Editing Anaximenes of Miletus

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{{Short description|Ancient Greek philosopher (c. 586 – c. 526 BC)}}
{{Infobox philosopher
| image = Anaximenes Milesius - Illustrium philosophorum et sapientum effigies ab eorum numistatibus extractae.png
|caption=Anaximenes of Miletus as imaginatively depicted, wearing a [[tainia (costume)|tainia]], in a 16th-century engraving from [[Girolamo Olgiati]]
|image_size=160px
| region           = [[Western philosophy]]
| era              = [[Pre-Socratic philosophy]]
| name = Anaximenes of Miletus
| birth_date = {{circa|586/585 BC}}
| birth_place = [[Miletus]], [[Ionian League]]
| death_date = {{circa|526/525 BC}} (aged {{circa}} 60)
| death_place=Miletus
| school_tradition = [[Ionian School (philosophy)|Ionian]]/[[Milesian school]]
| main_interests   = [[Metaphysics]]<br>[[Natural philosophy]]
| notable_ideas = Air is the [[arche]]<br />Matter changes through [[rarefaction]] and [[condensation]]
}}
'''Anaximenes of Miletus''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|æ|n|æ|k|ˈ|s|ɪ|m|ə|ˌ|n|iː|z}}; {{langx|grc|[[wikt:Ἀναξιμένης|Ἀναξιμένης]] ὁ Μιλήσιος|translit=Anaximenēs ho Milēsios}}; {{circa|586/585|526/525 BC}}) was an [[Ancient Greece|Ancient Greek]], [[Pre-Socratic philosophy|Pre-Socratic]] [[philosopher]] from [[Miletus]] in [[Anatolia]] (modern-day [[Turkey]]). He was the last of the three philosophers of the [[Ionian School (philosophy)|Milesian School]], after [[Thales of Miletus|Thales]] and [[Anaximander]]. These three are regarded by historians as the first philosophers of the Western world. Anaximenes is known for his belief that air is the ''[[arche]]'', or the basic element of the universe from which all things are created. Little is known of Anaximenes's life and work, as all of his original texts are lost. Historians and philosophers have reconstructed information about Anaximenes by interpreting texts about him by later writers. All three Milesian philosophers were [[monists]] who believed in a single foundational source of everything: Anaximenes believed it to be air, while Thales and Anaximander believed it to be water and [[Apeiron|an undefined infinity]], respectively. It is generally accepted that Anaximenes was instructed by Anaximander, and many of their philosophical ideas are similar. While Anaximenes was the preeminent Milesian philosopher in Ancient Greece, he is often given lower importance than the others in the modern day.   

Anaximenes held that air could change into other forms through either [[rarefaction]] or [[condensation]]. Condensation would make the air denser, turning it into wind, clouds, water, earth, and finally stone. Rarefaction would make the air less dense as it eventually becomes fire. Anaximenes also developed a model of the Earth, describing it as a flat disc floating atop the air while the Sun and stars are also flat and float alongside it. He described the Sun as revolving around the Earth, causing it to be obscured by higher lands during the night. As one of the Milesian philosophers, Anaximenes was one of the earliest figures to develop science. He influenced many of the Pre-Socratic philosophers that succeeded him, such as [[Heraclitus]], [[Anaxagoras]], [[Diogenes of Apollonia]], and [[Xenophanes]]. He also provided early examples of concepts such as [[natural science]], [[physical change]], and [[scientific writing]].

==Biography==
Anaximenes was born {{Circa|586/585 BC}}.{{Sfn|Vamvacas|2009|p=45}}{{Sfn|Dye|2014|pp=74–75}} Surviving information about the life of Anaximenes is limited, and it comes primarily from what was preserved by Ancient Greek philosophers, particularly [[Aristotle]] and [[Theophrastus]].{{Sfn|Algra|1999|p=57}}{{Sfn|Eisman|2007|p=75}} According to Theophrastus, Anaximenes was the son of Eurystratus, an associate of the philosopher [[Anaximander]], and lived in [[Miletus]].{{Sfn|Sandywell|1995|p=174}} Anaximenes is recorded as becoming a student of Anaximander.{{Sfn|Vamvacas|2009|p=45}} Anaximenes was likely also taught [[Homeric epic]]s, [[Greek mythology]], and [[Orphism (religion)|Orphism]], which may have influenced his philosophy through their portrayal of the [[classical element]]s.{{Sfn|Sandywell|1995|p=185}} It is considered likely that he and the other Milesian philosophers were wealthy, allowing them to dedicate time to philosophy.{{Sfn|Eisman|2007|p=75}}

