Natural Philosophers Quiz

Heraclitus

From Ephesus. Asserted that constant change or "flow" was the most basic characteristic of the natural world. Stability of Order: Everything must have an opposite or else it wouldn't exist.

Anaximenes

Assumed that earth, water, air and fire were the necessary preconditions of all life, but thought that air was the source of three of these four elements (fire, water, and earth)

Democritus

From Abdera. Like Parmenides, believed that transformations in nature could not be due to the fact that anything actually changed. Like Empedocles, argued that everything was made up of a group of basic elements. There were many of these "elements" and they were called atoms. They had hooks and barbs and became everything and never died. Law of Necessity

Parmenides

From Elia. Had three incontrovertible principles of reason. 1. something cannot come from nothing 2. something cannot become nothing 3. something cannot become anything other than what it is Change is an illusion created by sensory perceptions. One must rely solely on reason.

Thales

Measured the height of a pyramid using his own shadow and predicted a solar eclipse. Thought that water was the source of all things because he was crops grow after water went over them and saw water turn from a liquid to a vapor to a solid.

Anaxagoras

Moved to Athens. Astronomer (claimed sun wasn't a god) (moon didn't generate own light) (offered an explanation for solar eclipse) Suggested everything possesses a little bit of everything else

Empedocles

Reconciled the philosophies of Parmenides and Heraclitus. Said that both were right in on of their assertions and wrong in the other. - Parmenides was right to suggest that something cannot become anything other than what it is, but wrong to suggest that change is an illusion created by sensory perceptions -Heraclitus was right to suggest that change is real, but wrong to suggest that something can become something other than what it is Four basic elements, all things are a mixture of these four elements, in different proportions Two basic forces (love and strife) which conspired to combine and destroy these four elements

Anaximander

Thought that our world and all things in it (as well as other worlds and all things in them) appear, disappear and reappear out of the "indeterminate boundless" meaning actual things are specific but their source is indeterminate and where things are finite, their source is infinite or boundless.