Greek Matter Theory from Thales to Aristotle

The Greek philosopher who started this transformation was Thales of Miletus. Information about him is limited, and what we know comes to us from later writers, since no texts by him have survived. He was probably born about 623 b.c.e., in Ionia, which is in modem Turkey. Thales was believed to have traveled widely and likely visited Egypt and studied in Greece. He conceived of the world as a sphere floating in an eternal sea and argued that water was the most fundamental element. It came in three forms water, earth, and mist. This was an important philosophical insight, since it demonstrated an understanding of the states of matter (solid, liquid, and gas, in modem terms) in addition to different types of matter. 

The idea that the elements were uniform and indivisible bodies (as opposed to an undifferentiated mass) can be traced to Leucippus of Miletus, who lived around 420 b.c.e. While the details of Leucippus s life are fragmentary, he was probably the first true atomist, arguing that there were only two aspects of the universe matter and the void. Matter was made of atoms, which were individually imperceptible, but solid and came in a finite number of shapes. By combining the basic shapes, all common matter could be constructed. Atoms also had the property of motion. This was a necessary aspect of atoms, since the void, being nothing, could not move, so the ability to move had to be inherent or part of the nature of matter. 

Neither philosophical position came to dominate Greek ideas about change, but it was this kind of debate that helped to make Greek philosophical inquiry so powerful. We still think about the ideas of Heraclitus and Parmenides. 

For the runner lo get from point A to B, he must cover half the distance to the point at C. To get lo C. the runner must gel to ilte haltisay point at D and soon. Since there ure su infinite number of halfway point, die runner can never get to u. 

The center of Greek philosophy shifted to Athens around 400 B.C.E., with the rise of Plato and his school, the Academy. Plato (428-347 B.C.E.) was an Athenian from a wealthy, patrician family. He had been the foremost pupil of Socrates (470-399 b.c.e.), but, unlike his teacher, he did not reject the necessity of understanding the physical world. For Socrates, only the Ideal and the nature of man were worthy of study. The Ideal was perfect, mathematical, and divine. Although Plato accepted the superiority of the Ideal over the material, he was also interested in human existence, writing extensively about politics and social organization. It followed that even if the material world might be an imperfect reflection of the Ideal, to make the best of one s life a person needed to understand both the material world and the Ideal. The best presentation of Plato s ideas is found in the Timaeus, which includes a description of the structure of the universe. 

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GREEK MATTER THEORY FROM THALES TO ARISTOTLE... 

Greek Matter Theory from Thales to Aristotle... 

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