Archelaus Quotes
Archelaus of Athens was a Greek pre-Socratic philosopher, pupil of Anaxagoras and, according to a strong ancient tradition, the teacher of Socrates. He combined his master's doctrine of an ordering Mind with original speculations about the origin of life from a primal warm and watery earth and about the conventional, rather than natural, character of justice and law. The quotes below are attributed to Archelaus, organized by topic.
Browse Archelaus by topic
Archelaus on Justice
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Attributed to Archelaus:
“Justice and law exist by convention, not by nature.”
Archelaus on Mind
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Attributed to Archelaus:
“Mind orders the world but is itself part of nature.”
Archelaus on Nature
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Attributed to Archelaus:
“Living things first arose from a warm earth nourished by rain.”
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Attributed to Archelaus:
“All things are mixtures, and the qualities of each are the proportions of the mixture.”
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Attributed to Archelaus:
“Cold and heat are the formative powers of the cosmos.”