希腊早期的哲学家大多致力于自然学的研究,特别着力于宇宙根源的探讨。如希腊哲学始祖泰勒斯(Thales)认为水是万物的根源,阿那克西米尼(Anaximenes)认为一切事物是由空气的凝聚与发散而成,毕达哥拉斯(Pythagoras)将万象归于抽象的数(数目Number或数量Quantity),德谟克利特(Democritus)则认为万物由不可分的原子构成,到了恩培多克勒(Empedocles)又主张万物不外乎地、水、风、火四元素的聚散离合。以上诸家均重视自然并善于进行客观理解与分析。 Early Greek philosophers mostly devoted themselves to the study of natural science, with particular emphasis on the discussion of the origin of the universe. If Thales, the Greek philosophical ancestor, thinks water is the source of all things, Anaximenes thinks everything is made of the cohesion and divergence of air, and Pythagoras attributes it to abstraction (Number or Quantity). Democritus holds that all things consist of indivisible atoms, and Empedocles argues that all things are nothing but water, wind and fire The convergence of the clutch. All the above families value nature and are good at objective understanding and analysis.