Editing Thales of Miletus

'''Thales''' of Miletus (Θαλῆς, Thalês; Thales; /ˈθeɪliːz/) is widely regarded as one of the '''pre-Socratic''' philosophers and one of the '''[[Seven Sages]]''' (Sophoi), a title bestowed upon him for his wisdom and contributions to early Greek thought. Born in '''Miletus''', a Greek city in <u>Ionia</u>, Thales is often celebrated as the first philosopher in the Western tradition and is known for his inquiries into the nature and substance of the universe. While specific details about his family and early life are scarce, it is believed that he came from a <u>Phoenician</u> family and that he traveled widely during his youth, including to <u>Egypt</u>. Besides being a philosopher, Thales was also a mathematician, astronomer, and statesman; he played a significant role in the intellectual and political life of Miletus and the Ionian region. 

The claim that Thales was the founder of European philosophy rests primarily on '''[[Aristotle]]''', who wrote that Thales was the first to suggest a single material substratum for the universe (material monism) namely, water / moisture. According to Aristotle, Thales also held that “all things are full of gods” and that magnetic objects possess souls by virtue of their capacity to move iron - soul being that which in the Greek view distinguishes living from nonliving things, and motion and change (or the capacity to move or change other things) being characteristic of living things. He famously proposed that ''water is the principle (ἀρχή, archē) of all things,'' suggesting that all forms of life and matter originate from water; he also proposed that the Earth was a flat disk floating on a vast sea. Thales’ significance lies less in his choice of water as the essential substance than in his attempt to explain nature by the simplification of phenomena and in his search for causes within nature itself rather than in the caprices of anthropomorphic gods.

The poet-philosopher '''Xenophanes''' claimed that Thales predicted the solar eclipse that stopped the battle between King '''Alyattes''' of <u>Lydia</u> and King '''Cyaxares''' of <u>Media</u>, on May 28, 585 BCE. Modern scholars believe that he could not possibly have had the knowledge to predict accurately either the locality or the character of an eclipse; his feat was apparently isolated and only approximate. Herodotus spoke of his foretelling the year only; but that the eclipse was nearly total and occurred during a crucial battle contributed considerably to his exaggerated reputation as an astronomer.

Thales has been credited with the discovery of five geometric theorems: 

# that a circle is bisected by its diameter
# that angles in a triangle opposite two sides of equal length are equal
# that opposite angles formed by intersecting straight lines are equal
# that the angle inscribed inside a semicircle is a right angle
# that a triangle is determined if its base and the two angles at the base are given. 

His mathematical achievements are difficult to assess because of the ancient practice of crediting extant discoveries to men with a general reputation for wisdom.

Thales' inquiries into the nature of reality laid the groundwork for subsequent philosophical exploration by figures such as '''[[Anaximander]]''' and '''[[Anaximenes]]''', who were also from Miletus, and contributed to the development of the '''Ionian School''' of philosophy. Most of what is known about Thales comes from later philosophers and historians, including '''Aristotle''', '''Herodotus''', and '''Diogenes Laërtius''', who provided accounts of his life and thought several centuries after his death. Modern scholars continue to study Thales' contributions, focusing on his role in the transition from mythological to rational explanations of the natural world. His emphasis on observation and reasoning remains a cornerstone of scientific inquiry.

Numerous acts and sayings, many of them no doubt spurious, were attributed to him, such as “Know thyself” and “Nothing in excess.” According to '''[[Herodotus]]''', Thales was a practical statesman who advocated the federation of the <u>Ionian</u> cities of the <u>Aegean</u> region. There is a traditional belief that Thales advised navigators to steer by the Little Bear ('''Ursa Minor''') rather than by the Great Bear ('''Ursa Major'''), both prominent constellations in the <u>Northern Hemisphere</u>. He is also said to have used his knowledge of geometry to measure the <u>Egyptian</u> '''pyramids''' and to calculate the distance from shore of ships at sea. Although such stories are probably apocryphal, they magnify Thales’ existing reputation.

In Thales’ time the word '''philosopher''' (“lover of wisdom”) had not yet been coined. Thales worked to give the mathematical knowledge that he derived from <u>Babylonians</u> a more exact foundation and by using it for the solution of practical problems. The Ionian tendency to give nonmythological explanations was undoubtedly prompted by the fact that these Greeks were surrounded by a number of nations whose civilizations were much further advanced than their own, and whose mythological explanations varied greatly. It appeared necessary to make a fresh start on the basis of what a person could observe and infer by looking at the world as it presented itself, which naturally resulted in a tendency to make sweeping generalizations on the basis of rather restricted, though carefully checked, observations. Thales had a disciple and successor, '''Anaximander''' (who was himself succeeded by '''Anaximenes'''), who continued his legacy.
[[Category:Philosophy]]
[[Category:Archaic Greece]]
[[Category:Seven Sages]]
[[Category:Ionia]]