Ionian Enlightenment
Encyclopedia
The Ionian Enlightenment is a term used to describe the advances in scientific thought, naturalistic explanations, and the application of rational and scientific criticisms to all spheres of life in Ionia
of ancient Greece in 6th century BC. The Ionian Enlightenment received its origins in both ancient Mesopotamian and ancient Greek philosophy. The city of Miletus
became the central area to which new philosophers and intellects would share and teach new ideas about their scientific outlooks and aims.
Ionia was an essential location for the enlightenment to prosper due to their political standing and communication networks. Ionia, in the 6th century BC, was not ruled by a powerful empire, but it was ruled by smaller, self-governing governments, with intellectual leading figures. Ionia’s political standing allowed the scientific ideas of the enlightenment to gain momentum without having serious restrictions.
The Ionians were seafaring people, to which their central location in the Mediterranean allowed for extensive trade with Asia Minor
, Phoenicia
, Egypt
, Italy, and southern France. The Ionians were able to exchange both materials and ideas, especially with the eastern cultures, which helped develop the ideas of the enlightenment.
The enlightenment challenged the flawed morality of the gods, suggesting that the will of the gods did not cause the “bad” in the world; rather it was caused by natural means. Homer
described that natural disasters were caused by the wrath of the gods, however during the enlightenment, a more scientific outlook uprooted superstition and replaced it with natural explanations.
Philosophers removed the gods from their reasoning, and concluded that things occurred naturally and independently from the will of the gods. Philosophers tried to explain the world through their senses, not through reasoning. Intellects thought that nature is a continuous becoming, to which everything is repeated or flows in cycles. Among the intellects of the enlightenment, three were considered the first natural philosophers: Thales
, Anaximander
, and Anaximenes
. Their philosophies and ideas of the universe and matter were omnipresent throughout Ionia, and were used to formulate the Milesian School
.
During the latter half of the 5th century BC, the prominence of the ideas and philosophies of the Ionian Enlightenment started to decline, heavily due to the Persian conquest of Ionia. Ionia stagnated culturally and economically. Many of the Ionian ideas and beliefs were adopted by the Athenians, which left very little evidence of the contributions made by the Ionian Enlightenment toward the formation of rational
philosophies and ideas.
Ionia
Ionia is an ancient region of central coastal Anatolia in present-day Turkey, the region nearest İzmir, which was historically Smyrna. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements...
of ancient Greece in 6th century BC. The Ionian Enlightenment received its origins in both ancient Mesopotamian and ancient Greek philosophy. The city of Miletus
Miletus
Miletus was an ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia , near the mouth of the Maeander River in ancient Caria...
became the central area to which new philosophers and intellects would share and teach new ideas about their scientific outlooks and aims.
Ionia was an essential location for the enlightenment to prosper due to their political standing and communication networks. Ionia, in the 6th century BC, was not ruled by a powerful empire, but it was ruled by smaller, self-governing governments, with intellectual leading figures. Ionia’s political standing allowed the scientific ideas of the enlightenment to gain momentum without having serious restrictions.
The Ionians were seafaring people, to which their central location in the Mediterranean allowed for extensive trade with Asia Minor
Asia Minor
Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...
, Phoenicia
Phoenicia
Phoenicia , was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean. It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, Italy, and southern France. The Ionians were able to exchange both materials and ideas, especially with the eastern cultures, which helped develop the ideas of the enlightenment.
The enlightenment challenged the flawed morality of the gods, suggesting that the will of the gods did not cause the “bad” in the world; rather it was caused by natural means. Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
described that natural disasters were caused by the wrath of the gods, however during the enlightenment, a more scientific outlook uprooted superstition and replaced it with natural explanations.
Philosophers removed the gods from their reasoning, and concluded that things occurred naturally and independently from the will of the gods. Philosophers tried to explain the world through their senses, not through reasoning. Intellects thought that nature is a continuous becoming, to which everything is repeated or flows in cycles. Among the intellects of the enlightenment, three were considered the first natural philosophers: Thales
Thales
Thales of Miletus was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher from Miletus in Asia Minor, and one of the Seven Sages of Greece. Many, most notably Aristotle, regard him as the first philosopher in the Greek tradition...
, Anaximander
Anaximander
Anaximander was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher who lived in Miletus, a city of Ionia; Milet in modern Turkey. He belonged to the Milesian school and learned the teachings of his master Thales...
, and Anaximenes
Anaximenes
Anaximenes may refer to:*Anaximenes of Lampsacus , Greek rhetorician and historian*Anaximenes of Miletus , Greek pre-Socratic philosopher*Anaximenes , a lunar crater...
. Their philosophies and ideas of the universe and matter were omnipresent throughout Ionia, and were used to formulate the Milesian School
Milesian school
The Milesian school was a school of thought founded in the 6th century BC. The ideas associated with it are exemplified by three philosophers from the Ionian town of Miletus, on the Aegean coast of Anatolia: Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes...
.
During the latter half of the 5th century BC, the prominence of the ideas and philosophies of the Ionian Enlightenment started to decline, heavily due to the Persian conquest of Ionia. Ionia stagnated culturally and economically. Many of the Ionian ideas and beliefs were adopted by the Athenians, which left very little evidence of the contributions made by the Ionian Enlightenment toward the formation of rational
Rationalism
In epistemology and in its modern sense, rationalism is "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification" . In more technical terms, it is a method or a theory "in which the criterion of the truth is not sensory but intellectual and deductive"...
philosophies and ideas.