THALÈS VS PHÉRÉCYDE

Les origines aristotéliciennes d’une rivalité philosophique

Abstract

This article reconstructs the genesis and subsequent development of the philosophical rivalry between Thales and Pherecydes, as it emerges from a complex doxographical tradition involving Aristotle, the Peripatetic school, and Platonic-Pythagorean exegesis. Starting from the fragment transmitted by Diogenes Laertius (2.46), generally attributed to Aristotle (Frag. 75 Rose³), which mentions Pherecydes as an antagonist of Thales within a list of intellectual ‘rivals’, the study shows how this initially minimal opposition was progressively elaborated into a paradigmatic pair in the construction of the history of philosophy. Aristotle’s treatment in Metaphysics Alpha and Νu plays a decisive role: Thales appears as the initiator of natural philosophy, while Pherecydes, interpreted as a ‘mixed figure between myth and rational inquiry, is situated within the debate between Aristotle and Speusippus on first principles. Later reception, especially in Neopythagorean and Neoplatonic contexts, radicalizes this contrast, transforming Pherecydes into a theological and allegorical authority opposed to the Aristotelian naturalistic approach. The article also shows how Late Antique tradition sought to reconcile the rivalry through pseudo-epigraphic correspondence between the two Sages, turning conflict into dialogue. Overall, the study illustrates how a minimal bio-doxographical trace was transformed into an interpretative device capable of structuring, by contrast, two major trajectories of ancient philosophy: the naturalistic line from Thales to Aristotle, and the theological-allegorical line from Pherecydes to Platonism.

English title: Thales vs. Pherecydes: Aristotelian Origins of a Philosophical Rivalry