1. Introduction Anaximenes, a
native of Miletus, was a younger contemporary and pupil of Anaximander
and possibly of Thales. He continues their philosophical inquiries into
the first (material) principle, but with different results. From
references in later sources, it seems that Anaximenes wrote his philosophical
views in a book, which survived well into the Hellenistic period (Diog.
2.2). Anaximenes takes exception to Anaximander's teaching about the apeiron, reverting to Thales' position that the first material principle must be one of the basic elements. Different from Thales, however, Anaximenes chooses air as the archê. Simplicius, in dependence on Theophrastus, explains Anaximenes' position, "Anaximenes ... also says that the underlying nature is one and infinite like [Anaximander], but not undefined as Anaximander said, but definite, for he identifies it as air" (Phys. 24. 26). Similarly, Hippolytus writes, "Anaximenes said that infinite air was the principle, from which things that are becoming, and that are, and that shall be, and gods and things divine, all come into being, and the rest from its product.... It is always in motion: for things that change do not change unless there is movement" (Refut. 1. 6) (see also Aristotle, Metaphysics 984a 5). For Anaximenes, all things come from air and ultimately are air. He says that air as the archê is infinite by he seems to mean unlimited or unconditioned and therefore unoriginate, from which it follows that it is the source of the other three elements and the things composed of them. If it were from a source, air would be finite, being limited or conditioned by its source. Since air is infinite and perpetually in motion it can produce all things without being produced by anything. Even the gods and other divine things derive from air and ultimately are air. It would seem that Anaximenes did not accept Anaximander's view that the (first) principle (archê) of all things could not be one of the elements which arise from it. 2.2. Nature and Origin of the Basic Elements If air is the archê, then how do the other basic elements (earth, water and fire) and the things composed of these elements come into being? According to Anaximenes, the mechanism whereby air was transformed into all things was condensation and rarefaction. When compressed, by itself presumably, air becomes first water and then earth; when rarefied, again under its own compunction, it becomes fire. All other things are composites of varying degrees of these four elements; as such they are the effect of the varying densities of air. Simplicius explains, "Being made finer it [air] becomes fire, being made thicker it become wind, then cloud, then (when thicker still more) water, then earth, then stones; and the rest come into being through these" (Phys. 24. 26). Hippolytus adds this interesting comment, "The result is that the most influential components of generation are opposites, hot and cold" (Refut. 1. 6). What he means is that for Anaximenes the hot and cold are not things but qualities of the two extremes phases of air, fire and stone. Air as perpetually in motion condenses itself and rarefies itself to produce the multitude of all other things. 2.3. Empirical Evidence for Air as the Archê It is difficult to know why Anaximenes chooses air as the archê; after all, one could just easily say that all things are fire or earth in different states of compression. There is a hint, however, in Plutarch's comment about him as to why he opts for air rather than another element.
If Plutarch's account is accurate, Anaximenes is the first explicitly to use the experimental method in order to find clues as to the identity of the archê. He observes that when one exhales with a compressed mouth (i.e., pursed lips) the air feels cold on the skin and when one exhales with an open mouth ("loosened") the air feels warm. It follows that compressed air becomes cold things, and, since cold things are solid things, such as earth and stones, compressed air becomes solid things. Similarly, rarefied air becomes fire. According to Aetius, "Anaximenes says that the air is god" (I. 7. 13). The first material principle is equated with the divine. Similarly, Cicero says, "Afterwards Anaximenes said that air is god, [and that it arose] and that it is boundless and infinite and always in motion" (de nat. deor. 1. 25). As indicated, to say that air is infinite seems to mean that it is unlimited or unconditioned. To affirm that air is boundless probably means that it is quantitatively unlimited: it is contained by nothing but contains all things. Since it is infinite, air must be eternal, for otherwise it would be limited or conditioned by what created it or could destroy it. It further follows that air is god or divine, since what is eternal is (a) god. Thus, as with Thales and Anaximander, the first material principle is not merely inert matter. As god or the divine, air is self-moving, and is the cause of all other motion, to expand on Ciciero's statement. The gods of the traditional Greek pantheon, therefore, are not ultimate, but derivative of the truly divine, air. In another context, Aetius says about Anaximenes: "'Just as our soul', he says, 'which is air, holds us together, so breath and air surround the whole cosmos'. Air and breath are used synonymously" (I. 3. 4, B2). This seems to be an example of an argument from the microcosm to the macrocosm: air or spirit holds the body together, so by extrapolation, air or the divine surrounds the whole cosmos and holds it together. The fact that, as Aetius points out, Anaximenes uses air and breath interchangeable might lead him to conclude that whatever had breath had divinity, that one spirit or air gave life to all sentient being.
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