Page:Ferrier Works vol 2 1888 LECTURES IN GREEK PHILOSOPHY.pdf/103



15. The next philosopher of the Ionic school was Anaximander. This philosopher was born in the year 610 B.C., and died in 547 B.C. Miletus was his birthplace, and he was the friend and disciple of Thales. He is said to have lived for some time in the island of Samos, at the court of the great Polycrates, where also Pythagoras and the poet Anacreon were at that time residing. Anaximander is said to have been the first philosopher who put down his thoughts in writing. He made a map of the earth and the sea, in which it is probable that a good deal of conjecture was embodied. He invented the sundial, and was celebrated generally for his attainments in mathematics, and for his invention of mathematical instruments.

16. The German historian of philosophy, Ritter, followed by Mr Lewes, takes Anaximander out of his place in the Ionic school, and connects him rather with the Pythagoreans. They do this on the ground that his speculations were rather mathematical than physical. It seems to me, however, that the position usually assigned to him as the immediate successor of Thales, and as a member of the same school, is his right place in the history of philosophy. And, accordingly, I have ranked him among the Ionic philosophers, both on account of his birthplace and of his