apeiron
Noun
Meaning
apeiron (uncountable)
A kind of infinite primal chaos in the cosmological theory of Anaximander.
Anagrams
Examples
In physics, his postulation that the indefinite (or apeiron ) was the source of all things led Greek philosophy to a new level of conceptual abstraction.
Pre-Socratic philosophers The ancient Greek term for the potential or improper infinite was apeiron (unlimited or indefinite), in contrast to the actual or proper infinite aphorismenon.
Clearly, the 'apeiron' was some sort of basic substance.
He postulated the apeiron as a substance that, although not directly perceptible to us, could explain the opposites he saw around him.
He proposed the theory of the apeiron in direct response to the earlier theory of his teacher, Thales, who had claimed that the primary substance was water.
Plato 's notion of the apeiron is more abstract, having to do with indefinite variability.