Anaximenes's apparent instructor, Anaximander, was a Milesian philosopher who proposed that ''[[apeiron]]'', an undefined and boundless infinity, is the origin of all things.{{Sfn|Vamvacas|2009|p=45}} Anaximenes and Anaximander were two of the three Milesian philosophers, along with [[Thales of Miletus|Thales]]. These were all philosophers from Miletus who were the first of the [[Ionian School (philosophy)|Ionian School]].{{Sfn|Lindberg|2007|p=28}} As the earliest known figures to have developed theories regarding the material origin of the world without a divine explanation, they are regarded as the first philosophers in the Western world.{{Sfn|Lindberg|2007|p=29}} According to [[Diogenes Laertius]], Anaximenes lived approximately from 585 to 524 BC.{{Sfn|Sandywell|1995|p=172}} Anaximenes is only known to have written one full text, which may have been a response to Anaximander's text ''On Nature''.{{Sfn|Sandywell|1995|p=174}} It was described by Theophrastus as having a "simple and economical Ionic style".{{Sfn|Eisman|2007|p=75}} Anaximenes died {{Circa|526/525 BC}}.{{Sfn|Vamvacas|2009|p=45}}{{Sfn|Dye|2014|pp=74–75}}

== Philosophy ==
{{See also|Classical element#Hellenistic philosophy}}

=== Air as the ''arche'' ===
What is known about Anaximenes's philosophy is what was preserved by later philosophers, particularly [[Aristotle]] and [[Theophrastus]].{{Sfn|Lindberg|2007|p=28}} According to their writings, each philosopher of the Milesian School was a material [[monist]] who sought to discover the ''[[arche]]'' ({{Langx|grc|[[wikt:ἀρχή]]|lit=beginning, origin|links=no}}), or the one, underlying basis of all things.{{sfn|Lindberg|2007|p=29}} This is generally understood in the context of a substance, though scholars have argued that this may be anachronistic by imposing the Aristotelian notion of [[substance theory]] on earlier philosophy.{{Sfn|Algra|1999|p=57}} Anaximenes argued that the ''arche'' is air.{{Sfn|Sandywell|1995|pp=175–176}} He described several basic elements that he considered to be manifestations of air, sorting them from least dense to most dense: fire, air, wind, clouds, water, earth, and stones. Philosophers have concluded that Anaximenes seems to have based his conclusions on naturally observable phenomena in the [[water cycle]]: the processes of [[rarefaction]] and [[condensation]]. He proposed that each substance is created by condensation to increase the density of air or by rarefaction to decrease it.{{Sfn|Eisman|2007|p=76}}{{Sfn|Graham|2006|p=46}}{{Sfn|Sandywell|1995|p=176}} The rarefaction process described by Anaximenes is often compared to [[felting]].{{Sfn|Kočandrle|2019|p=112}}

Temperature was of particular importance to Anaximenes's philosophy, and he developed an early concept of the connection between temperature and density. He believed that expanded air was thinner and therefore hotter while compressed air was thicker and therefore colder—although modern science has found the opposite to be true. He derived this belief from the fact that one's breath is warm when the mouth is wide while it is cold when the air is compressed through the lips.{{Sfn|Vamvacas|2009|p=46}}{{Sfn|Algra|1999|p=59}}

