Anaxamander's Room (Part 2)

Anaxamander (611BC-547BC) was an amazing man, my favorite early Greek philosopher (with only Heraclitus rivaling him in my esteem). He is usually referred to as the second oldest Western philosopher behind only Thales (624BC to 546BC).

Anaxamanader's philosophy is partly primitive -- what we have left of it in what are called 'fragments' -- but it was partly many, many years ahead of its time. Anaxamsner offered us the first philosophy of 'opposites', the first philosophy of 'dualism', the first 'dialectical philosophy', the first philosophy of 'yin' and 'yang', the first philosophy of 'dialectical evolution', the first philosophy of 'deconstruction' -- all of these without the fancy nametags that would be added on by later philosophers. But Anaxamander had the essence of some of the most important concepts in the history of both Western and Eastern philosophy that would be developed by other philosophers, such as a few hundred years down the line in China (the Han philosophers in China, 207 BC to 9AD, with their remarkable 'Han Synthesis' and the developments of the concepts of 'yin' and 'yang' which would become so central to the future of Chinese philosophy.)

Is Anaxamander's early Greek philosophy and the synthesis of the Han Philosophers in China hundreds of years later comparable? I definitely think so. Is there any evidence to suggest that the Chinese may have been influenced in their thinking by the communication of early Greek philosophy to them from the west? This I cannot say but my guess is that yes, there was communication between the Greeks and Chinese -- with Miletus, the home of Anaxamander being at the hub of all trade and communication from West to East, North to South.

Maybe it was coincidence, maybe it was not, but Anaxamander's philosophy had a definitely strong Chinese ring to it -- or rather, the significantly later Han Synthesis had a definitely strong Anaxamander ring to it.

Anaxamander talked about the 'Boundless' or the 'Unlimited'; the Han philosophers talked about the 'Tao' or 'the Great Ultimate'. Anaxamander talked about the division of the world into opposites, black and white, hot and cold, etc. The two polar opposite phenomena would not always be visible at the same time; oftentimes, one would dominate while the other receded into the background, but it would only be a matter of time before the two would reverse roles as the other would come to dominate while the first receded into the background. As a critical fragment of Anaxamander stated,

As“the unlimited is the first principle of things that are. It is that from which the coming-to-be takes place, and it is that to which they return when they perish, by moral necessity, giving satisfaction to one another and making reparation for their injustice, according to the order of time.”

Thus, opposites differentiate themselves from the great unlimited with one opposite returning to the unlimited when it is being dominated by its other half. It will not stay in the unlimited forever but just long enough to replenish its energy and come back into the world stronger than every and 'making reparation for its earlier injustice at the hands of its stronger opposite' with now the tides being reversed and the previously dominant opposite receding back into the great Unlimited presumably for a recharge of new energy to take back into the world with it again, in order to do battle with its opposite again. In China, these opposites would become 'sexualized' with 'yin' representing a basic 'feminine energy' and 'yang' representing a 'masculine energy'. In evolving Chinese philosophy 'yin' and 'yang' needed to be in balance with each other in order to be healthy; when one opposite or the other was dominating then this would indicate a type of sickness (too much weakness and passivity in the body or too much fire in the body). Thus, for the Han philosophers, both opposites needed to be in the world working together in harmony and balance with each other; not one side dominating the other and sending the other to the sidelines for more reinforcements and energy. This was an aspect of Anaxamander's philosophy that would be modified and developed by Heraclitus -- the idea of the 'unification and harmony of opposites' -- an idea that would reverberate throughout the history of both Eastern and Western philosophy for thousands of years to come. Good ideas don't fade away. They just keep coming back, recyled again and again with new names.

db, May 10th, 2007.