The First Principle
The single 'first thing' — the ultimate source, principle, and stuff of the whole world, and the question that launched Greek philosophy.
Archē means beginning, origin, and ruling principle all at once. The Milesian thinkers of the 6th c. BCE — Thales (water), Anaximander (the boundless), and Anaximenes (air) — were the first to ask what one underlying reality everything is made of and comes from, rather than telling a story of the gods. Aristotle later turned archē into a technical term for any fundamental principle. The search for a single arche is often counted as the birth of natural philosophy and, ultimately, of science.
How it traveled
- MetaphysicsChalcis · -322explains
- PhysicaChalcis · -322explains
- De partibus animaliumChalcis · -322explains
- MeteorologicaChalcis · -322explains
- MetaphysicsAthens · -287explains
- On the Causes of PlantsAthens · -287explains
- Fragmenta variaAthens · -287explains
- De Rerum NaturaRome · -55explains
- On ArchitectureRome · -15explains
- Adversus MathematicosAlexandria · 190explains
- Pyrrhoniae HypotyposesAlexandria · 210explains
- Vitae philosophorum— · 240explains
- EnneadesRome · 270explains
- Rasag on Sefer YetzirahSura (Babylonia) · 931
- Duties of the HeartZaragoza (Saragossa) · 1080
- Guide for the PerplexedCairo · 1190
- Sha'arei OrahGuadalajara · 1260
- ZoharGuadalajara · 1280
- Sefer HaIkkarimSoria · 1425
- Akeidat YitzchakTarragona · 1490
- Abarbanel on TorahNaples · 1505
- Avodat HaKodesh (Ibn Gabbai)Cairo · 1523
- Pardes RimmonimTzfat · 1548
- Ketem Paz on ZoharTzfat · 1561
- Reshit ChokhmahTzfat · 1575
- Sha'ar HaHakdamotTzfat · 1610
- Ohr HaChammah on ZoharTzfat · 1620
- TanyaLiadi · 1797
- Malbim on PsalmsBucharest · 1860
- BePardes HaChasidut VeHakabbalahWarsaw · 1910
Key passages(20)
Guide for the Perplexed · Moses ben Maimon (Rambam) · 1190 CE
הדרך לה' – ההתבוננות בה' כמקור המציאות2 לפי המשמעות האחרונה הזו נקרא ה' יתעלה "צור", כי הוא הראשית והסיבה הפועלת לכל מה שזולתו. ונאמר: "הַצּוּר תָּמִים פָּעֳלוֹ" (דברים לב,ד), "צוּר יְלָדְךָ תֶּשִׁי"
Tap to expand
In Aristotelis Metaphysica Commentaria · Alexander of Aphrodisias
Divisiones Aristoteleae · Pseudo-Aristotle
Oratio II contra Arianos · Athanasius of Alexandria
Diogenes of Apollonia: Fragments & Testimonia · Diogenes of Apollonia
Praeparatio Evangelica · Eusebius of Caesarea
Praeparatio Evangelica · Eusebius of Caesarea