ABSTRACT
Anaxagoras is credited with introducing philosophy to Athens, where he continued his study of natural philosophy. Philosophers may be sure that the young Anaxagoras, bursting with innovative ideas and speculating about the events of nature, soon began to discuss the new philosophy with his associates, and commenced his teaching. Anaxagoras explains that ‘in everything there is a portion of everything’. Each thing is characterized by the substance that prevails in it proportionally, according to the principle of predominance. Thus, every composite thing contains the same number of ingredients but in a different proportion. Some of the ideas in Anaxagoras’ godless philosophy became a weapon for the political opponents of Pericles. Anaxagoras pursued interests in astronomy and meteorology but his main legacies are his explanation of the nature of matter, and the theory of Mind which influenced later thought and the whole of modern philosophy.
