Will Buckingham
DK (March 2, 2015)

Table of Contents

EVERYTHING IS MADE OF WATER THALES OF MILETUS (C.624–546 BCE)

/ˈθeili:z/ n. 泰利斯（希腊哲学家）

Thales reasons that the fundamental material of the universe had to be
something out of which everything else could be formed, as well as being essential to life, and capable of motion and therefore of change.

He observes that water is clearly necessary to sustain all forms of life, and that it moves and changes, assuming different forms – from liquid to solid ice and vaporous mist. So Thales concludes that all matter, regardless of its apparent properties, must be water in some stage of transformation.

Milesian School: The Milesian school was a school of thought founded in the 6th century BC. The ideas associated with it are exemplified by three philosophers from the Ionian town of Miletus, on the coast of what is now Turkey: Thales, Anaximander/əˈnæksəˌmændə/, and Anaximenes/ˌænækˈsɪməˌniːz/. They introduced new opinions contrary to the prevailing viewpoint on how the world was organized, in which natural phenomena were explained solely by the will of anthropomorphized gods. The Milesians presented a view of nature in terms of methodologically observable entities, and as such was one of the first truly scientific philosophies.

THE DAO THAT CAN BE TOLD IS NOT THE ETERNAL DAO LAOZI (C.6TH CENTURY BCE)

The changes are cyclical, continually moving from one state to another, such as from night to day, summer to winter, and so on. They saw the different states not as opposites, but as related, one arising from the other. These states also possess complementary properties that together make up a whole. The process of change is seen as an expression of dao. But because of our desire and free will, we can stray from the dao, and disturb the world’s harmonious balance. To live a virtuous life means acting in accordance with the dao.

We can only live according to the dao by wu wei, literally “non-action.” By this Laozi does not mean “not doing”, but acting in accordance with
nature—spontaneously and intuitively. That in turn entails acting without desire, ambition, or recourse to social conventions.

道德经·第一章
道可道，非常道；名可名，非常名。
无名，天地之始，有名，万物之母。
故常无欲，以观其妙，常有欲，以观其徼。
此两者，同出而异名，同谓之玄，玄之又玄，众妙之门。

可以求寻常之道，但此道必定不会成为永恒之道。可以取寻常之名，但此名不会成为永恒之名。世间万物，无名之时乃天地之最初开始。得名之后为万物化生之根源。所以即要经常无所欲求的去观察那些客观存在的万事万物的变化，又要带着索求去观察联想世间万物的客观发展及变化规律。这是对同一事物的不同寻求方法，若长此以往的不断探索，虽非常玄妙，却又是打开万物之门的最妙之法。

Number is the ruler of forms and ideas Pythagoras C.570 - 495 BCE

/pai’θæɡəræs/ 毕达哥拉斯

Pythagoras was also, however, a deeply religious and superstitious man. He believed in reincarnation /ˌriːɪnkɑː'neɪʃ(ə)n/ and the transmigration of souls, and he established a religious cult, with himself cast as a virtual messiah, in Croton, southern Italy. His disciples lived in a collective commune, following strict behavioral and dietary rules, while studying his religious and philosophical theories.

Pythagoras’s Theorem showed that shapes and ratios are governed by principles that can be discovered. This suggested that it might be possible, in time, to work out the structure of the entire cosmos. He does not totally dismiss the Milesian idea that the universe is made up of one fundamental substance, but he shifts the enquiry from substance to form.

Pythagoras also established the principle of deductive reasoning (演绎推理), which is the step-by-step process of starting with self-evident axioms /ˈæksiəm/ (such as “2 + 2 = 4”) to build toward a new conclusion or fact. Deductive reasoning was later refined by Euclid /ˈju:klid/, and it formed the basis of mathematical thinking into medieval times and beyond.

One of Pythagoras’s most important contributions to the development of philosophy was the idea that abstract thinking is superior to the evidence of the senses.