ANAXAGORAS c.501 - 428 BC Greek Philosopher Anaxagoras introduced philosophy to the Athenians during the age of Pericles, and he was prosecuted for teaching that the sun was not a god but a red-hot stone. Anaxagoras was born in Ionia, an area settled by Greeks along the coast of Asia Minor. About 480 he moved to Athens and brought from Ionia the new practice of philosophy and the spirit of scientific inquiry. He taught that all objects in nature are composed of tiny 'seeds', which contain the qualities we perceive in things. A cosmic mind causes these 'seeds' to combine and separate. Anaxagoras had great influence on the statesman Pericles and the poet Euripides. |
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www link : Encyclopedia of Philosophy Biography
From the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. School of Mathematics |