[[File:Anaximenes of Miletus Drawing.jpg|thumb|left|Anaximenes of Miletus as depicted in the ''[[Nuremberg Chronicle]]'' (1493)|220px]]
Anaximenes further applied his concept of air as the ''arche'' to other questions.{{Sfn|Sandywell|1995|p=180}} He believed in the ''[[physis]]'', or natural world, rather than the ''theo'', or divine world.{{Sfn|Sandywell|1995|p=173}} Anaximenes considered air to be divine in a sense, but he did not associate it with deities or personification.{{Sfn|Algra|1999|p=53}}{{Sfn|Vamvacas|2009|p=47}} He presented air as the [[first cause]] that propelled living systems, giving no indication that air itself was caused by anything.{{Sfn|Algra|1999|p=53}}{{Sfn|Sandywell|1995|p=176}} Anaximenes also likened the soul to air, describing it as something that is driven by breath and wills humans to act as they do.{{Sfn|Graham|2006|p=47}} These beliefs draw a connection between the soul and the physical world, as they suggest that they are made of the same material, air.{{Sfn|Sandywell|1995|p=184}} From this, Anaximenes suggested that everything, whether it be an individual soul or the entire world, operates under the same principles in which  things are held together and guided by the air.{{Sfn|Algra|1999|p=59}} In [[Ancient Greek]], the words for wind and for soul shared a common origin.{{Sfn|Vamvacas|2009|p=47}}{{Sfn|Sandywell|1995|p=183}}

Anaximenes's philosophy was centered on a theory of change through ongoing cycles, defined by the movement of air.{{Sfn|Graham|2006|p=45}}{{Sfn|Sandywell|1995|p=180}} These cycles consisted of opposite forces interacting with and superseding one another. This is most prominently indicated in the weather and the seasons, which alternate between hot and cold, dry and wet, or light and dark.{{Sfn|Graham|2006|p=45}} Anaximenes did not believe that any substance could be created or destroyed, only that it could be changed from one form to another.{{Sfn|Graham|2006|p=49}} From this belief, he proposed a model in which the qualitative traits of a substance are determined by quantitative factors.{{Sfn|Vamvacas|2009|p=46}}{{Sfn|Sandywell|1995|p=180}}

===Cosmology and weather===
[[File:Astrologia_(Sterrenkunde)_De_zeven_vrije_kunsten_(serietitel),_RP-P-BI-6393.jpg|thumb|300px|''[[Astrology]]'' by the 16th-century Dutch engraver [[Cornelis Cort]] has a book labeled "Anaximenes" (bottom left).]]
Anaximenes believed that the universe was initially made entirely of air and that liquids and solids were then produced from it through condensation.{{Sfn|Martins|2020|p=37}} He also used air to explain the nature of the Earth and the surrounding celestial bodies. He believed in a [[flat Earth]] that emerged as one of the first things to be condensed from air. This Earth is supported by the pressure of air underneath it to keep it afloat.{{Sfn|Dye|2014|pp=74–75}} 

Anaximenes considered celestial objects to be those which had separated from the Earth.{{Sfn|Kočandrle|2019|p=102}} The philosophers who recorded Anaximenes's ideas disagree as to how he theorized this happened. He may have described them as evaporating or rarifying into fire.{{Sfn|Kočandrle|2019|pp=103–104}} He is said to have compared the movement of the Earth, Sun, and stars to leaves floating in the wind, though he is also described as likening the stars to nails embedded in the sky. Some scholars have suggested that Anaximenes may have believed both models by distinguishing between planets and stars, which would make him the first person to do so.{{Sfn|Dye|2014|pp=74–75}}{{Sfn|Kočandrle|2019|p=102}} While the Sun is described as being a flame, Anaximenes thought it was not composed of rarefied air like the stars, but rather of Earth. According to [[Pseudo-Plutarch]], Anaximenes thought that its burning comes not from its composition, but rather from its rapid motion.{{Sfn|Kočandrle|2019|p=102}}

Anaximenes rejected the commonplace idea that the Sun went underneath the Earth, instead saying that it rotated around the Earth. [[Hippolytus of Rome|Hippolytus]] likened it to a hat spinning around a person's head.{{Sfn|Couprie|2018|p=99}} It's unknown whether this analogy was of Hippolytus's own creation or if it was part of Anaximenes's explanation.{{Sfn|Kočandrle|2019|p=104}} This model of the sun's movement has been interpreted in various ways by subsequent philosophers.{{Sfn|Couprie|2018|pp=99–130}}{{Sfn|Kočandrle|2019|pp=105–106}}

