Editing Anaxarchus

'''Anaxarchus''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|æ|n|ə|ɡ|ˈ|z|ɑr|k|ə|s}}; {{langx|el|Ἀνάξαρχος}}; c. 380 – c. 320 BC) was a [[Greek people|Greek]] [[philosopher]] of the school of [[Democritus]]. Together with [[Pyrrho]], he accompanied [[Alexander the Great]] into Asia. The reports of his philosophical views suggest that he was a forerunner of the [[Pyrrhonism|Greek skeptics]].

==Life==
Anaxarchus was born at [[Abdera, Thrace|Abdera]] in [[Thrace]]. He was the companion and friend of [[Alexander the Great]] in his Asiatic campaigns. His relationship with Alexander, however, was ambiguous, owing to contradictory sources.<ref name=Vass>{{cite book|surname=Vassallo|first=Christian|title=Presocratics and Papyrological Tradition: A Philosophical Reappraisal of the Sources. Proceedings of the International Workshop held at the University of Trier (22-24 September 2016)|url=|date=2019|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=9783110666106|page=473}}</ref> Some paint Anarxchus as a flatterer, among them [[Plutarch]], who tells a story that at [[Bactra]], in 327 BC in a debate with [[Callisthenes]], Anaxarchus advised all to worship Alexander as a god even during his lifetime. In contrast, others paint Anaxarchus as scathingly ironic towards the monarch.<ref name=Vass/> According to [[Diogenes Laertius]], in response to Alexander's claim to have been the son of [[Zeus]]-[[Amun|Ammon]], Anaxarchus pointed to his bleeding wound and remarked, "See the blood of a mortal, not [[ichor]], such as flows from the veins of the immortal gods."<ref name="laertius60">Diogenes Laertius, ''Lives'', ix. 60</ref>

When Alexander was trying to show that he was divine so that the Greeks would perform proskynesis to him, Anaxarchus said that Alexander could "more justly be considered a god than Dionysus or Heracles" (Arrian, 104)

Diogenes Laertius says that Anaxarchus earned the enmity of [[Nicocreon]], the tyrant of [[Cyprus]], with an inappropriate joke against tyrants in a banquet in [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]] in 331 BC.<ref name=Vass/> Later, when Anaxarchus was forced to land in Cyprus against his will, Nicocreon ordered him to be pounded to death in a mortar. The philosopher endured this torture with fortitude, taunting the king with, "just pound the bag of Anaxarchus, you do not pound Anaxarchus". When Nicocreon threatened to cut out his tongue, Anaxarchus himself bit it out and spat it in his face.<ref name=Vass/><ref name="laertius58">Diogenes Laertius, ''Lives'', ix. 58</ref>

==Philosophy==
Very little is known about his philosophical views. It is thought that he represents a link between the [[atomism]] of [[Democritus]], and the [[Pyrrhonism|skepticism]] of his own apprentice [[Pyrrho]]. He also shares ethical traits with the [[Cynicism (philosophy)|Cynic]] and [[Cyrenaics|Cyrenaic]] schools.<ref name=Pajón>Pajón Leyra, I. (2019). ''Anaxarco de Abdera: Adiaphoria y criterio de verdad en el umbral de la época helenística''. Archai 27</ref>

Anaxarchus is said to have studied under Diogenes of Smyrna, who in turn studied under [[Metrodorus of Chios]], who used to declare that he knew nothing, not even the fact that he knew nothing.<ref name="laertius58"/> According to [[Sextus Empiricus]], Anaxarchus "compared existing things to a scene-painting and supposed them to resemble the impressions experienced in sleep or madness."<ref>Sextus Empiricus, ''Against the Logicians'', 7.88.</ref> It was under the influence of Anaxarchus that Pyrrho is said to have adopted "a most noble philosophy,&nbsp;.&nbsp;.&nbsp;. taking the form of agnosticism and suspension of judgement."<ref>Diogenes Laertius, ''Lives'', ix. 61</ref> Anaxarchus is said to have praised Pyrrho's "indifference and sang-froid."<ref>Diogenes Laertius, ''Lives'', ix. 63</ref> He is said to have possessed "fortitude and contentment in life," which earned him the epithet ''eudaimonikos'' ("fortunate").<ref name="laertius60"/>

His skepticism seems to have been pragmatical, postulating that against the uncertainty of existence, the only viable stance is to pursue happiness or ''[[eudaimonia]]'', for which it is necessary to cultivate indifference or ''[[adiaphora]]''. According to him, the effort to differentiate truth from falseness through the senses is both useless and detrimental to happiness.<ref name=Pajón/>

He wrote a work named ''About the Monarchs''. In it, he spouses that knowledge is useless without the ability to know when to speak and what to say in every occasion.<ref name=Pajón/>

[[Plutarch]] reports that he told [[Alexander the Great]] that there was an infinite number of worlds, causing the latter to become dejected because he had not yet conquered even one.<ref>Plutarch's Morals</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{cite IEP |url-id=anaxarch |title=Anaxarchus |last=O'Keefe |first=Tim}}
*{{ws|[[Diogenes Laërtius]], ''[[s:Lives of the Eminent Philosophers/Book IX#Anaxarchus|Life of Anaxarchus]]'', translated by [[Robert Drew Hicks]] (1925)}}

{{Philosophical skepticism}}
{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:4th-century BC Greek philosophers]]
[[Category:Abderites]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek atomist philosophers]]
[[Category:Ancient Thracian Greeks]]
[[Category:Hellenistic-era philosophers]]
[[Category:Philosophers and tutors of Alexander the Great]]
[[Category:Ancient Skeptic philosophers]]