Anaxagoras Greek philosophy was first born in Ionia, where the main place of study was the city of Miletus. The school of Miletus spawned the three first philosophers of the time. Anaxagoras was a philosopher from approximately 500 to 428. He used ideas from past philosophers to come up with ideas that contradicted as well as complemented views of philosophers from the past. These early philosophers had one thing on their minds, Overarching Principle. There was understanding the world on one hand, and how to live life as the second overall idea of philosophy. These thoughts have come to be some of the most prominent ideas that philosophy has accepted to this day. Many things brought Anaxagoras to come up with the philosophies that he did. Other Pre-Socratic philosophers influenced him to come up with the philosophies that he did. In early Greek philosophy there were two dominant ideas that were used as general themes, how to live life and understanding the world. In the beginning of philosophy, the philosophers were trying to come up with one overarching principle. There were tree main philosophers that started this thinking process.
Thales believed that everything in the world came from water or was a form of water, which in the end would eventually turn back into water. He thought that this one element comprised everything that held the universe together. This is what the early philosophers came to think of, something that was the basis for all existence. Next was Anaximander, who was a disciple of Thales. He knew that Thales' belief that water composed everything couldn't be plausible because water is only one substance that is limited. He believed in the "apeiron", or the boundless. By this he meant that all life comes from infinite atmosphere, which is a perpetual vitality that governs all things. This could connect all things through a more infinite aspect than water. Reflecting on what Anaximander had come up with, Anaxemi...