Anaximenes also described the causes of other natural phenomena. Like Anaximander, he believed that thunder and lightning occurred when wind emerged after being trapped in a cloud.{{Sfn|Martins|2020|p=37}} Earthquakes, he asserted, were the result of alternating drying and wetting of the earth, causing it to undergo a cycle of splitting and swelling.{{Sfn|Alexander|2020|loc=Chapter 7}} He was the first philosopher to attempt a scientific explanation of rainbows, and the only one to do so until Aristotle. He described them as a reflection of sunlight off of clouds, and he theorized that the various colors were caused by an interaction of light and darkness.{{Sfn|Naylor|2023|p=47}}

=== Milesian context ===
{{multiple image
| align = right
| perrow = 2
| total_width = 450
| image1 =Map of the Kingdom of Lydia.png
| width1 = 335
| caption1 = Map of Asia minor. Millawanda is Miletus
| image2 =Western Asia Minor Greek Colonization.svg
| width2 = 215
| caption2 = Greek settlements in Ionia
}}
Anaximenes's views have been interpreted as reconciling those of his two predecessors, Thales and Anaximander. Air as the ''arche'' is a limitless concept, which resembled Anaximander's theory that the ''arche'' was the abstract infinite that he called ''[[apeiron]]'' ({{Langx|grc|[[wikt:ἄπειρος|ἄπειρον]]|links=no}}, lit. 'unlimited, 'boundless'). At the same time, air as the ''arche'' was a defined substance, which resembled the theory of Thales that the ''arche'' was water.<ref name=":0">{{Harvnb|Algra|1999|p=57}}</ref> Anaximenes adopted a similar design of a flat Earth as Thales. Both proposed that the Earth was flat and that it rested on the substance they believed made up all things; Thales described a disc on water, while Anaximenes described a disc on air.{{Sfn|Algra|1999|p=55}}{{Sfn|Dye|2014|pp=74–75}} His cosmology also did not diverge significantly from the ideas of Anaximander, only changing it so that it reflected his variety of monism.{{Sfn|Dye|2014|pp=74–75}}{{Sfn|Eisman|2007|p=76}}

Anaximenes's philosophy was founded upon that of Anaximander,{{Sfn|Dye|2014|pp=74–75}} but tradition holds that he was also critical of his instructor in some areas.{{Sfn|Sandywell|1995|p=172}} Anaximenes also maintained that there must be an empirical explanation for why substances change from one form to another.{{Sfn|Vamvacas|2009|p=45}}

Anaximenes and Anaximander were similar in that they are not known to have justified why or how changes in physical things take place the way that they do.{{Sfn|Graham|2006|pp=45–46}}{{Sfn|Algra|1999|p=58}} Anaximander instead invoked metaphors of justice and retribution to describe change, and he made direct appeals to deities and the divine in support of his beliefs. Anaximenes deviated from Anaximander in both of these ideas.{{Sfn|Sandywell|1995|pp=172–174, 179}}

