o be situated. And in fact the first
period of Greek philosophy deals exclusively with the thoughts of
these colonial Greeks. It was not till just before the time of
Socrates that philosophy was transplanted to the mainland.

Greek philosophy falls naturally into three periods. The first may be
roughly described as pre-Socratic philosophy, though it does not
include the Sophists who were both the contemporaries and the
predecessors of Socrates. This period is the rise of Greek philosophy.
{19} Secondly, the period from the Sophists to Aristotle, which
includes Socrates and Plato, is the maturity of Greek philosophy, the
actual zenith and culmination of which is undoubtedly the system of
Aristotle. Lastly, the period of post-Aristotelian philosophy
constitutes the decline and fall of the national thought. These are
not merely arbitrary divisions. Each period has its own special
characters, which will be described in the sequel.

A few words must be said of the sources of our knowledge of
pre-Socratic philosophy. If we want to know what Plato and Aristotle
thought about any matter, we have only to consult their works. But the
works of the earlier philosophers have not come down to us, except in
fragments, and several of them never committed their opinions to
writing. Our knowledge of their doctrines is the result of the
laborious sifting by scholars of such materials as are available.
Luckily the material has been plentiful. It may be divided into three
classes. First come the fragments of the original writings of the
philosophers themselves. These are in many cases long and important,
in other cases scanty. Secondly, there are the references in Plato and
Aristotle. Of these by far the most important are to be found in the
first book of Aristotle's "Metaphysics," which is a history of
philosophy up to his own time, and is the first attempt on record to
write a history of philosophy. Thirdly, there is an enormous mass of
references, some valuable, some worthless, contained in the works of
later, but still ancient, writers.

{20}

CHAPTER II

THE IONICS.

The earliest Greek philosophers belong to what in after times came to
be called the Ionic school. The name was derived from the fact that
the three chief representatives of this school, Thales, Anaximander,
and Anaximenes, were all men of Ionia, that is to say, the coast of
Asia Minor.

Thales

As the founder of the earliest school in history, Thales of