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Anaximander (; ''Anaximandros''; c. 610 – c. 546 BC) was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher who lived in Miletus,〔"Anaximander" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 1, p. 403.〕 a city of Ionia (in modern-day Turkey). He belonged to the Milesian school and learned the teachings of his master Thales. He succeeded Thales and became the second master of that school where he counted Anaximenes and, arguably, Pythagoras amongst his pupils. Little of his life and work is known today. According to available historical documents, he is the first philosopher known to have written down his studies,〔Themistius, ''Oratio'' 36, §317〕 although only one fragment of his work remains. Fragmentary testimonies found in documents after his death provide a portrait of the man. He was an early proponent of science and tried to observe and explain different aspects of the universe, with a particular interest in its origins, claiming that nature is ruled by laws, just like human societies, and anything that disturbs the balance of nature does not last long.〔Park, David (2005) ''The Grand Contraption'', Princeton University Press ISBN 0-691-12133-8〕 Like many thinkers of his time, Anaximander's contributions to philosophy relate to many disciplines. In astronomy, he tried to describe the mechanics of celestial bodies in relation to the Earth. In physics, his postulation that the indefinite (or apeiron) was the source of all things led Greek philosophy to a new level of conceptual abstraction. His knowledge of geometry allowed him to introduce the gnomon in Greece. He created a map of the world that contributed greatly to the advancement of geography. He was also involved in the politics of Miletus and was sent as a leader to one of its colonies. Anaximander claimed that an "indefinite" (''apeiron'') principle gives rise to all natural phenomena. Carl Sagan claims that he conducted the earliest recorded scientific experiment.〔Sagan, Carl (1985) ''Cosmos'', Ballantine Books, ISBN 0-345-33135-4, pg 143–144.〕 ==Biography== Anaximander, son of Praxiades, was born in the third year of the 42nd Olympiad (610 BC).〔Hippolytus (?), ''Refutation of All Heresies'' (I, 5)〕 According to Apollodorus of Athens, Greek grammarian of the 2nd century BC, he was sixty-four years old during the second year of the 58th Olympiad (547–546 BC), and died shortly afterwards.〔In his ''Chronicles'', as reported by Diogenes Laërtius, ''Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers'' (II, 2).〕 Establishing a timeline of his work is now impossible, since no document provides chronological references. Themistius, a 4th century Byzantine rhetorician, mentions that he was the "first of the known Greeks to publish a written document on nature." Therefore, his texts would be amongst the earliest written in prose, at least in the Western world. By the time of Plato, his philosophy was almost forgotten, and Aristotle, his successor Theophrastus and a few doxographers provide us with the little information that remains. However, we know from Aristotle that Thales, also from Miletus, precedes Anaximander. It is debatable whether Thales actually was the teacher of Anaximander, but there is no doubt that Anaximander was influenced by Thales' theory that everything is derived from water. One thing that is not debatable is that even the ancient Greeks considered Anaximander to be from the Monist school which began in Miletus with Thales followed by Anaximander and finished with Anaximenes.〔Richard D. McKirahan, ''Philosophy before Socrates'', Ch 5, 32–34〕 3rd-century Roman rhetorician Aelian depicts him as leader of the Milesian colony to Apollonia on the Black Sea coast, and hence some have inferred that he was a prominent citizen. Indeed, ''Various History'' (III, 17) explains that philosophers sometimes also dealt with political matters. It is very likely that leaders of Miletus sent him there as a legislator to create a constitution or simply to maintain the colony’s allegiance. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Anaximander」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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