The six studies comprising this volume deal with some fundamental issues in early Greek cosmic evaluation in Anaximander, the theory of opposites from the Pre-Socratics to Plato and Aristotle, thought experimentation in Pre-Socratic thought, the origins of Greek Skepticism among the Sophisists, the prehistory of and "Buridan's Ass and " speculation, and the role of esthesis in Aristotle's theory of science. In each case, the early discussion seeks to show how certain ideas bore unexpected fruit during the subsequent development of philosophical thought.Nicholas Rescher is university professor of philosophy at the University of Pittsburgh where he is also co-chair of the Center for Philosophy of Science. He earned his doctorate at Princeton in 1951 in two years while still at the age of twenty-two - a record for Princeton's Department of Philosophy. He has served as a president of the American Philosophical Association, of the American Catholic Philosophy Association, of the American G. W. Leibniz Society, and of the C. S. Peirce Society and is currently president of the American Metaphysical Society.