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The First Philosophers of Greece
Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.
324 pages, Paperback
First published April 2, 2010
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August 14, 2026
I genuinely looked forward to reading The First Philosophers of Greece by Arthur Fairbanks. I had, of course, heard of Heraclitus, Pythagoras, Anaxagoras et al, but had never explored their writings, believing, somewhat naïvely, that they existed. After reading Fairbanks’s book, I am both wiser and more confused about their thinking, but the encounter with this thought was eventually to the detriment of the thinkers in question.
Published in 1898, the book lists the various fragments of writing that can be attributed to each philosopher. In many cases, these are second-hand reports of what the person in question said or thought. The text is in Greek for the most part, followed by translations. Some philosophers made their name and recognition on very little, it seems. Perhaps the most famous of the ancient Greek philosophers, after all, Socrates, never actually wrote anything down on paper or stone or any other medium. We have only the reports of others what his beliefs and behaviours were. Not that the reputation of Socrates has suffered. But for this reader, at least, the whole concept of philosophy in ancient Greece has suffered as a result of reading this text.
Not that Arthur Fairbanks’s scholarship or writing is at fault. He leaves not a source unturned to discover what might be taken as the authentic voice of each of the philosophers listed. The problem, for this reader, was the text itself or more often, the lack of it.
It is perhaps common sense to believe that if I stand still, then I am stationary. From such a standpoint, the sun, moon and stars rotate around the earth on a circular path from east to west. And in a model in which the universe is constructed from just four elements, earth, water, air and fire, the sun has to be composed of one of them, so it is associated with fire, because it’s hot. If I happen to live near the sea, which is composed mainly of water, and I see each day the sun rise out of the water– which would extinguish the fire – then the sun must be born a new each day. It’s common sense. It is also common sense to assert that if I do not live near the sea, then I have to make up something different!
The celestial bodies must, therefore, go under the earth to reappear each day. Where the other side of the earth might be is the burning question that can only be answered by circumnavigation, a process that was beyond the ancient Greeks. The sea, incidentally, is the sweat of the earth, caused by the heating of the sun, and is of course salty. It’s common sense.
Alongside this observational material, however, there is of course much talk of “soul”, “gods”, “one”, and “universe”. Personally, I think that rather than call them call these scholars “philosophers”, it might be better to label them theologians, a group of people who to this day make up stories to back up their own personal and untestable beliefs.
But what was more disappointing was to realize how little of the works of the early these early philosophers have been preserved in anything like their original form. What forms most of the pieces listed is at best fragmentary, often second-hand and, as Fairbanks himself alludes in his own commentary, copied badly over the years.
The First Philosophers of Greece by Arthur Fairbanks was a real eye-opener for me. It has underlined how easy it is to be a theologian and how difficult it is to be a philosopher of integrity.
Published in 1898, the book lists the various fragments of writing that can be attributed to each philosopher. In many cases, these are second-hand reports of what the person in question said or thought. The text is in Greek for the most part, followed by translations. Some philosophers made their name and recognition on very little, it seems. Perhaps the most famous of the ancient Greek philosophers, after all, Socrates, never actually wrote anything down on paper or stone or any other medium. We have only the reports of others what his beliefs and behaviours were. Not that the reputation of Socrates has suffered. But for this reader, at least, the whole concept of philosophy in ancient Greece has suffered as a result of reading this text.
Not that Arthur Fairbanks’s scholarship or writing is at fault. He leaves not a source unturned to discover what might be taken as the authentic voice of each of the philosophers listed. The problem, for this reader, was the text itself or more often, the lack of it.
It is perhaps common sense to believe that if I stand still, then I am stationary. From such a standpoint, the sun, moon and stars rotate around the earth on a circular path from east to west. And in a model in which the universe is constructed from just four elements, earth, water, air and fire, the sun has to be composed of one of them, so it is associated with fire, because it’s hot. If I happen to live near the sea, which is composed mainly of water, and I see each day the sun rise out of the water– which would extinguish the fire – then the sun must be born a new each day. It’s common sense. It is also common sense to assert that if I do not live near the sea, then I have to make up something different!
The celestial bodies must, therefore, go under the earth to reappear each day. Where the other side of the earth might be is the burning question that can only be answered by circumnavigation, a process that was beyond the ancient Greeks. The sea, incidentally, is the sweat of the earth, caused by the heating of the sun, and is of course salty. It’s common sense.
Alongside this observational material, however, there is of course much talk of “soul”, “gods”, “one”, and “universe”. Personally, I think that rather than call them call these scholars “philosophers”, it might be better to label them theologians, a group of people who to this day make up stories to back up their own personal and untestable beliefs.
But what was more disappointing was to realize how little of the works of the early these early philosophers have been preserved in anything like their original form. What forms most of the pieces listed is at best fragmentary, often second-hand and, as Fairbanks himself alludes in his own commentary, copied badly over the years.
The First Philosophers of Greece by Arthur Fairbanks was a real eye-opener for me. It has underlined how easy it is to be a theologian and how difficult it is to be a philosopher of integrity.
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