and ageless, and "it encompasses all the worlds"--for he thought our world only one of many. The
primal substance is transformed into the various substances with which we are familiar, and these
are transformed into each other. As to this, he makes an important and remarkable statement:
"Into that from which things take their rise they pass away once more, as is ordained, for they
make reparation and satisfaction to one another for their injustice according to the ordering of
time."
The idea of justice, both cosmic and human, played a part in Greek religion and philosophy which
is not altogether easy for a modern to understand; indeed our word "justice" hardly expresses what
is meant, but it is difficult to find any other word that would be preferable. The thought which
Anaximander is expressing seems to be this: there should be a certain proportion of fire, of earth,
and of water in the world, but each element (conceived as a god) is perpetually attempting to
enlarge its empire. But there is a kind of necessity or natural law which perpetually redresses the
balance; where there has been fire, for example, there are ashes, which are earth. This conception
of justice --of not overstepping eternally fixed bounds--was one of the most profound of Greek
beliefs. The gods were subject to justice just as much as men were, but this supreme power was
not itself personal, and was not a supreme God.
Anaximander had an argument to prove that the primal substance could not be water, or any other
known element. If one of these were primal, it would conquer the others. Aristotle reports him as
saying that these known elements are in opposition to one another. Air is cold, water is moist, and
fire is hot. "And therefore, if any one of them were infinite, the rest would have ceased to be by
this time." The primal substance, therefore, must be neutral in this cosmic strife.
There was an eternal motion, in the course of which was brought about the origin of the worlds.
The worlds were not created, as in Jewish or Christian theology, but evolved. There was evolution
also in the animal kingdom. Living creatures arose from the moist element as it was evaporated by
the sun. Man, like every other animal, was descended from fishes. He must be derived from
animals of a different sort, because, owing to his long infancy, he could not have survived,
originally, as he is now.
Anaximander was full of scientific curiosity. He is said to have been