When he said that the sun and the moon were not gods, he got a reaction: Who is Anaxagoras?

(500-428 BC) Ancient Greek sage. He argued that the basic principle that initiates creation is a substance called nous and that research should be based on sensory data. He was born in Klazomenai (İzmir, Güladası), lived in Athens for a while, and died in Lapseki, where he was exiled. There is not enough detailed information about his family, early teenage years, and education. He was from a wealthy, noble family, according to various sources, which can be considered the first history of philosophy and those who came after him. According to another rumor, he was a student of Anaximenes in his youth. After obtaining the first knowledge in the region where he was born, which was the home of science and philosophy of the First Age, he went to Athens (462 BC) and stayed there for thirty years, the famous sophist of the age Protagoras, theater The author Euripides established a close relationship with the powerful, enlightened statesman of Athens, Pericles. With the opportunities provided by this closeness, he continued his observations, research based on experimental data and studies that were used to collect and organize the information that would form the basis of his philosophy.

Anaxagoras drew the anger of the Athenians, who blessed the sun and the moon as divine beings after he claimed that the sun was a very powerful radiant mass of fire and that the moonlight originated from a natural being, the sun, had to migrate to Lapseki when he was accused of atheism. In this event, the effect of the closeness he established with Pericles and the reaction of those who opposed the Pericles administration are seen. Although some sources claim that he taught Pericles the "art of politics" and therefore got involved in administrative affairs, this is not certain.

Anaxagoras, who devoted himself to science and philosophy by staying away from social events and public administration throughout his life, also made important studies in the fields of astronomy and mathematics, according to his age. It has been revealed that these studies, which were reconsidered in the following centuries, conform to natural facts and scientific data.

Sources containing the thoughts of Anaxagoras usually consist of several small passages that are said to have come from his own hand. These documents are also found in the writings of Plato and Aristotle, who came after him, and in the compilations of authors such as Hippolites, Theophrastos, and Diogenes Laertius. Anaxagoras' understanding of philosophy has come to light as a whole from the comparative analysis and explanation of these sources, which were revealed in different periods.

Again, these sources state that Anaxagoras, who set out from experiment, sense data and nature in method, adopted the principle of seeking solutions to philosophical problems and basing philosophical thoughts on concrete entities, and he took these views to Athens, allowing philosophy to be born and developed there.