Occidental Studies

Thales' scientific-philosophical thought; A Contextual reading

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

reza nasiri hamed 1
amirhossein najafifard 2

1 Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Tabriz

2 Student of Political Science,, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili

10.30465/os.2024.48768.1980
Abstract
Introduction: Even though of the Greeks and especially Thales of Meitus are considered the founders of philosophical reflection, cannot deny the importance of economic, cultural and scientific relations and interactions in addition to the influence of their predecessors, especially in the Ionian region and also between them and neighbor civilizations. Thales, as the founder of philosophy, was on the one hand influenced by the mythological thinking before him and therefore his break from the mythological thinking should be regarded with a kind of tolerance; In addition, Thales was greatly influenced by non-Greek civilizations, including Babylonian and Egyptian, in his innovative approach to nature and his attempt to explain it. In general, at the forefront of philosophical thought, like any other category, human thinking has a close connection with historical conditions and social contexts and at the same time with other human fields, including science, in the sense of empirical and concrete human research. Methodology: In the rereading of Thales, it will be important to focus on the contextuality and historicity of thought, which is not only an effective factor, but apparently should be counted as a condition for the possibility of philosophical thinking and of course, in this regard, the issue of action and reaction of thinking in relation to the his environment condition is considered important. In particular, what is considered as politics, and to put it better, the political, which means power in the heart of human relations - and not necessarily the official and ruling politics of the society - plays an irreplaceable role in the formation and growth of thought. Findings: Thales' intellectual system includes the connection between various components from different fields, including science and philosophy, both of which contain elements of myth-thought. At the same time, the analysis of Thales' thinking shows that, on the one hand, thought in ancient Greece was not formed in a miraculous way, but in the confrontation with neighbor civilizations and cultures, as well as the existing conflicts and contradictions. In the reflections of Thales, due to the special nature of the conditions and the type of thinking, it is not a matter specific only to his point of view, but a more or less common feature of all human thoughts throughout history. Discussion and Conclusion: Emphasizing the special conditions in the formation and development of Thales's thought does not deny the importance of his approach.Paying attention to the many watersheds of Thales's approach is, on the one hand, a sign of the curiosity and practice of one of the epoch-making thinkers, along with paying attention to the hybrid dimension of thought.One of the inevitable results of adopting such different elements in the intellectual system is the existence of parts that are incompatible with each other, which itself inspires the thinkers and intellectual currents of the era after it, each of which relies on a particular aspect of the previous thinking. Therefore "Quentin Skinner", with regard to the contexts as well as the intention that the author chooses for himself in thinking, believes that there should not be a coherent framework free of conflicts and contradictions, especially duringtime attributed or imposed on the thinker.A thinker, as a child of his time, engages in reflections and actions that may reveal his contradictions by looking beyond the historical and spatial distance.The important insight of the overview of Thales as a historical and specific experience may indicate a transhistorical point in the analysis of thought that the originality of thought is always based on its interactive aspect with other thoughts and not in a discrete abstraction and separated from other opinions.

Keywords

Thales
arche
water
myth
metaphysics
Aristotle (1885) The Politics of Aristotle, Trans. By B. Jowett, Oxford, Oxford University Press;
Aristotle (2009) The Nicomachean Ethics, Trans. By David Ross, Oxford, Oxford University Press;
Aristotle (2016) Metaphysics, Trans. By C. D. C. Reeve, Indianapolis, Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.
Broad, C. D. (1925) The Mind and its Place in Nature, London, Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner& Co.LTD;

Cartledge, Paul (2004) Democritus, trans. By akbar masoumbeygi, Tehran, Agahpub [in Persian];

