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Explaining the Cosmos : The Ionian Tradition of Scientific Philosophy - Daniel W. Graham

Explaining the Cosmos

The Ionian Tradition of Scientific Philosophy

By: Daniel W. Graham

Hardcover | 17 October 2006

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Explaining the Cosmos is a major reinterpretation of Greek scientific thought before Socrates. Focusing on the scientific tradition of philosophy, Daniel Graham argues that Presocratic philosophy is not a mere patchwork of different schools and styles of thought. Rather, there is a discernible and unified Ionian tradition that dominates Presocratic debates. Graham rejects the common interpretation of the early Ionians as "material monists" and also the view of the later Ionians as desperately trying to save scientific philosophy from Parmenides' criticisms.


In Graham's view, Parmenides plays a constructive role in shaping the scientific debates of the fifth century BC. Accordingly, the history of Presocratic philosophy can be seen not as a series of dialectical failures, but rather as a series of theoretical advances that led to empirical discoveries. Indeed, the Ionian tradition can be seen as the origin of the scientific conception of the world that we still hold today.

Industry Reviews
"Essential... Due to the depth and breadth of its research, its lucidity, and the cogency of its arguments, Explaining the Cosmos will undoubtedly become a new standard against which future work on the pre-Socratics is measured."--Choice "Graham harks back to Harold Cherniss's critical reading of Aristotle as more of an engaged interpreter than objective historian of the Presocratics... This is a genuine achievement... [M]uch of what Graham offers ... is persuasive, illuminating, and occasionally brilliant."--Simon Trepanier, Isis "[S]cholars everywhere will be grateful for this engaging intellectual adventure."--Robert Hahn, Journal of the History of Philosophy

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