2

I had it in my head that it was Anaximander, but I'm not finding it (and it's been a couple of decades since this concept was introduced to me;) Any help is much appreciated.

Improve this question
2
  • 2
    Burning mass of iron, and it was Anaxagoras. He was sentenced to death for claiming it, allegedly, with execution replaced by exile. But I am not sure this is a question about philosophy.
    – Conifold
    Commented Apr 6, 2017 at 21:45
  • 1
    @Conifold Isn't it about pre-Socratic philosophy? (ID question for a concept. My interest is in applied philosophy, as related to General Artificial Intelligence, which is why I'm starting out with the pre-Socratics instead of Kant. This one was just for fun, as stars are the source of heavy elements, such as metals.) If you want to answer formally, I'll up-vote and accept. I appreciate your taking the time to correct my faulty recollection.
    – DukeZhou
    Commented Apr 7, 2017 at 17:30

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

I'm guessing it was Anaxagoras, as reported in Refutation of All Heresies by Hippolytus:

After this (thinker) comes Anaxagoras, son of Hegesibulus, a native of Clazomenæ. This person affirmed... And that the sun and moon and all the stars are fiery stones, that were rolled round by the rotation of the atmosphere.

It's not a burning bar of iron but a burning stone, but I think that's the closest.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .