Anaximander and his philosophy

Anaximander was a younger contemporary of Thales, who also sought for the first material principle; he was a disciple and successor of Thales and philosophized in dialogue with him.

For Anaximander, the principle of things, the constituent of all substances, is nothing determined and not an element such as water in Thales' view. Neither is it something halfway between air and water, or between air and fire, thicker than air and fire, or more subtle than water and earth. Anaximander argues that water cannot embrace all of the opposites found in nature — for example, water can only be wet, never dry — and therefore cannot be the one primary substance; nor could any of the other candidates. He postulated the apeiron as a substance that, although not directly perceptible to us, could explain the opposites he saw around him.

Anaximander introduced us with "Apeiron", the boundless in space and time. He believed that, the boundless in space and time is the building block of the universe. There is a problem with the answer made by the philosopher. The term 'fundamental building block' refers to something material or solid. So it should be made of something material.But according to Anaximander, the fundamental building of the universe is made of something immaterial or abstract. So, we find a conflict between two things, matter and spirit.

This perticular notion is attributable to other aspect of life. As for example, the very critical point of William Shakespeare’s famous play ‘As You Like It’, marriage is highlighted. The clear intention of marries support the business of human flesh, which is material. On the other hand the oath word from any religion during the marriage supports the spiritual things. So the conflict between material and spiritual being continue.

Nazim Ahmed, ELL, SUB