It is defined as the branch of philosophy in charge of the study of phenomena that are characterized as natural, and that can include from movement, to the composition of things that make up reality, through the cosmos and even through the human body.
The philosophy of nature brought out the spiritual and natural qualities of man, confronting them with the supernatural postulates, with which theological thought operated; achieving in this way to stimulate the rebirth of the spirit of freedom of a human being, who forced himself to insert himself in nature, and in history as the protagonist of its changes.
The most outstanding characteristics of the philosophy of nature are the following: different conceptions both idealistic and materialistic were developed. Its exponents manifested an evident interest in the study of nature. The eternity and infinity of the world was recognized. The hilozoísmo (theory which held that the sensitivity and life are inherent in all things of nature).
Some of its main exponents were:
Thales of Miletus, great Greek philosopher whose theory expressed that water was the origin of all things that exist.
Parmenides de Elea, was of the opinion that everything that exists has always existed; for nothing can arise from nothing; and something that exists cannot become anything either.
Heraclitus of Ephesus, for this philosopher everything was in motion and nothing lasts forever. He thought the world was a great contradiction; for if a person had never been ill, he would never understand what it meant to be healthy.
Anaxagoras, a materialistic Greek philosopher whose theory expressed that nature was made of various tiny pieces, invisible to the human eye; I call these parts seeds or germs.
