Why Did Thales Conclude All Whatness is Wetness?
amvion: Zeus! And Water: Divine Command of the Olympians (2023); digital mixed-media, utilizing street art and photo elements found on the streets of San Francisco.
In "Thoughts on Thales," Abraham Feldman revisits the legacy of Thales of Miletus, often hailed as the first philosopher in the Western tradition. Thales's bold assertion—that all is derived from water—marks a profound departure from the myth-driven cosmologies of his era, proposing instead a principle that is both omnipresent and universal. Feldman's analysis sheds light on how this idea not only redefined the philosophical landscape of the time but continues to offer rich, modern-day resonances.
Thales, an astute merchant and thinker from the prosperous Ionian city of Miletus, came to his philosophical revelations not merely through contemplation but through the necessities and realities of his trading life, surrounded by the ebb and flow of the Aegean Sea. Feldman deftly connects Thales’s mercantile background to his philosophical insights, suggesting that his constant interaction with water informed his recognition of its universal properties. This insight marked a significant transition from mythological to empirical or rational understandings of the world—a shift toward explanations rooted in observable nature rather than the whims of gods.
In moments of introspection beside tranquil waters, there is a profound connection to Thales's philosophy. Water, ever-present and endlessly adaptable, not only sustains life and pervades all existence but also sculpts landscapes and radically transforms ecosystems. This duality of water—as both a life-giving force and a powerful agent of change—serves as a profound metaphor for our reliance on nature. It illustrates how fundamental elements can guide and shape the course of our lives. Seen through this lens, Thales's teachings offer more than a departure from orthodoxy; once the divine is recognized, like water, in everything, they provide essential strategies for engaging with the essential complexities and challenges of daily life, unencumbered by myth and legend.
Furthermore, Thales's notion of water as a unifying element enriches the understanding of interconnectedness in the world. It serves as a reminder that, despite apparent differences, there is a fundamental commonality binding all life. This insight fosters a sense of kinship with nature, highlighting the shared dependence on natural resources and the universal challenges faced. It underscores how, in the vast ocean of humanity, lives are deeply interwoven, influenced by the same cycles and forces that governed Thales’s world.
Feldman also touches on Thales’s application of his philosophic principles to practical ends, like his strategic manipulation of the olive press market after predicting a particularly bountiful harvest. This episode not only illustrates Thales’s wisdom but also his shrewd application of philosophical understanding for economic gain. It's a compelling example of how examining nature can inform and enhance modern strategy and foresight.
Thales's assertion that "all things are full of gods" deepens this narrative, merging the divine with the empirical and proposing a world suffused with spiritual water. In this view, comprehending nature like water is tantamount to grasping the divine itself. Feldman suggests that recognizing the sacred in the mundane can deepen our appreciation for and engagement with the natural world, shifting our focus from worshipping mythology to finding divinity in everything and everyone through their connection to water.
Feldman blends historical, philosophical, personal, and practical elements to create a portrait of Thales that goes beyond conventional academic analysis. Thales's legacy, as presented by Feldman, is not merely in his specific teachings about water but in his broader approach to knowledge: an enduring curiosity about nature, a readiness to challenge established narratives, and a commitment to finding unity within diversity.
And who knew that pondering puddles could lead to becoming the father of philosophy? Way to make a splash, Thales.
Footnotes
“Why did Thales believe that matter was water? Aristotle surmised that he reached his conclusion by meditating on the fact that the ‘nourishment of all things is moist and that even the hot is created from the wet and lives by it.’” Feldman, Abraham. "Thoughts on Thales." The Classical Journal, Vol. 41, No. 1, Oct. 1945, pp. 4-6.
“The following passage from the reply are revelation, to my mind, of what Thales, the wandering descendant of Phoenician commodity-mongers, a speculator of speculators, beheld in water: ‘It’s universality: its democratic equality and constancy to its nature in seeking its own level ... the restlessness of its waves and surface particles visiting in turn all points of its seaboard: the independence of its units ... its capacity to dissolve and hold in solution all soluble substances including millions of tons of the most precious metals.’” Feldman, Abraham. "Thoughts on Thales." The Classical Journal, Vol. 41, No. 1, Oct. 1945, pp. 4-6.
“Thales’ philosophical speculations are limited to two main propositions only, each accompanied by a more or less fanciful corollary, viz. (1) that water is the primary substance of the universe, and that the world rests on water, and that everything is full of gods, and that lodestone has a soul.” Dicks, D. R. "Thales." The Classical Quarterly, vol. 9, no. 2, Nov. 1959, pp. 294-309. Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Classical Association.
“Surely, that he [Thales] had a reputation chiefly as a practical man of affairs, who was capable of giving sensible political advice (his commendation to the Ionians to unite), was astute in business matters (the transaction with the olive-presses), and had an inquiring turn of mind with a bent towards natural science and the ability to put to practical use whatever knowledge he possessed (the stories of the eclipse prediction and the diversion of the river Halya). This picture of Thales is amply substantiated by the other reference to him in classical writers... he is cited as the typical example of the clever man... resourcefulness as for his sagacity.” Dicks, D. R. "Thales." The Classical Quarterly, vol. 9, no. 2, Nov. 1959, pp. 294-309. Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Classical Association.
“We may accept it as a fact that he was a man of outstanding intelligence, for this is implicit in all the references to him in the primary sources; we may also take it that he speculated on the origin and composition of the universe and came to the conclusion that the primary substance was water--this is well attested, but the original statement was soon embellished by later writers and these embellishments were likewise attributed to Thales. Finally, we may, on the evidence of Herodotus’ story of the prediction of the eclipse and (but much more dubiously) the alleged diversion of the river Halys, regard it as highly probable that Thales interested himself in mathematics and astronomy and possessed for his time a more than average knowledge of both.” Dicks, D. R. "Thales." The Classical Quarterly, vol. 9, no. 2, Nov. 1959, pp. 294-309. Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Classical Association.
“The theory of Thales should have prompted the conviction that the knowledge of all nature was within the reach of human intelligence. But there was a barrier to this faith, the feeling that a great mystery forever divided the mind from matter. The soul was a particular entity in the conception of Thales, something distinct from the body, just as he ascribed a soul to the magnet. At the same time that he reduced all divinity to ordinariness by declaring ‘All things are full of gods,’ he exalted ordinary things to celestial mystery…. But he failed to sever the umbilical cord that bound philosophy to mythology. He helped to dethrone Zeus and the whole Hellenic pantheon by making them seem variations on the theme of the sea-god Poseidon. But he preserved Poseidon.” Feldman, Abraham. "Thoughts on Thales." The Classical Journal, Vol. 41, No. 1, Oct. 1945, pp. 4-6.
