Anaxagoras of Clazomenae

Anaxagoras returns us to the past philosophers of Parmenides and particularly Xenophanes. Rather than agree with Empedocles on there being two parts to the Arche (love and strife), Anaxagoras opposes this thought and sides with Parmenides in having only one: the Nous. There is a sense of unity found within Parmenides that carries over to Anaxagoras. Everything comes from one source and in this relation everything is connected together. Additionally, Anaxagoras departs from Empedocles in emphasizing seeds rather than roots as the metaphor for the parts that make up things. The idea from our class discussion that the seeds explain our ability to make an influential mark on them is interesting. They can be molded to a certain end through an outside force and the actions of things around them. It shows how we can change the shape and traits of material things and that these parts that make a whole change with our influence.

What struck me about Anaxagoras was the description of the Nous in excerpt B12 and how similar it sounds to the ideas of Xenophanes. The Nous is infinite and everything can be traced back to the Nous. It is independent or "alone itself by itself" and the purest thing possible. The Nous also knows everything about that which comes from it and is the strongest or all-powerful. All of these traits sound like the creator of Xenophanes who also was separate from his creation and yet omniscient. Also, the word Nous means mind which is something immaterial and yet has a strong relation to the material. Thus far, Xenophanes, Heraclitus, and Anaxagoras offer the closest thing to the Christian idea of God. It seems that we are slowly coming closer and closer to God through reason only to culminate in the coming of Christianity with revelation. I cannot wait to get to Aristotle and Plato who may offer the best that reason alone can give us with regards to God. Between Xenophanes, Heraclitus, and Anaxagoras who do you think offers ideas closest to the resemblance of God?

-BaylorBear16