Aristotle called Thales the Father of Natural Philosophy. At a very high level, he’s credited with shifting from mythos to logos, from a mythological explanation of the world to one based upon natural observation. Thales believed that water was the underlying principle of everything, that an immortal soul existed, and that earthquakes were caused by waves underneath a flat earth instead of by the gods.
Thales of Miletus is one of the earliest Greek philosophers (625 - 545 BC) and in this podcast episode, I look at his life, his ideas, and his impact both now and then.
Books Referenced:
Early Greek Philosophy - Translation by Jonathan Barnes - Penguin Classics
The First Philosophers - Translation by Robin Waterfield - Oxford World’s Classics
