Editing Pre-Socratic philosophy (section)

=== Antiquity ===
The pre-Socratics had a direct influence on classical antiquity in many ways. The philosophic thought produced by the pre-Socratics heavily influenced later philosophers, historians and playwrights.{{sfn|Barnes|1987|p=14}} One line of influence was the Socrato-Ciceronian tradition, while the other was the Platonic-Aristotelian.{{sfn|Laks|Most|2018|p=1}}

Socrates, [[Xenophon]] and [[Cicero]] were highly influenced by the ''physiologoi'' (naturalists) as they were named in ancient times. The naturalists impressed young Socrates and he was interested in the quest for the substance of the cosmos, but his interest waned as he became steadily more focused on epistemology, [[virtue]], and [[ethics]] rather than the natural world. According to Xenophon, the reason was that Socrates believed humans incapable of comprehending the cosmos.{{sfn|Palmer|2008|p=534}} Plato, in the ''Phaedo'', claims that Socrates was uneasy with the materialistic approach of the pre-Socratics, particularly Anaxagoras.{{sfnm|1a1=Laks|1a2=Most|1y=2018|1pp=1-8|2a1=Palmer|2y=2008|2pp=534-554}} Cicero analyzed his views on the pre-Socratics in his ''[[Tusculanae Disputationes]]'', as he distinguished the theoretical nature of pre-Socratic thought from previous "sages" who were interested in more practical issues. Xenophon, like Cicero, saw the difference between pre-Socratics and Socrates being his interest in human affairs (''ta anthropina'').{{sfn|Laks|Most|2018|pp=9-11}}

The pre-Socratics deeply influenced both Plato and Aristotle.{{sfn|Palmer|2008|p=548}} Aristotle discussed the pre-Socratics in the first book of ''[[Metaphysics (Aristotle)|Metaphysics]]'', as an introduction to his own philosophy and the quest for ''arche''.{{sfnm|1a1=Frede|1y=2008|1p=503|2a1=Palmer|2y=2008|2p=536}} He was the first to state that philosophy starts with Thales.{{sfn|Frede|2008|p=503}} It is not clear whether Thales talked of water as ''arche'', or that was a retrospective interpretation by Aristotle, who was examining his predecessors under the scope of his views.{{sfn|Frede|2008|pp=505,522}} More crucially, Aristotle  criticized the pre-Socratics for not identifying a purpose as a [[Four causes#Final|final cause]], a fundamental idea in Aristotelian metaphysics.{{sfn|Laks|Most|2018|pp=16}} Plato also attacked pre-Socratic materialism.{{sfn|Palmer|2008|p=536}}

Later, during the Hellenistic era, philosophers of various currents focused on the study of nature and advanced pre-Socratic ideas.{{sfn|Curd|2008|p=40}} The Stoics incorporated features from Anaxagoras and Heraclitus, such as ''nous'' and fire respectively.{{sfn|Palmer|2008|pp=547-548}} The Epicureans saw Democritus' atomism as their predecessor while the Sceptics were linked to Xenophanes.{{sfn|Curd|2008|p=11}}