11. The Pre-Socratics: From Matter to Form to Mover

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

The Three Milesian Philosophers #

Thales: Water as the Beginning

• Water is essential to life (seeds require water to germinate)
• Water can exist in three states: solid (ice), liquid, gaseous (steam)
• Water appears formless and colorless, capable of taking on all qualities
• Reasonable first guess, but water has definite qualities (wet, cold) that limit it

Anaximander: The Unlimited (apeiron)

• Refines Thales by observing: if water is the beginning, how do hot and dry things exist?
• The first matter must be unlimited in quality (not restricted to any definite qualities)
• The first matter must be unlimited in quantity (source never exhausted)
• What is the beginning is also that into which things return (circular principle)
• The unlimited is everlasting, immortal, indestructible
• Problem: The unlimited is described only negatively; we cannot sense it directly

Anaximenes: Air as the Beginning

• Air is more unlimited than water in both quantitative and qualitative senses
• Air is finer and thinner than water—it penetrates where water cannot
• The soul is air, holding the body together; air surrounds and holds the whole world
• Three reasons air is better than water:
  1. More unlimited quantitatively (fills more space)
  2. More unlimited qualitatively (fewer definite qualities)
  3. Thinner in its parts (composite things are made from thinner constituents)
• More sensible than the unlimited, yet still incorporates Anaximander’s insight

Pythagoras and Form as a Cause #

• Approaches natural philosophy from mathematics rather than observation
• Discovers the octave (διάπασον/diapason in Greek) corresponds to the ratio 2:1
• Suggests simple numbers and ratios underlie all things
• Introduces form as a distinct kind of cause from matter
• Examples of form as cause:
  • Manhattan cocktail: requires proper ratio of rye whiskey to sweet vermouth (2:1)
  • Stinger: brandy and white crème de menthe in ratio 2:1; wrong ratio makes it too sweet
  • Carbon dioxide vs. carbon monoxide: differ only in atomic ratio; CO is lethal, CO₂ is in sodas
• Carries the mathematical habit of looking for form/ratio over into natural philosophy

Heraclitus: Change, Contraries, and Fire #

Change as Fundamental #

• Reality is like a river: always flowing, never the same water twice
• Cratylus (student of Heraclitus) allegedly claimed you cannot step even once into the same river
• Change occurs between contraries: cold becomes hot, wet becomes dry, living becomes dead, awake becomes asleep
• The sun is new every day—constantly changing like all things

Nature Loves to Hide #

• Nature (φύσις/physis) originally means birth—what comes from within, hidden
• The baby is hidden within the mother; the source (nature) is always within, not visible on the surface
• This is why nature loves to hide: it is the interior cause, not the exterior manifestation
• The outward appearance is known; what generates it remains hidden

Apparent Contradiction in Change #

• If something “becomes” hot from cold, does the cold become hot (logical contradiction)?
• If not, then there is no change
• Heraclitus seems to suggest: things both are and are not simultaneously
• Example: We are and we are not the same persons from week to week (we have changed)
• Yet we remain somehow the same (same teacher, same students)
• Later philosophers respond differently:
  • Parmenides: Rejects change as impossible due to contradiction
  • Plato and Aristotle: Untie the apparent contradiction; they understand change properly
  • Hegelians and Marxists: Accept real contradiction in things (dialectics)

Fire as First Matter and Mover #

• “All things are exchanged for fire and fire for all things”
• Fire is volatile and constantly transforming—excellent for representing the mover
• Fire has definite qualities (hot, dry), making it less ideal as first matter than air
• Heraclitus may confusedly identify matter and mover; later philosophers will separate these clearly

Hidden Harmony and Opposition #

• “The hidden harmony is better than the apparent”
• Contraries work together: the bow and lyre accomplish their function through opposing forces
• Opposition is not destructive but productive: competition drives improvement, legal systems use opposing arguments, character develops through struggle

