Anaximander and his «Apeiron»

Abstract

The reconstruction of the teachings of Аnaximander about the origin of the world is based on the analysis of his practical attempts to simulate some natural phenomena and invent devices or scientific instruments that explain and predict some meteorological events. The Earth rests in equilibrium not only because of its location in the center of the Universe, but also because it is «supported» by the «shell» of «ἀήρ». In the formation of the world, due to the eternal circular motion, from a mixture of hot and cold stood out «ἀήρ» and «αἰθήρ», constituting the contradictory essence of «apeiron». Pairs of opposites: hot and cold; wet and dry – the energy component of the material principle. Due to the eternal irreversible fatal cyclic process of interaction of these pairs of opposites there is a constant renewal in nature. «Apeiron» in accordance with the immanently inherent property of purposive authority of the law of global processes taking place in it, a fatal impersonal force and unavoidable response for its violation, provides a just balance of forces in the Universe as a whole.