Aristotle’s consideration of Anaximander’s concept of [τὸ] ἄπειρον

Abstract

In this paper we try to show that, according to Aristotle, Anaximandar, like Thales, Anaximenes and Heraclitus, is a monist in respect of the type of ultimate cause of composition and change in the phenomenal world, since he is a materialist, but not a material monist. According to Aristotle?s understanding, his ultimate material cause, which he, according to some testimonies, called [??] ???????, is a ?mixture? and not a homogeneous fundamental substance. The paper will also try to show that, according to Aristotle, the theory of the ultimate material cause is strictly related to the theory of change. Thales, Anaximens and Heraclitus explain cosmogony and changes in the phenomenal world by condensation and rarefaction of the ultimate homogeneous material cause, while Anaksimandar explains them by separating (and by merging) the heterogeneous parts of that cause.