The Way Up and Down #

• “The way up and down is one and the same”
• Earth becomes water, water becomes air, air becomes fire (and the reverse)
• “The death of earth is water coming to be”
• The universe is eternal fire, kindled and extinguished in measures
• Beginning and end are the same in a circle

Logos and the Cosmos #

• “It is wise, listening not to me but to reason, to agree that all things are one”
• Reason (λόγος/logos) naturally seeks unity and order
• The cosmos (κόσμος—a beautiful, well-ordered whole) appears ordered, not a random heap
• A mindless fire would produce “a heap piled up at random”
• The order and beauty suggest an intelligent mind behind the universe
• This anticipates Anaxagoras’s concept of Mind (Νοῦς/Nous)

Key Arguments #

Why Look for One Simple Beginning? #

• Reason naturally seeks order; order is based on something one
• Historical events are ordered by reference to one pivotal event (e.g., birth of Christ)
• An army requires one leader; a nation requires one supreme government
• Scientists seek unity in equations and laws

How the First Matter Must Be Constituted #

• Must be simple, not composite (else something precedes it)
• Must have no definite qualities (else contrary qualities would be excluded from the universe)
• Must be unlimited in quantity (inexhaustible source for all things)
• Must be unlimited in quality (free from restriction to any definite qualities)

Why Air is Better Than Water #

1. More unlimited quantitatively: Air fills more space and penetrates further
2. More unlimited qualitatively: Air has fewer definite qualities than water
3. Finer and thinner: Composite things are made from thinner constituents (thick book from thin pages; molecules from atoms; atoms from particles)

The Problem of Sensibility vs. Intelligibility #

• The unlimited (ἄπειρον/apeiron) is intelligible but not sensible—described only negatively
• Water and air are sensible but have definite qualities that limit their role as first matter
• Anaximenes seeks a middle ground: air is less sensible than water but more sensible than the unlimited, yet still captures the insight that first matter is unlimited

Important Definitions #

Cause (αἴτιον/aition) #

• That which is responsible for the being or becoming of another thing
• Greek meaning is tied to “responsible” or “responsible for”
• Four kinds: matter, form, mover (maker), end

Nature (φύσις/physis) #

• Originally: birth (from root meaning to be born)
• Extended: the source of birth within a thing (the mother as nature, the seed as nature)
• Further extended: any cause of motion and rest within a thing
• Finally: what a thing is (its essence)
• Always implies something within, hidden from external view

First Matter (ὕλη/hyle) #

• That from which all other things come to be
• Must be simple and without definite qualities
• Must be unlimited in both quantity and quality
• Examples guessed: water, the unlimited, air

The Unlimited (ἄπειρον/apeiron) #

• Not limited in quality (free from any single definite set of qualities)
• Not limited in quantity (inexhaustible)
• Everlasting, immortal, indestructible
• Can only be described negatively; not directly sensible

Form (μορφή/morphe) #

• In this context (Pythagoras): ratio, order, arrangement
• Not merely shape, but the principle that organizes matter
• Example: the ratio 2:1 that makes a Manhattan or stinger what it is

Cosmos (κόσμος/kosmos) #

• Greek word for universe
• Implies something beautiful, well-arranged, well-ordered
• Contrasts with a heap piled up at random

Examples & Illustrations #

The Word “Cat” #

• Matter cause: Depends on letters C, A, T
• Form cause: Depends on their order (distinguishes “cat” from “act”)
• Mover cause: Depends on the writer who arranged the letters
• End cause: Made for the purpose of naming the animal
• Demonstrates how one thing depends on multiple kinds of causes simultaneously

The Chair #

• Matter: Wood and screws
• Form: The shape that makes it a chair (not a roof)
• Mover: The carpenter who shaped it
• End: Made for sitting

The Cocktails #

• Manhattan: Rye whiskey + sweet vermouth in 2:1 ratio
• Stinger: Brandy + white crème de menthe in 2:1 ratio
• Same matter (spirit + liqueur), different form (different substances); same form (2:1 ratio) with different matter produces different drinks
• Wrong ratio makes the drink too sweet and cloying

