Eine Notiz über schreibende und wandernde Philosophen

Abstract

In a letter allegedly written by Thales to Pherekydes, which is contained in the ‘life of Thales’ by Diogenes Laertius, the reader comes across a peculiar differentiation between two kinds of sages: Philosophers who travel the world but barely write anything down, thus resembling modern-day tourists, as opposed to philosophers who are devoted to their writings, yet do not travel at all. Could it be, that movement, i.e. travelling and wandering, is not compatible with being a true philosopher after all, as suggested by Silvia Montiglio? By revisiting the relevant paragraphs this note aims to examine whether this postulated irreconcilability has anything to do with the differentiation presented in the letter of Thales. A closer analysis of the text suggests that the underlying idea of this passage consists of two different concepts of theoria: a more traditional theoria, a journey in pursuit of knowledge, in contrast to a philosophical theoria, appropriated and transformed by Greek philosophers in the fourth century. Refs 8.