Philosophy’s Roots: From Poetic Eloquence to the Milesians
Homer and the Poets: Eloquence as a Form of Wisdom
What distinguishes poems is their eloquence, the art of saying things in an engaging way. It’s how the poet speaks, not necessarily what he says. Eloquence makes a poem worth listening to and remembering.
For example, the poetry of some guy, because we stayed fixed orally, and then Homer wrote it.
What interests us is that there is poetry in depth. Any story deserves to be heard; anything can draw our attention when a poet speaks. Our culture was born in the hands of the poets.
The poet possesses a kind of wisdom: showing, without explicitly stating, the nature of things (wonderful, enigmatic, etc.). However, this is debatable. The poet’s wisdom stems from his eloquence, which makes us feel that everything is wonderful and enigmatic. It causes thambos, that is, surprise. The philosopher, in contrast, starts from thambos.
The truth of poetry, if any exists, is not in its content. Good poetry convinces you and makes sense. Philosophy appears when the implicit in poetry becomes explicit. Philosophers describe what we all have in common, making it explicit.
The Source of Philosophy in the Context of Poetry: The General Question of the Presence of Things
The origin of philosophy is in the 7th century BC because of Thales of Miletus. He attempts to condense the content of poems and makes explicit what is implicit, as happens when reflecting on the long poems of Homer.
He makes the implicit explicit; that is, the presence of things becomes important. He tries to refer implicitly to the general question of the presence of things, understanding that all things are. This is a question about all things, so it is common to all things and affects the totality of things. It is the question of being. The first to say the word “being” will be Parmenides.
The Milesians and the Various Solutions to the Problem of Arkhe
The Milesians:
Thales is the founder of philosophy, and Anaximander is the author of the first fragment of the history of philosophy.
Milesians:
Later, in 4th-century Greece, it was said that the aim of the Milesians’ research was the arkhe, which we translate as “principle,” while redor is that which governs and is governed. That principle governs everything: the law that governs everything. It is called the principle of the common search of the Milesians for all things. They are the first thinkers in history seeking the common and unique principle.
The Meaning of Thales’ Presumed Sentence: “Everything is Full of Gods”
Thales:
He was born in 624 BC and died in 546 BC, placing him in the transition from the 7th to the 6th century BC (the era of philosophy). We only know a fragment and some accounts, which are basically references. From the standpoint of the history of philosophy, he was an important figure because he is considered the first.
Thales is famous for the theorem attributed to him, as well as for his knowledge of astronomy. Regarding philosophy, two specific accounts are considered, though not written by him, as none of his writings are preserved:
- The common principle is water.
- Everything is full of gods.
Everything is full of gods:
This means that there is a concern for everything. There was an interest in everything and not just for some things; here, there is a philosophical attitude. Not only are there important gods in specific places, but they are everywhere. This means that everything is equally concerning, that any and every one of the things are equally concerning. This is a description of what the poet says implicitly; the philosopher says it explicitly: that behind every thing, there is a god (as Homer says in his lengthy poems because he was concerned about things, in contrast to the philosopher who is concerned with the enigma of things).
Exhibition of Anaximander’s Thought from Reading his Fragment
Fragment of Anaximander:
He says things have an origin and an end. The origin and the end are the same place. This seems to indicate that there is a common principle; everything comes from the same place. Things emerge from a beginning and have an end. It is a common law.
He talks about things in general and refers to something common.
“Give justice”: everyone gets what they deserve; there is no immunity. He says that things are done fairly, that things are delimited from each other. Nothing is arbitrary, as needed. Things have their own limits. It also works with time: there is nothing that does not have its time.
This means that things themselves set their limits, and nothing can exceed its limits (the night always ends, and the day begins, etc.).
We realize that the text speaks of things in general and says that among them, there is justice. They are delimited. In things, there is justice.
We should understand in what direction we will use apeiron to put it as a common principle.
Justice: the law that each thing is what it is. It maintains the order of things.