Idea

Nature

Physis: the way things grow, move, and are. To live according to nature was the first and last commandment of Greek philosophy.

The earliest philosophers asked: what is the nature of the world? Thales said water. Heraclitus said fire. Democritus said atoms. But physis also means the nature of a thing, what it tends toward, what it is meant to be. Living according to nature could mean anything from Diogenes sleeping outdoors to Aristotle studying biology to the Stoics accepting fate. The word carried both scientific and moral weight.

Thinkers Who Shaped This Idea

Ancient Greece· 624–262 BCE

Thales

c. 624 BCE – c. 546 BCE

Anaximander

c. 610 BCE – c. 546 BCE

Anaximenes

c. 586 BCE – c. 526 BCE

Heraclitus

c. 535 BCE – c. 475 BCE

Democritus

c. 460 BCE – c. 370 BCE

Diogenes

c. 412 BCE – c. 323 BCE

Aristotle

384 BCE – 322 BCE

Theophrastus

c. 371 BCE – c. 287 BCE

Epicurus

341 BCE – 270 BCE

Zeno of Citium

c. 334 BCE – c. 262 BCE

Classical China· 571–233 BCE

Yang Zhu

c. 440 BCE – c. 360 BCE

The Islamic Golden Age· 800–1274 CE

Al-Razi

c. 854 CE – 925 CE

Al-Biruni

973 CE – c. 1048 CE

Nasir al-Din al-Tusi

1201 CE – 1274 CE

Classical India· 600 BCE–550 CE

Kapila

c. 6th century BCE

Medieval Europe· 354–1349 CE

John Scotus Eriugena

c. 815 CE – c. 877 CE

Albertus Magnus

c. 1200 CE – 1280 CE

Roger Bacon

c. 1219 CE – c. 1292 CE

Early Modern· 1561–1716 CE

Galileo Galilei

1564 CE – 1642 CE

Margaret Cavendish

1623 CE – 1673 CE

The Enlightenment· 1694–1797 CE

Baron d'Holbach

1723 CE – 1789 CE

Related Ideas

VirtueLogosJusticeHappinessBeingReasonChangeModerationStoic EthicsNatural LawAtoms & the VoidInner FreedomFaith & ReasonEmpiricismThe Mind-Body Problem