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person585 BCE-525 BCE

Anaximenes

Disciplines:
cosmology
metaphysics

Summary

Ancient Greek philosopher from Miletus who posited air as the primary substance, arguing that all things arise through condensation and rarefaction of air.

Core Contribution

Returns to a specific element (air) but introduces a mechanism: condensation produces water, earth, stone; rarefaction produces fire. The soul, which holds us together, is air — applying cosmological principles to psychology.

Notable Works & Achievements

On Nature

Historical Influences

Thales Anaximander

Intellectual Lineage

Milesian Cosmology

Contemporaries & Peers

Anaximander Pythagoras

Minds Influenced

Diogenes of Apollonia Heraclitus

Intellectual Posterity

No conceptual posterity found.

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