EARLY GREEK PHILOSOPHY II
THALES [11 DK]
D Thales (Probably) Left Behind No Writings (D1–D2)D1 (< A1) Diog. Laert. 1.23
καὶ κατά τινας μὲν σύγγραμμα κατέλιπεν οὐδέν [. . . = R6].
D2 (< Th 184 Wöhrle) Gal. In. Hipp. Nat. hom. 1.27 (= p. 37.9–11 Mewaldt)
[. . .] ὅτι Θαλῆς ἀπεφήνατο στοιχεῖον μόνον εἶναι τὸ ὕδωρ, ἐκ συγγράμματος αὐτοῦ δεικνύναι οὐκ ἔχομεν, ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως ἅπασι καὶ τοῦτο πεπίστευται.
Water as the Principle (D3–D4)D3 (< A12) Arist. Metaph. A3 983b18–22
τὸ μέντοι πλῆθος καὶ τὸ εἶδος τῆς τοιαύτης ἀρχῆς οὐ
THALES
THALES
D Thales (Probably) Left Behind No Writings (D1–D2)D1 (< A1) Diogenes Laertius
According to some, he did not leave behind a written treatise [. . .].
D2 (≠ DK) Galen, Commentary on Hippocrates’ On the Nature of Man
[. . .] we are not able to demonstrate on the basis of a treatise by Thales that he declared that water was the only element, even if this is what everyone believes.
Water as the Principle (D3–D4)D3 (< A12) Aristotle, Metaphysics
However, not all [scil. of those earliest philosophers who assert that things comes from a substrate] say the same