Diogenes of Apollonia | |
---|---|
Born | 5th century BCE Apollonia Pontica |
Died | 5th century BCE |
Era | Pre-Socratic philosophy |
Region | Western philosophy |
School | Pre-Socratic |
Main interests
|
Metaphysics |
Notable ideas
|
Air is the arche |
Diogenes of Apollonia (/daɪˈɒdʒəˌniːz/; Greek: Διογένης ὁ Ἀπολλωνιάτης; fl. 5th century BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher, and was a native of the Milesian colony Apollonia in Thrace. He lived for some time in Athens. His doctrines are known chiefly from Diogenes Laërtius and Simplicius. He believed air to be the one source of all being, and, as a primal force, to be intelligent. All other substances are derived from it by condensation and rarefaction. Aristotle has preserved a long passage by Diogenes concerning the organization of the blood vessels.
Diogenes was a native of the Milesian colony Apollonia Pontica in Thrace, present-day Sozopol on the Black Sea. His father's name was Apollothemis. Nothing is known of the events in his life, except that he lived some time in Athens. Diogenes Laërtius states that "great jealousy nearly put his life in danger in Athens," but there may be confusion with Anaxagoras who is mentioned in the same passage. Like all the physiologoi (natural philosophers), he wrote in the Ionic dialect. In The Clouds of Aristophanes, it is thought that some views of Diogenes are transferred to Socrates.