Thales of Miletus 624–546 BCE The first philosopher

Thales of Miletus 624–546 BCE

On a hot Ionian afternoon sometime in the sixth century BCE, an aging man stands on the harbor wall of Miletus watching the sea. Ships creak at their moorings, merchants shout in several languages, and the air smells of tar, wool, and salt. For most people here, the sea is simply a way to earn a living. For him, it is something more: a clue. The waves, the changing tides, the clouds building offshore, the strange regularity beneath the chaos of wind and water – all of it suggests to him that the world is not ruled by the moods of gods, but by something steady, intelligible, and shared. His name is Thales of Miletus, and later ages will call him the first philosopher.

To speak of Thales is to step into a world where myth and reason still share the same crowded streets. The Greeks have epic poetry, sacred  ...