Copleston, Frederick (1993) A History of Philosophy, Vol.1: Greece and Rome, New York, Image Book;
Durant, Will (1943) The Story of Philosophy, New York, Garden City Publishing Co., INC.;
Early Greek Philosophy; Vol. II; Beginnings and Early Ionian Thinkers, Part1 (2016), Trans. And Edi. By Andre Laks and Glenn Most, Cambridge, Harvard University Press;
Gadamer, Hans-Georg (1998) The Beginning of Philosophy, Trans. By Rod Coltman, New York, Continuum;
Ghaderi, Hatam (2009) Iran and Greece, philosophy without politics and in the context of history,Tehran, negahemoaser[in Persian];

Gomperz, Theodor (1996) Greek thinkers, vol.1, Ttrans by Mohammad Hassan Lotfi, Tehran, sherkat –e sahami –e Entesharat –e Kharazmi [in Persian];

Gorman, Peter (1979) Pythagoras; A Life, London, Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd;
Guthrie, W.K.C. (1985) A History of Greek Philosophy, Vol. 1: The Earlier Presocratics and the Pythagoreans, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press;
Guthrie, W.K.C. (1997) The Greek Philosophers From Thales to Aristotle, Abingdon, Routldge;
Heidegger, Martin (1988) The Basic Problems of Phenomenology, Trans. By Albert Hofstadte, Bloomington, Indiana University Press;
Herodotus (1936) The History of Herodutus, Vol.1, Trans. By George Rawlinson, London, J. M. Dent & Sons LTD;
Idang, Gabriel Ema (2013) Thales, Anaximander and Anaximenes as Pathfinders of Modern Science, International Journal of Philosophy, Vol.1, No.4, PP.57-65;
Jordan, William (1992) Ancient Concepts of Philosophy, London, Routledge;
Jamadi, Siavash (2016) The background and time of phenomenology: a study in the life and thoughts of Husserl and Heidegger, Tehran, qoqnoos, 5th edition [in Persian];
Khorasani (Sharaf), Sharafoddin (1971) The first philosophers of Greece, Tehran, Sherkat-e Sahami-e Ketabha-ye Jibi and Franklin Book Program [in Persian];
 
Lloyd, G.E.R. (1970) Early Greek Science; Thales to Aristotle, London, Chatto & Windus Ltd;

Mahrin, Mehrdad (1956) Shenakht –e Haghighat az nazar –e Falasafeh –e Younan, Bija, sherkat-e Chap Mihan [in Persian];

Plato (1982) Hippias Major, Trans. By Paul Woodruft, Oxford, Basil Blckwell;
Plato (2015) Theaetetus and Sophist, Edi. By Christopher Rowe, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press;
Popper, Karl (2002) Conjectures and Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge, Abingdon, Routldge;
Russell, Bertrand (1945) The History of Western Philosophy and its Connection with Political and Social Circumstances from the Earliest Times to the Present Day, New York, Simon and Schuster;
Shahrazuri, Shams al-Din Muhammad ibn Mahmud (1986) Nozhato alarvah va Rozato alafrah (Tariho alhokama), Trans. By Maghsoudali Tabrizi, Tehran, Sherkate entesharate elmi va farhangi [in Persian];

Shahrastānī, Abū al-Fath Muhammad ibn `Abd al-Karīm (1982) Tozih ollmelal (trans. of Al-Milal wa al-Nihal) vol.2 Trans. By Seyedmohamadreza Jjalali Naini, Bija, sherkate sahami am; [in Persian];

Stace. W.T. (1960) A Critical History of Greek Philosophy, London, MacMillan & Co LTD ;
Stella, Aldo and Divino, Federico (2023) The Metaphysical Turn in the History Of Thought: Anaximander and Buddhist Philosophy, Philosophies, 8. 99, PP. 1-22;
Tansey, Stephen. D. and Jackson, Nigel A. (2008) Politics: The Basics, Abingdon, Routledg;

Werner, Sharl (Bita) Seyr –e Hekmat dar Younan, Trans. By Bozorg Naderzad, Tehran, Zavvarpub [in Persian];

Occidental Studies
Volume 14, Issue 2 - Serial Number 28
February 2024
Pages 167-189

Home

Guide for Authors

Submit Manuscript

Reviewers

Contact Us