<P> In the pre-Socratic period , ancient philosophers first articulated questions about the `` arche '' ( the cause or first principle ) of the universe . Western Philosophy is generally said to begin in the Greek cities of western Asia Minor ( Ionia ) with Thales of Miletus , who was active c. 585 BC and was responsible for the opaque dictum , `` all is water . '' His most noted students were respectively Anaximander ( all is apeiron ( roughly , the unlimited ) ) and Anaximenes of Miletus ( `` all is air '' ) . Pythagoras , from the island of Samos off the coast of Ionia , later lived at Croton in southern Italy ( Magna Graecia ) . Pythagoreans hold that `` all is number , '' giving formal accounts in contrast to the previous material of the Ionians . They also believe in metempsychosis , the transmigration of souls , or reincarnation . </P>
<P> In the pre-Socratic period , ancient philosophers first articulated questions about the `` arche '' ( the cause or first principle ) of the universe . Western Philosophy is generally said to begin in the Greek cities of western Asia Minor ( Ionia ) with Thales of Miletus , who was active c. 585 BC and was responsible for the opaque dictum , `` all is water . '' His most noted students were respectively Anaximander ( all is apeiron ( roughly , the unlimited ) ) and Anaximenes of Miletus ( `` all is air '' ) . Pythagoras , from the island of Samos off the coast of Ionia , later lived at Croton in southern Italy ( Magna Graecia ) . Pythagoreans hold that `` all is number , '' giving formal accounts in contrast to the previous material of the Ionians . They also believe in metempsychosis , the transmigration of souls , or reincarnation . </P>
the greek usually thought of as the first western philosopher was who
the greek usually thought of as the first western philosopher was who
Thales of Miletus
Thales of Miletus