The Greek Cosmologists

This comprehensive study examines how early Greek philosophers from Thales to Aristotle developed systematic accounts of the cosmos that progressively displaced mythological explanations with naturalistic ones. Furley traces the emergence of rational cosmology through the Presocratics, analyzing how these thinkers sought to explain the universe's structure, origins, and operations through observable principles rather than divine intervention.

The work begins with the Milesian philosophers, showing how Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes pioneered explanations of cosmic phenomena through material principles like water, the boundless, and air. Furley demonstrates how these early attempts to identify a single underlying substance marked a crucial departure from traditional theogonic accounts. He examines how subsequent thinkers refined these approaches, with particular attention to how Xenophanes explicitly criticized anthropomorphic conceptions of divinity while proposing a more abstract cosmic principle.

Central to Furley's analysis is the treatment of Parmenides and the Eleatic challenge to cosmological thinking. He shows how Parmenides' logical arguments about being and non-being created philosophical problems that subsequent cosmologists had to address. The work carefully traces how Empedocles, Anaxagoras, and the Atomists developed increasingly sophisticated models to explain plurality and change while responding to Eleatic criticisms.

The study gives substantial attention to how these philosophers handled the question of cosmic intelligence and order. Furley analyzes Anaxagoras's introduction of Mind as a cosmic ordering principle, examining whether this represents a return to theological explanation or a naturalistic account of intelligence. He explores how Democritus and Leucippus developed purely mechanistic explanations through atomic theory, effectively eliminating teleology from cosmological explanation.

Furley's contribution to the God debate lies in demonstrating how Greek cosmology progressively naturalized explanations of order and causation traditionally attributed to divine agency. He shows how these thinkers developed conceptual tools for explaining apparent design through impersonal principles, whether through material necessity, logical constraints, or mechanical processes. The work illuminates how philosophical cosmology emerged as an alternative to religious accounts of the universe, establishing precedents for later debates about naturalism and theism.

The monograph's significance extends beyond historical scholarship, as it reveals how fundamental questions about cosmic order, causation, and explanation first emerged in systematic form. Furley's analysis demonstrates that the tension between naturalistic and theological explanations of the cosmos has deep roots in Western philosophical tradition.