==Legacy and study==
=== Influence on science and philosophy ===
[[File:Miletus agora.jpg|thumb|240px|The ruins of Miletus]] 
Anaximenes was the last of the Milesian philosophers, as [[Miletus]] was destroyed by attacking Persian forces in 494 BC.{{Sfn|Vamvacas|2009|p=49}} Little of his life is known relative to the other Milesian philosophers, Thales and Anaximander.{{Sfn|Sandywell|1995|p=172}} These three philosophers together began what eventually became science in the Western world.{{Sfn|Eisman|2007|p=76}} In ancient Greece, the ideas of Anaximenes were well regarded in philosophy, popularized by various philosophers such as [[Diogenes of Apollonia]], and had a greater presence than the ideas of his predecessors.{{Sfn|Sandywell|1995|p=181}} The other Milesian philosophers have since overshadowed him in the study of philosophy.{{Sfn|Graham|2006|p=45}} Anaximenes was the first philosopher to give an explanation for substances changing from one state to another through a [[Physical change|physical process]].{{Sfn|Vamvacas|2009|p=45}}{{Sfn|Eisman|2007|p=76}} He may also have been the first philosopher to write in descriptive prose rather than verse, developing a prototype of [[scientific writing]].{{Sfn|Sandywell|1995|p=173}} Only [[Fragmentology (manuscripts)|fragments]] of Anaximenes's writings have been preserved directly, and it is unknown how much these fragments have diverged from the original texts as they were recorded by subsequent authors.{{Sfn|Sandywell|1995|p=177}} Further details of Anaximenes's life and philosophical views are obscure, as none of his work has been preserved, and he is only known through fragments and interpretations of him made by later writers and polemicists.{{Sfn|Eisman|2007|p=76}} The [[Anaximenes (crater)|Anaximenes crater]] on the Moon is named in his honor.{{Sfn|Cocks|Cocks|1995|p=13}}

Early medical practice developed ideas similar to Anaximenes, proposing that air was the basis of health in that it both provides life and carries disease.{{Sfn|Vamvacas|2009|p=49}} Anaximenes's conception of air has been likened to the atoms and subatomic particles that make up all substances through their quantitative organization.{{Sfn|Vamvacas|2009|p=46}} It has also been compared to the breath of life produced by [[God]] in the [[Old Testament]].{{Sfn|Vamvacas|2009|p=47}} His understanding of physical properties as quantitative differences that applied at individual and universal scales became foundational ideas in the development of [[natural science]].{{Sfn|Vamvacas|2009|p=46, 48}}{{Sfn|Sandywell|1995|p=180}} He was the first philosopher to analogize his philosophy in practical terms, comparing the functions of the world to behaviors that can be observed in common activities.{{Sfn|Vamvacas|2009|p=48}} In this manner, he was also the first to liken the function of the individual to that of the world. In this case, likening the breath that defines humans to the air that defines the world.{{Sfn|Vamvacas|2009|p=47}} His belief that the same properties governed the world at a human scale and a universal scale was eventually proven by [[Isaac Newton]].{{Sfn|Vamvacas|2009|p=48}}

=== Subsequent interpretation ===
Some of Anaximenes's writings are referenced during the [[Hellenistic period]], but no record of those documents currently exists.{{Sfn|Eisman|2007|p=76}} Philosophers such as [[Heraclitus]], [[Anaxagoras]], and Diogenes of Apollonia were all directly influenced by the work of Anaximenes.{{Sfn|Sandywell|1995|p=181}} Diogenes of Apollonia adapted Anaximenes's ideas to the philosophy of [[Stoicism]].{{Sfn|Vamvacas|2009|p=49}} The ideas ridiculed in the [[Aristophanes]] play ''[[The Clouds]]'' originated from the ideas of Anaximander and Anaximenes.{{Sfn|Sandywell|1995|p=181}}{{Sfn|Martins|2020|p=37}} Philosophers such as [[Xenophanes]] later adopted Anaximenes's model of cosmology.{{Sfn|Kočandrle|2019|p=109}} Xenophanes's theory that the ''arche'' is earth and water has also been interpreted as a response to Anaximenes.{{Sfn|McKirahan|1994|pp=65–66}}

