Anaxagoras, of Klazomene
Anaxagoras, of Klazomene
(about 430 B.C.) As a middle-aged man he settled in Athens; later he was accused of impiety and forced to leave the city. Anaxagoras taught that there is an infinity of simple substances, that is, such as are only divisible into parts of the same nature as the whole. These “seeds” are distributed throughout the universe. Their coming together gives rise to individual things, their separation entails the passing away of individual things. To account for the cause of motion of these “seeds” or elemental substances Anaxagoras conceived of a special kind of matter or “soul-substance” which alone is in motion itself and can communicate this motion to the rest. Now, since the universe displays harmony, order and purposiveness in its movements, Anaxagoras conceived this special substance as a mind-stuff or an eternal, imperishable Reason diffused throughout the universe. Anaxagoras was thus the first to introduce the teleological principle into the explanation of the natural world. Cf. Burnet, Early Greek Philosophy; Diels, Frag. d. Vorsokr. — M.F.