Thales of Miletus · Philosophy

Everything Is Water

Thales of Miletus asked a question no one had asked before - what is everything ultimately made of? - and answered that all things arise from a single underlying stuff: water. With that question, philosophy and science were born.

What you'll be able to recall

You learned that Thales of Miletus is called the first philosopher because he sought a single underlying principle, the arche , from which all things arise, and proposed that it is water. Explain what an arche is and why asking for one was revolutionary.

Leads to Anaximander.

Begin this lesson →
← All lessons on Thales of Miletus

epoché — a humanities education that remembers you.