Anaxagoras of Clazomenae and a Metaphysics of Change

By David Von Walland

Most scholars contend that Anaxagoras of Clazomenae lived during the time period of 500 to 428 BCE. He was born in Ionia and later travelled to Athens, where he spent thirty years teaching and writing. Unfortunately, Anaxagoras suffered a similar fate to that of Socrates. On the charges of impiety, the Athenian government sentenced Anaxagoras to death. Fortunately, Anaxagoras decided to forego this penalty, dissimilar to Socrates, and he moved to Lampsacus, where he lived until his death. It seems as though Anaxagoras violated the religious beliefs of the Athenians; however, his ideas were directly consistent with the other Pre-Socratic natural philosophers that preceded him. In any event, he set himself apart from his tradition when he authored a very unique and innovative philosophy of first principles.

Unfortunately for us, we no longer have any existing works of Anaxagoras. Scholars, however, have been able to construct a general idea of his philosophy by studying secondary sources and the fragments we still have today. Anaxagoras particularly challenged the thought of Parmenides who preceded him, but some also claim he wished to discredit Parmenides' student, Empedocles, as well.

Parmenides, a brilliantly innovative thinker himself, denied that change and plurality were even possible. To him, we stand at a metaphysical fork, where we must choose being or nonbeing. Nonbeing was an impossibility, he thought, because if something ceased to exist it would be insensible and no longer be anything at all. Therefore, nonbeing was a ridiculous metaphysical account. Furthermore, for change to occur, something would first start as nonbeing and become being. This, again, is an impossibility because the conclusions is based on premises that are impossible (i.e., nonbeing). Therefore, Parmenides believed that being must be unified and immutable. Scholars would call this a metaphysical monism.

Anaxagoras agreed partly with Parmenides, namely on the fact that nonbeing is an impossibility. However, he wanted to provide a way in which plurality was still possible so that being was not static and unchanging. As a result, Anaxagoras claimed that all things contained everything, or all of reality, in themselves with varying consistency. For example, any particular thing may contain in itself all of the possible substances of which reality may be with greater and lesser proportions of substances. He described this as "a portion of everything in everything."

He backed this theory up by describing the diets of animals. Food, for instance, must be made up of hair, flesh, etc., because animals must get their hair from hair and their flesh from flesh. As a result, all food and all other beings must contain greater or less proportions of all the possible substances in the world, an infinite number. Thus, beings become differentiated because they have a higher amount of particular substances versus lower amounts of other substances. The higher portions give beings their distinctive essence(s).

Anaxagoras did content, however, that being originally was a unified substance. But how can a unified substance provide for difference and plurality? To explain this, Anaxagoras introduced the principle of the Nous, or the "Mind," that ordered, structured, and differentiated Being. The Mind differentiated Being by first "shaking" Being into a vortex of motion. Like the Ionians before him, he needed opposites to account for difference and plurality. As the Nous set Being into motion, Being then created the first pair of opposites, "air and ether." Anaxagoras called this "air and ether" by another phrase, "mixture and seeds." From mixture and seeds, or the initial opposites, all beings can come into existence. By mixture and seeds, Anaxagoras created the conditions for difference and, hence, beings.

As mixture and seeds differentiate Being, the Mind begins to order reality with an infinite possible number of beings. It is only through mixture and seeds that a plurality of being is possible while staying within the Pre-Socratic and Ionian traditions of unified Being. Although the Nous accounted for an efficient cause of Being and beings, or how Being became beings, his theories still lack any ultimate cause, or why Being became beings. Socrates, in fact, criticizes Anaxagoras for proposing such an innovative and full-of-potential metaphysics without providing any account of why.

Though some of Anaxagoras' theories lay in interpretive gray areas, he certainly introduced an original system of metaphysics and first principles that revived the possibility of change after Parmenides seemingly annihilated it. In any event, we should rightly remember Anaxagoras' philosophy for its influence and relevancy to later thinkers such as Gottfried Leibniz (the universe being contained in all things) and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (being versus becoming, being versus nonbeing).

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Manifest A New Life Using The Cosmic Ordering Service

By Gina Daad

The thought of being able to order anything you want from the universe and actually getting it, is something more and more people are thinking about. Quite understandable really when one considers the sharp increase in the amount of publicity cosmic ordering has enjoyed recently.

Of course, with the media often running articles concerning celebrities who swear by it, more ordinary people are now wanting a slice of the cake as well. However, for many people, the question still remains, what are my chances of success?

In essence, if you really believe something will happen, it usually does. When you start doubting this, you are actually jeopardizing your own chances of success without even realizing it. So yes, in theory, cosmic ordering should in fact work for everyone.

The cosmic ordering service allows you to have anything you desire. This is of course something with which some people disagree, saying they have never had the desire to be ill or to become seriously injured for example and yes, they are absolutely right.

The problem is not the cosmic ordering service, but rather the way you channel your desires. Avoid saying things such as; I really don't want to get ill. This is a negative manner in which to seek your desires.

You should aim to seek desires from a more positive aspect so, instead of what you don't want, rather desire what you do want. For example, you could say, I'm so healthy it's of little wonder that I never get ill.

Perhaps you have failed here as well and if so, you're not alone. Many people who attempt this, tend to affirm how they are at present, instead of how they could be with a little help from the universe. When you make affirmations, think to the future and how perfect it can be, rather than dwell on the imperfect present moment.

As we embark on our journey through life, our beliefs are often influenced by other people as well as different experiences. When we first started out in this life, we believed in ourselves and that all things were possible and now, we need to believe like that once more.

In a perfect world, a child would grow up with support and knowledge that they deserve all that they want. Instead, children are taught that it's wrong to want a lot. It's bad to receive whatever you want unless you work hard and long hours, and then you also have to have a special reason that you deserve the reward.

Always saying that we should count our blessings is wrong. Why should we settle for practically nothing? After all, there's more than enough for everyone. In fact, there's so much, it could stretch to the edge of infinity.

If you believe there's not enough for you, beware, because this in itself is channelling negative desire. Don't desire what another has, as this could be interpreted as meaning you don't have enough, another negative channel. Instead, be happy for those who have plenty and simply remind yourself, there is enough for everyone.

Does positive thinking really make a difference? Yes, and to stress that point, lets not forget that scientific studies have proven the human brain creates waves of energy capable of moving a quark, the smallest physical particle known to man.

Changing the way we think and the way in which we have been schooled to believe, is by no means easy but it can be done. Admittedly, in order to tackle this immense task, you'll need all the tools you can find.

These tools, like self-hypnosis, binaural frequency waves and subliminal suggestion and affirmations, shoot past the logical portion of the mind into the belief portion, the subconscious. The help to clear away the old beliefs that stop you from using the cosmic ordering system to get everything that you want.

You can control your future but you need to believe it beyond all doubt. With the help of some of these tools, you'll be able to clear away those blockages and order anything you desire, from the cosmic ordering service.

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