5 PHILOSOPHY
It is through wonder that men now begin and originally began to philosophise;
wondering in the first place at obvious perplexities, and then by gradual pro-
gression raising questions about the greater matters too, e.g. about the changes
of the moon and of the sun, about the stars and about the origin of the universe.
Now he who wonders and is perplexed feels that he is ignorant (thus the myth-
lover is in a sense a philosopher since myths are composed of wonders); therefore
if it was to escape ignorance that men studied philosophy, it is obvious that they
pursued science for the sake of knowledge, and not for any practical utility.
Aristotle, Metaphysics, 1, 2, 9The Pre-Socratics
The very word philosophy, meaning in Greek the love of wisdom, suggests what the
world owes to the Greeks. The first thinkers consciously to reject the account of the
world handed down in the traditional myths emanated from Ionia in the seventh and
sixth centuries. Aristotle notes that prosperity in Ionia gave leisure time that allowed
philosophical and scientific speculation. The movement from myth to philosophy was
perhaps made easier by the nature of the myths themselves. In the IliadZeus is
neither omnipotent nor omniscient, nor did he create the world. He shares his power
with other gods and took power himself from his father. He is subject to laws beyond
his own will, recognizing that he cannot save his son Sarpedon from fate (16,
433–461). The Homeric concept of fate might suggest a topic for speculation to the
enquiring mind.
Little of the Pre-Socratic writing survives except for quotations in later authors,
but by common consent the earliest Ionian thinker was Thales of Miletus, who was
born in the latter half of the seventh century. He believed that the primary substance