Water Penetration #

• Water can go through basement walls where soil cannot
• Air penetrates where water cannot
• Demonstrates how air is finer and thinner, hence better suited to be the unlimited first matter

The River and Change #

• Not the same water twice (demonstrating impermanence)
• Yet called “the same river” (demonstrating that some identity persists despite change)
• Illustrates the puzzle: we are and we are not the same from week to week

The Box and the Chest (from Sherlock Holmes) #

• An empty chest: “there’s nothing in there”
• Yet air fills it, though we cannot see the air
• Demonstrates that air’s invisibility makes us overlook its existence
• Suggests how the first matter, being finer, is harder to perceive

The Bow and Lyre #

• Hands pull in opposite directions
• Yet opposites work together harmoniously to create the desired effect
• Illustration of how hidden harmony emerges from apparent opposition
• Example of useful opposition beyond mere static equilibrium

Questions Addressed #

Is it reasonable to look for one beginning of all things? #

• Yes: understanding something from its beginning gives the best understanding
• The human mind naturally inclines toward unity even without explicit reasons for it

Why should the first matter have no definite qualities? #

• If it had hot, it could not produce cold; if wet, it could not produce dry
• But we experience both hot and cold, wet and dry, living and dead
• Therefore the first matter must be formless and qualityless

Is water a good guess for the first matter? #

• Yes, for preliminary reasons: essential to life, appears formless, can take multiple states
• But no, for a deeper reason: it has definite qualities (wet, cold)

Why is air better than water? #

• For three reasons: more unlimited quantitatively, more unlimited qualitatively, finer and thinner
• Finer things compose thicker things, not vice versa

Does Heraclitus really believe day and night are the same thing? #

• Unclear; he may be pointing out the appearance of contradiction to stimulate thinking
• Like Socrates drawing out contradictions to lead the soul toward truth
• Like Thomas Aquinas presenting objections before untying the apparent contradiction

How can opposites work together productively? #

• The bow: opposing forces create the arrow’s flight
• Competition: opposing businesses drive each other to improve
• Law: opposing lawyers seek truth through opposition
• Art: light and shadow create beauty together
• Character: struggle and obstacles develop virtue

Does the cosmos’s order suggest an intelligent cause? #

• Yes: a mindless, random fire would produce “a heap piled up at random”
• The beauty and order we observe suggest an intelligent mind (Νοῦς/Nous)
• This anticipates later philosophy’s move toward recognizing Mind as a cause

Theological and Philosophical Significance #

Development of Causal Thinking #

• Thales and the Milesians begin with matter
• Pythagoras introduces form as a distinct cause
• Heraclitus emphasizes motion and change (mover)
• Later philosophers (Plato, Aristotle) will add the end (final cause)
• This represents the natural development of human reason toward complete causal understanding

Connection to Later Philosophy #

• Plato was taught by Cratylus (student of Heraclitus) and responds to Heraclitus’s emphasis on change by developing the theory of unchanging Forms
• Aristotle examines these predecessors systematically to confirm and refine the doctrine of four causes
• Both Plato and Aristotle “untie” the apparent contradiction in change that Heraclitus seems to accept
• Anaxagoras (not fully discussed here) will introduce Mind (Nous) as cause, suggested by Heraclitus’s observations about cosmic order

Relevance to Thomistic Theology #

• Thomas Aquinas identifies four of the five attributes of God’s substance in pre-Socratic thinking:
  • One (Thales sought one beginning)
  • Simple (first matter must be simple, not composite)
  • Unlimited (Anaximander and Heraclitus)
  • Unchanging/Eternal (Anaximander, Heraclitus)
  • Perfect (not found in pre-Socratics)
• The method of examining predecessors follows Aristotle’s Metaphysics, which Aquinas saw as the proper way to develop understanding
• The principle that opposition can be productive (from Heraclitus) appears in theological development: God permits evil, conflict develops virtue, the cross overcomes death