Editing Anaximander (section)

=== Origin of mankind ===

Anaximander speculated about the beginnings and [[Evolution|origin]] of animal life, and that humans came from other animals in waters.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |url=https://www.iep.utm.edu/presocra/#SH2b |title=Presocratics |last=Graham |first=Jacob |website=Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy}}</ref><ref>Anaximander, frag. A30</ref> According to his [[History of evolutionary thought|evolutionary theory]], animals sprang out of the sea long ago, born trapped in a spiny bark, but as they got older, the bark would dry up and animals would be able to break it.<ref>Aetius, Opinions, V, XIX, 4.</ref> The 3rd century Roman writer [[Censorinus]] reports:

{{blockquote|text=Anaximander of Miletus considered that from warmed up water and earth emerged either fish or entirely fishlike animals. Inside these animals, men took form and embryos were held prisoners until puberty; only then, after these animals burst open, could men and women come out, now able to feed themselves.<ref>Censorinus, ''De Die Natali'', IV, 7</ref>|sign=|source=}}

Anaximander put forward the idea that humans had to spend part of this transition inside the mouths of big fish to protect themselves from the Earth's climate until they could come out in open air and lose their scales.<ref>[[Plutarch]] also mentions Anaximander's theory that humans were born inside fish, feeding like sharks, and that when they could defend themselves, they were thrown ashore to live on dry land.</ref> He thought that, considering humans' extended infancy, we could not have survived in the primeval world in the same manner we do presently.