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The biographical history of philosophy (1893)
The biographical history of philosophy - 1893 Author:George Henry Lewes Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER 11. THE MATHEMATICIANS. § I. Anaximaxder Of Miletus. " As we now, for the first time in the history of Greek Philosophy, meet with contemporaneous... more » developments, the observation will not perhaps be deemed superfluous that in the earliest times of philosophy, historical evidences of the reciprocal influence of the two lines either entirely fail or are very unworthy of credit; on the other hand, the internal evidence is of very limited value, because it is impossible to prove a complete ignorance in one, of the ideas evolved and carried out in the other; while any argument drawn from an apparent acquaintance therewith is far from being extensive or tenable, since all the olden philosophers drew from one common source—the national habit of thought. When indeed these two directions had been more largely pursued, we shall find in the controversial notices sufficient evidence of an active conflict between these very opposite views of nature and the universe. In truth, when we call to mind the inadequate means at the command of the earlier philosophers for the dissemination of their opinions, it appears extremely probable that their respective systems were for a lonr time known only within a very narrow circle. On the supposi tion, however, that the philosophical impulse of these times was the result of a real national want, it becomes at once probable that the various elements began to show themselves in Ionia nearly at the same time, independently and without any external connection." KHtcr, i. 35. The chief of the school we are now about to consider wac Anaximander of Miletus, whose birth may be dated in the 42d Olympiad (b. c. 610). lie is sometimes called the friend and sometimes the disciple of Thales. We prefer the former relation ; the latter is at any rate n...« less