gottlosigkeit bezichtigt… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Anaxagoras — Anaxagoras, geb. um 499 v. Chr. zu Klagomenä in Ionien, kam zur Zeit der Perserkriege nach Athen, wo er die angesehensten Männer zu Schülern hatte. Allein schon bei ihm kam die Volksreligion mit der Philosophie in Konflikt; der ernste und strenge …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • Anaxagŏras — Anaxagŏras, griechischer Männername, d.i. der in der Volksversammlung den Ton Angebende. 1) A., Sohn des Megapenthes, König von Argos. 2) A., griechischer Philosoph aus der Ionischen Schule zu Klazomenä, geb. 500 v. Chr., widmete sich den… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Anaxagŏras — Anaxagŏras, griech. Philosoph der ionischen Schule, geb. 500 v. Chr. in Klazomenä in Ionien, gest. 428, stammte aus reicher und vornehm er Familie, kam etwa 464 nach Athen, wo er die Philosophie aufbrachte, der Freund des Perikles und des… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Anaxagoras — Anaxagŏras, griech. Philosoph, geb. um 500 v. Chr. zu Klazomenä, Lehrer zu Athen, von wo er, des Atheismus angeklagt, fliehen mußte, gest. 428 zu Lampsakus; er nahm neben dem Stoff ein zweites, geistiges Prinzip (Nūs) an, das die Welt geordnet… …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • Anaxagoras — of Clazomenae …   Philosophy dictionary

  • Anaxágoras — (Anaxagóras) ► (¿500 428 a C) Filósofo griego presocrático de la escuela llamada jónica. Compuso el tratado Sobre la naturaleza. Creía que la materia es infinitamente indivisible y que la inteligencia (nous) es la fuerza ordenadora, que puso en… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Anaxagoras — [an΄aks ag′ə rəs] 500? 428? B.C.; Gr. philosopher from Ionia who taught in Athens …   English World dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”