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Chapter 2 - Anaximander for the Anthropocene

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2020

M. D. Usher
M. D. Usher
Affiliation:
University of Vermont
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Summary

“Anaximander for the Anthropocene” presents a formal sketch of modern complexity theory, then argues that the cosmological propositions of Anaximander of Miletus represent a style of rational thinking in Greek antiquity, founded on analogy, to which modern systems science owes an unacknowledged debt. The systems approach to the world first adumbrated by Anaximander’s natural philosophy, it is suggested further, provides the conceptual basis for any meaningful sustainability ethos, even in the modern age.

Keywords

Anaximander of Miletuscomplexityanalogyrelativitylogistic mapsustainabilitysystemsemergence
Type
Chapter
Information
Plato's Pigs and Other Ruminations
Ancient Guides to Living with Nature
 , pp. 45 - 63
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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