[[Plato]] referenced the concept of air as the cause of thought in the ''[[Phaedo]]'', rejecting it with the argument that one's physical state does not determine their fate.{{Sfn|Graham|2006|pp=47–48}} In the ''[[Timaeus (dialogue)|Timaeus]]'', Plato favorably mentions Anaximenes's theory of matter and its seven states from stone to fire.{{Sfn|Graham|2015}} [[Aristotle]] was critical of the ideas of Anaximenes.{{Sfn|Sandywell|1995|p=174}} In his ''[[Metaphysics (Aristotle)|Metaphysics]]'', Aristotle characterized Anaximenes and his predecessors as [[monism|monists]], those who believe that all things are composed of a single substance. This description came to be widely accepted in philosophy.{{Sfn|Graham|2006|pp=49–50}} Practitioners of Aristotelian philosophy further considered Anaximenes to be a founder of [[Naturalism (philosophy)|naturalism]].{{Sfn|Sandywell|1995|p=173}} After Aristotle, [[Theophrastus]] continued the [[doxography]] of the Milesian philosophers and other Ionians.{{Sfn|Graham|2006|pp=49–50}} He described Anaximenes as a [[natural philosopher]].{{Sfn|Sandywell|1995|p=174}} Other ancient philosophers who analyzed the work of Anaximenes include [[Simplicius of Cilicia|Simplicius]], [[Aetius (philosopher)|Aetius]], Hippolytus, and [[Plutarch]].{{Sfn|Sandywell|1995|p=180}}

[[Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel]] said that Anaximenes was the first philosopher to transfer the ideas of natural philosophy into the philosophy of consciousness.{{Sfn|Sandywell|1995|p=186}} [[Werner Heisenberg]] said that the philosophy of Anaximenes caused a setback in scientific understanding, as it moved analysis away from physical properties themselves.{{Sfn|Vamvacas|2009|p=49}} [[Karl Popper]] suggested that Anaximenes and Anaximander developed a philosophy of [[rationalist]] critique, allowing criticism of one's teacher, that was not revived until the [[Renaissance]].{{Sfn|Vamvacas|2009|pp=49–50}}
==References==
=== Citations ===
{{reflist}}

