“Something from nothing”

Anaximander (610 BCE – 546 BCE) of Miletus (An ancient Greek city of Ionia, which was located near the modern village of Balat in Turkey) is attributed by later Greek philosophers to have proposed one of the earliest rational explanations of the universe. From fragments of original text, as well as summaries from later writers, an idea regarding the First Cause of everything, known as the philosophical concept of a “first principle”, has been deduced.

The Greek philosophical concept of a “first principle” refers to a proposition that stands at the base of any further reasoning. This is a principle which is considered self-evident, meaning that it cannot be reduced to any other propositions. This concept is central to many philosophical traditions, where determining such axioms form the groundwork for building a comprehensive philosophical, scientific, or mathematical system.

Anaximander developed a theory that Apeiron, a Greek word meaning what we would call infinite or without boundary today, was a cosmological force responsible for bringing together and dispersing matter. Anaximander believed the resulting eternal motion from Apeiron brought about the opposites such as hot and cold, which led over time to the world we experience. He also believed this infinite force had a destructive power and things were being destroyed so that new ones could be created.

Anaximander was said to have been a student of Thales, also an ancient philosopher from Miletus. Unfortunately, none of Thales (624\620 BCE – 548\545 BCE) original texts have survived. But scholars of Greek philosophy credit Thales as having one of the first explanations of the universe which was not divine. However, Thales is said to have believed that the first cause of everything was water. Anaximander rejected this idea, seeing water as just another of the four elements: fire, wind, earth and water. Anaximander seemed to believe some force beyond what we experience must be responsible for the creation of all the elements.

There is no way to know for sure what Anaximander meant when he postulated that “the boundless” was a force without a cause, which was responsible for a cycle of creation and destruction that led to the universe we experience. What is undeniable is the influence he would have on other philosophers for centuries to come, even to today.