Knowing the contributions of Thales of Miletus to science and philosophy is of great relevance, since this Greek geometric philosopher, mathematician, physicist and legislator is considered as the man who gave rise to Western scientific thought.
Thales of Miletus is well known for his contribution on the principle of water, which is the creator of life and the movement of everything that lives..
This is one of the great contributions of Thales of Miletus to science and philosophy that continues to be studied today..
Thus, Thales of Miletus became the first thinker to question the origin of everything and lay the foundations for other philosophers to speak on this question..
Water is more than an element, because, being the creator of everything that moves, it also maintains a certain correspondence with divinity.
Thales of Miletus was the first philosopher to affirm that water was the first principle of everything and he was the first to state that, in all beings, it is present in its liquid, solid or gaseous form.
In addition, Thales of Miletus observed that water was an element capable of turning into ice or steam and returning to the liquid state again..
He also realized that everything in the universe was movement, which went with the quality of water according to which it flows, is active, rises and falls..
Likewise, he realized that all living beings needed water in order to live. Everything that engenders life, according to this philosopher, is liquid.
It was this thought that made the way of understanding the world completely change for the West, despite the fact that many studies recognize the influence of Eastern thought that was present in the philosophy of Thales of Miletus..
The point is that his propositions about the origin of the world, the ability to think about its creative principle that gave life to everything else, and other mathematical and geometric contributions have made Thales of Miletus a thinker of great relevance to scientific thought. current.
Among his main contributions to science and philosophy are the following:
Thales of Miletus is considered the first pre-Socratic philosopher. He was the one who founded philosophy as rational and scientific knowledge, since Greek customs favored mythological thought more, but Thales of Miletus, in addition to his propositions about water as a creative principle, also questioned many customs of his time.
By denying the mythological narratives with which part of the Greek people wanted to explain the phenomena that occurred in nature, Thales of Miletus gave the rational basis for scientific thought.
So, for Thales of Miletus, the earth was flat and settled at the bottom of the sea; In addition, he affirmed that the marine turbulence was what gave rise to the earthquakes.
He was also the first thinker to consider that hypothesis elaborations were necessary to reach conclusions and this is fundamental in current scientific work.
Theology was born when Thales of Miletus questions the tradition of finding an explanation based on myths for all the events that occur and begins to reflect in a rational way on the divinity, without having to deny the divinity itself..
For Thales of Miletus, as for his disciples in the Ionian school, there was a arjé or arché, which is nothing more than the first principle of everything, which this philosopher identified with water, the principle of divine order capable of changing state and conceiving life.
Thales of Miletus considered that "everything is full of gods", and with this statement he takes for granted that there is a dynamism present in nature.
In addition to the contributions to philosophy and science, Thales of Miletus also made important astronomical contributions, since he dedicated himself to observing and calculating the size of the moon, with respect to the sun, as well as stopping to consider how many days a man had. anus.
Thales of Miletus suggested that, in the area of navigation, Ursa Minor should be followed, since thanks to its small size it granted more precision.
This principle today is very important for the field of mathematics and geometry, since thanks to this contribution of Thales of Miletus, these areas could continue to be developed.
Thanks to his mathematical proofs, Thales of Miletus became the first mathematician. In addition, several theorems are attributed to him.
He was the first thinker who reflected on the need to find an explanation from the particular to the general, since he looked for a rational explanation for each natural phenomenon.
These are the main contributions of Thales of Miletus to science and philosophy, noting that he has therefore been considered a thinker who changed the way of thinking throughout the Western world.
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