Place

Miletus

Ionia · Modern Turkey

A prosperous trading city on the Ionian coast. Miletus produced the first thinkers to seek natural explanations for the world, launching what we now call philosophy.

Thinkers Connected to Miletus

Thales

c. 624 BCE – c. 546 BCE

The first philosopher. He looked at the world and asked what it was made of.

Anaximander

c. 610 BCE – c. 546 BCE

Thales asked what the world is made of. Anaximander answered: nothing you can name. The origin is the boundless.

Anaximenes

c. 586 BCE – c. 526 BCE

Everything is air, thickening and thinning. The first attempt to explain change by a single measurable process.

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