Early Greek Philosophy: Essence, Arche, and Myth to Logos
Core Concepts in Early Greek Thought
Consistency and Essence (Eidos)
Early philosophers grappled with the idea that things possess an inherent consistency. This consistency is what philosophy calls essence (or *eidos* in Greek). The essence of a thing is what makes it truly *possible* despite changes in appearance; it encompasses all the traits that constitute a thing *as it is*. Thus, the first philosophers established opposing concepts:
- Ontologically: essence vs. appearance, permanence vs. change, unity vs. multiplicity.
- Epistemologically (or gnoseologically): They contrasted reason vs. senses, understanding that sensory perception alone is insufficient to grasp the true nature of things; rational abstraction is necessary.
The Search for the Arche
A second conviction held by these philosophers was that the entire rational and intelligible universe could be reduced to one or a few fundamental principles. The ongoing search for essence involves sorting and creating taxonomies, much like a biologist does in botany or zoology. Classifying the world simplifies it. However, we can simplify further to find the ultimate elements to which everything is reduced. This ultimate principle (or principles) of reality was called the ***arche*** by Greek philosophers. The *arche* is the origin from which everything has come, the substrate to which everything reduces, and the principle that can explain all reality. Early philosophers and scientists sought the *arche* of *physis* (nature). The revolutionary aspect was seeking explanations for nature based on natural elements. Thus, the first philosopher/scientist, Thales of Miletus, argued that water is the *arche* of all reality. This was revolutionary, not necessarily for the answer itself, but because it was the first time an explanation for natural phenomena was offered without reference to gods.
The Transition from Myth to Logos
Around the sixth century BC, individuals in the Greek colony of Miletus began to move away from mythical explanations of the universe, proposing the first rational ones. This marked the beginning of philosophy and science, an intellectual revolution known as the transition from myth to logos. This revolution involved a shift towards a mindset based on rational explanations of the world.
Western science began as a search for the laws or regularities governing nature. This endeavor is only possible when the anthropomorphism and arbitrariness characteristic of myth are replaced by the ideas of order and necessity. This means viewing the universe as a cosmos (an ordered whole) rather than chaos. Consequently, events occur when and how they must, governed by impersonal laws or principles. While faith is the foundation for myths and religions, science and philosophy rely on reason. However, science often operates from a foundational belief: that the world is rational and comprehensible, and that human reason can understand the universe’s order and structure. This belief in the universe’s order and rationality is linked to two core ideas: