Thales

(c. 624 - 546 BCE)

Thales of Miletus was noted by Aristotle as the first philosopher, meaning he sought to use reason and observation—as opposed to mythology—to explain the natural world. He is thus generally known as a Presocratic Nature Philosopher. He was also listed as one of the “seven sages” of ancient Greece.

None of Thales writings survive so what we know of his philosophical views comes from fragmentary references from other ancient philosophers, most notably Aristotle. In Metaphysics 983 b6 8-11 he tells us that Thales held the first principle of existence (arxe) to be water. Thus, we can think of Thales as the first material reductivist. However, Aristotle also tells us that he also believed that everything is “full of gods” (De Anima A5 411a) meaning that his notion of materialism is quite different from later natural philosophers like Demokritos.