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Anaxagoras' theory of universe

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Anaxagoras

1. Life and Work

Anaxagoras, son of Hegesibulus (or Eubulus), was a native of Clazomenae, on the west coast of what is now Turkey. According to Diogenes Laertius (see the article on Doxography of Ancient Philosophy) (Diels-Kranz [DK] 59 A1), Anaxagoras came from an aristocratic and landed family, but abandoned his inheritance to study philosophy. (We do not know how he acquired his philosophical learning). He came to Athens (perhaps about the middle of the 5th century, perhaps earlier), and was a friend and protégé of Pericles, the Athenian general and political leader. There is controversy about his time in Athens; Diogenes Laertius says that he came to Athens to study philosophy as a young man. Some scholars claim that his arrival was as early as the Persian invasion of 480 (O’Brien 1968, Woodbury 1981, Graham 2006), others argue for a later date of about 456 (Mansfeld 1979, see also Mansfeld 2011 on Aristotle’s evidence; there is a good discussion of the problems about dating Anaxagoras’ life in Sider 2005). It is clear from the

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Anaxagoras
by
Patricia Curd
  • LAST REVIEWED: 29 May 2014
  • LAST MODIFIED: 29 May 2014
  • DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195389661-0141

  • Barnes, J. 1982. The Presocratic philosophers. Rev. ed. London and New York: Routledge.

    Philosophical history of Presocratic thought. Chapter 16 (pp. 249–267) treats Anaxagoras as an Ionian in the tradition of Anaximenes and provides analysis of Anaxagoras’ claims and arguments, with special attention to the theory of stuffs. Attempts to explain Anaxagoras’ system and how assumptions underlying it are (or are not) consistent.

  • Curd, P. 2011. Anaxagoras. In The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Fall 2011 ed. Edited by Edward N. Zalta.

    Entry in the online Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy; general introduction to philosophical problems in Anaxagoras, with bibliography. Good student resource.

  • Guthrie, W. K. C. 1965. A history of Greek philosophy. Vol. 2. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.

    Chapter 4 (pp. 266–388) is an excellent introduction to Anaxagoras. Clear discussion of problems faced by

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    Biography

    Anaxagoras of Clazomenae was described by Proclus, the last major Greek philosopher, who lived around 450 AD as (see for example [4]):-
    After [Pythagoras] Anaxagoras of Clazomenae dealt with many questions in geometry...
    Anaxagoras was an Ionian, born in the neighbourhood of Smyrna in what today is Turkey. We know few details of his early life, but certainly he lived the first part of his life in Ionia where he learnt about the new studies that were taking place there in philosophy and the new found enthusiasm for a scientific study of the world. He came from a rich family but he gave up his wealth. As Heath writes in [4]:-
    He neglected his possessions, which were considerable, in order to devote himself to science.
    Although Ionia had produced philosophers such as Pythagoras, up to the time of Anaxagoras this new study of knowledge had not spread to Athens. Anaxagoras is famed as the first to introduce philosophy to the Athenians when he moved there in about 480 BC. During Anaxagoras's stay in Athens, Pericles rose to power. Pericles, who was about five years youn

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