Summary:
Explores the work of four pre-Socratic philosophers, Thales, Anaximander, Parmenides, and Zeno. Discusses their hypotheses/theories of what really exists and attempts to prove their assumptions to be true.
Many philosophers attempted to explain where everything comes from or what truly exists. They try to answer the questions of what is the basic element of everything and how it comes into existence. Four Pre-Socratic philosophers, Thales, Anaximander, Parmenides, and Zeno, all give their hypotheses/theories of what really exists, and attempts to prove their assumptions to be the truth.
Thales, a pre-Socratic philosopher that was only known by report than direct evidence, according to Aristotle, held the position that water was the basis of everything in the universe. Everything is either water in one form or another, or everything comes from water. Thales also argued that the earth rests and/or floats on water. According to Aristotle, Thales may have come to this conclusion because the nourishment of all things is moist and the seeds of all things have a moist nature; water is the principle of the nature of moist things (page 9).
Although he agreed with Thales' argument that there is one original 'stuff' that everything is made up of, Anaximander, on the other hand, argued that the 'stuff' could not be something as definite as water, because then it could not become everything else. This 'stuff' would have to be indefinite matter. Anaximander says that the single, original material is indefinite and boundless and is constantly in motion. As a result of the motion, something gives rise to the opposites hot and cold is separated off from it. Hot becomes fire, which is the origin of the sun, and the cold becomes a dark mist, which is the origin of air and earth. Both of which are originally moist, but also dry, as a result of the heat and fire. Anaximander was the first philosopher to call the first principle indefinite. The first principle, again, is not water, nor is it any other element, but some other nature that is indefinite. This is how all the heavens and the world came into existence (page 10).
Another pre-Socratic philosopher, Parmenides, describes his hypothesis in a poem. Parmenides argues that genuine thought and knowledge can only be concerning what is, because what is not is unthinkable. He disagrees with the theory that there is 'single stuff' that undergoes changes to become something else, and the theory where opposites are the basis of number because these theories are unrealistic (page 35). In the poem, he says that which really exists is ungenerated and imperishable. Parmenides never says what this 'something' is, but he describes it as something of a single kind and also continuous. And it was never born into existence, so it cannot ever be destroyed. This 'something' that Parmenides describes also cannot be separated into parts, so it is whole and changeless (page 38-39).
And finally, the fourth philosopher, Zeno, addresses Parmenides' argument of what really exists versus the hypothesis of other philosophers. Parmenides' hypothesis received a lot of ridicule because if what really exists is truly one, then the argument has consequences which contradict it. But, Zeno, on the other hand, also opposes the hypothesis that there is many (instead of just one) because it also has consequences that contradict it. He says if it were explained clearly what exactly that something or "one" that Parmenides refers to is, then he would be able to speak of existing things. For instance, if the one (something) should be added or subtracted from another object/substance that exists, then it would not increase nor will it decrease in size, therefore, what is being added or subtracted is (in essence) nothing. And, if there are many (concerning the 'something'), then they are limited, but everything else that is existing is unlimited. Therefore, what really exists is an infinite number of indivisible units, and these units are in motion (pages 60-63).
Zeno makes some mistakes in his reasoning. Because of Zeno's arguments of motion and "achilles", his argument falsely assumes that it is impossible to come into contact with an infinite number of things individually in a finite time, but it is possible to come into contact with an infinite number of things that are infinite in division. So, it traverses the infinite in an infinite time, and comes into contact with infinite things in infinite times (page 61). Still, the result is insufficient to the facts of the matter and the truth.
This is the complete article, containing 721 words
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