Archelaus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | c. 5th century BC |
| Died | c. 5th century BC |
| Philosophical work | |
| Era | Ancient philosophy |
| Region | Western philosophy |
| School | Pluralist school |
Archelaus (/ɑːrkɪˈleɪəs/;Greek:Ἀρχέλαος; fl. 5th century BC) was anAncient Greek philosopher, a pupil ofAnaxagoras, and may have been a teacher ofSocrates. He asserted that the principle ofmotion was the separation of hot from cold, from which he endeavoured to explain the formation of theEarth and the creation ofanimals andhumans.
Archelaus was aphilosopher of theIonian School, calledPhysicus from having been the first to teachnatural philosophy atAthens. This statement ofDiogenes Laërtius,[1] is contradicted byClement of Alexandria,[2] but the two may be reconciled by supposing that Archelaus was the first Athenian who did so. According toSimplicius,[3] who probably got his information fromTheophrastus, Archelaus was a native ofAthens, even though Diogenes Laërtius[1] says it is unclear if he was born inAthens orMiletus. He was the son of Apollodorus, or as some say, of Mydon, Midon,[4] or Myson; was a pupil ofAnaxagoras; and is said to have taught atLampsacus before he established himself atAthens. He is commonly reported to have taughtSocrates andEuripides. If he was the instructor of Socrates, he is never mentioned byXenophon,Plato, orAristotle, and this story may have been an attempt to connect Socrates with the Ionian School.[5] However, Diogenes Laërtius does report, on the authority ofIon of Chios, a contemporary of Socrates, that Socrates went with Archelaus on a trip to Samos.[6] Also, some scholars have seen in Socrates' "autobiographical" sketch in Plato'sPhaedo[7] a reference to Archelaus' theory about the generation and nourishment of the first animals.[8] The tradition which connects Archelaus with Euripides may have arisen from a confusion with Euripides' patron,Archelaus I, king ofMacedonia.
No fragments of Archelaus have survived; his doctrines have to be extracted fromDiogenes Laërtius,Simplicius,Pseudo-Plutarch, andHippolytus.[5]
Archelaus held that air and infinity are the principle of all things, by which Pseudo-Plutarch[9] supposes that he meant infinite air; and we are told, that by this statement he intended to exclude Mind from the creation of the world.[10] If so, he abandoned the doctrine ofAnaxagoras at its most important point; and it seems safer to conclude that while he wished to teach the materialist notion that the mind is formed of air, he still held infinite Mind to be the cause of all things. This explanation has the advantage of agreeing withSimplicius.[3]
Beginning with primitive Matter, (identical with air mingled with Mind), by a process of thickening and thinning, arose cold and warmth, or water and fire, the one passive, the other active.[5] Archelaus deduced motion from the opposition of heat and cold, caused by the will of the material Mind. This opposition separated fire and water, and produced a slimy mass of earth. While the earth was hardening, the action of heat upon its moisture gave birth to animals, which at first were nourished by the mud from which they sprang, and gradually acquired the power of propagating their species. Humans also appear, at first in lower forms. All these animals were endowed with mind, but humans separated from the others, and established laws and societies. It was just from this point of his physical theory that he seems to have passed into ethical speculation, by the proposition, that right and wrong are "not by nature but by custom" (Greek:οὐ φύσει ἀλλὰ νόμῳ)[1]—dogma possibly suggested to him by the contemporarySophists.
Of the other doctrines of Archelaus, he asserted that the Earth was flat, but that the surface must be depressed towards the centre; for if it were absolutely level, the sun would rise and set everywhere at the same time.[11] He also said that theSun was the largest of thestars. He accounted forspeech by the motion of theair; for this, he seems to have adopted the views of Anaxagoras.[12]
Laërtius, Diogenes."Socrates, with predecessors and followers: Archelaus" .Lives of the Eminent Philosophers. Vol. 1:2. Translated byHicks, Robert Drew (Two volume ed.). Loeb Classical Library.Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Archelaus of Miletus".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 362.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Archelaus".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.| International | |
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