=== Sources ===
* {{Cite book |last=Alexander |first=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M7fjDwAAQBAJ |title=The History of Geomorphology |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2020 |isbn=9781000045789 |editor-last=Tinkler |editor-first=K. J. |chapter='Extraordinary and terrifying metamorphosis' – on the seismic causes of slope instability}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia|year=1999|title=The Beginning of Cosmology|encyclopedia=The Cambridge Companion to Early Greek Philosophy|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l4m2GP9eJmIC|last=Algra|first=K.|editor-last=Long|editor-first=A. A.|isbn=0521446678}}
* {{cite book |last1=Cocks |first1=Elijah E. |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780936389271 |title=Who's Who on the Moon: A Biographical Dictionary of Lunar Nomenclature |last2=Cocks |first2=Josiah C. |date=1995 |publisher=Tudor Publishers |isbn=978-0-936389-27-1}}
* {{Cite book |last=Couprie |first=Dirk L. |title=When the Earth Was Flat |publisher=Springer |year=2018 |isbn=978-3-319-97052-3}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Diels |first1=Hermann |title=Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker |last2=Kranz |first2=Walther |publisher=Weidmann |year=1985}}
* {{Citation |last=Dye |first=James |title=Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers |date=2014 |pages=74–75 |chapter=Anaximenes of Miletus |publisher=Springer New York |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-1-4419-9917-7_49 |isbn=9781441999160}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia|year=2007|title=Anaximenes of Miletus|encyclopedia=Ancient Greece: Volume 1|publisher=Salem Press|location=Pasadena|url=https://archive.org/details/ancientgreece0001unse/page/74/mode/2up|last=Eisman|first=M. M.|editor-last=Sienkewicz|editor-first=T. J.|pages=75–77|isbn=978-1-58765-282-0|url-access=registration}}
* {{Cite book |last=Graham |first=Daniel W. |title=Explaining the Cosmos: The Ionian Tradition of Scientific Philosophy |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2006 |isbn=9781400827459}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Graham |first=Daniel W. |date=2015-12-30 |title=Plato and Anaximenes |url=http://journals.openedition.org/etudesplatoniciennes/706 |journal=Études Platoniciennes |language=en |issue=12 |doi=10.4000/etudesplatoniciennes.706 |issn=2275-1785 |doi-access=free}}
* {{cite journal |jstor=48563639 |title=The Cosmology of Anaximenes |last1=Kočandrle |first1=Radim |journal=History of Philosophy Quarterly |year=2019 |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=101–120 |doi=10.2307/48563639 |s2cid=246623749|doi-access=free }}
* {{cite book |last=Lindberg |first=David C. |chapter=The Greeks and the Cosmos. |title=The Beginnings of Western Science |location=Chicago |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=2007}}
* {{Cite book |last=Martins |first=Carlos |title=The Universe Today |publisher=Springer |year=2020 |isbn=978-3-030-49632-6}} <!-- isbn=9780226482057 for 2008 edition; can't find a 2007 edition online -->
* {{cite book |last1=McKirahan |first1=Richard D. |chapter= Xenophanes of Colophon|title=Philosophy Before Socrates: An Introduction with Texts and Commentary |date=1994 |publisher=Hackett Publishing Company |isbn=978-0-87220-175-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5UvjwAEACAAJ |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EmtFGKmWa60C&pg=PA58}}
* {{Cite book |last=Naylor |first=John |title=The Riddle of the Rainbow |publisher=Springer |year=2023 |isbn=978-3-031-23908-3}}
* {{Cite book |last=Sandywell |first=Barry |title=Presocratic Reflexivity: The Construction of Philosophical Discourse c. 600-450 BC |publisher=Routledge |year=1995 |isbn=9780203424803}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |year=2009 |title=Anaximenes of Miletus (ca. 585-525 B.C.) |encyclopedia=The Founders of Western Thought – The Presocratics |publisher=Springer |location=New York |last=Vamvacas |first=C. J. |pages=45–51 |isbn=9781402097911}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite journal|last=Bicknell|first=P. J.|title=Anaximenes' Astronomy |date=1969|journal=Acta Classica|volume=12|pages=53–85|jstor=24591168}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Classen|first=C. J.|date=1977|title=Anaximander and Anaximenes: The Earliest Greek Theories of Change?|journal=Phronesis|volume=22|issue=2|pages=89–102|doi=10.1163/156852877X00010 |jstor=4182008}}
* {{cite book|last=Freeman|first=Kathleen|title=Ancilla to the Pre-Socratic Philosophers|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=1978|isbn=978-0-674-03500-3}}
* {{cite book|last=Hurwit|first=Jeffrey M.|title=The Art and Culture of Early Greece, 1100–480 BC|location=Ithaca, NY|publisher=Cornell University Press|year=1985}}
* {{cite book|last=Luchte|first=James|title=Early Greek Thought: Before the Dawn|year=2011|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|location=London|isbn=978-0567353313}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia|year=2004|title=The Milesian School|encyclopedia=[[A History of Western Philosophy]]|publisher=Routledge|location=Abingdon|last=Russell|first=B.|author-link=Bertrand Russell|pages=33–37|isbn=9780415325059}}
* {{cite book|last=Sandywell|first=Barry|title=Presocratic Reflexivity: The Construction of Philosophical Discourse, c. 600-450 BC|volume=3|location=London|publisher=Routledge|year=1996|isbn=0415101700}}
* {{cite book|last=Stokes|first=M. C. |title=The One and Many in Presocratic Philosophy|location=Washington, DC|publisher=Center for Hellenic Studies with Harvard University Press|year=1971}}
* {{cite book|last=Sweeney|first=Leo |title=Infinity in the Presocratics: A Bibliographical and Philosophical Study|location=The Hague|publisher=Martinus Nijhoff|year=1972}}
* {{cite book|last=Wright|first=M. R.|title=Cosmology in Antiquity|location=London|publisher=Routledge|year=1995|isbn=9780415121835}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Anaximenes}}
{{Wikisource author}}
*{{Wikiquote inline}}
* [http://www.iep.utm.edu/anaximen/ Anaximenes] at the [[Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]
* [https://philosophy.gr/presocratics/anaximenes.htm Anaximenes of Miletus] Life and Work – Fragments and Testimonies by Giannis Stamatellos

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Anaximenes Of Miletus}}
[[Category:6th-century BC Greek philosophers]]
[[Category:Ancient Milesians]]
[[Category:Philosophers of ancient Ionia]]
[[Category:Presocratic philosophers]]