What was Thales' theory of water as the archê?
My central idea, or *archê*, is that water is the foundational principle of all things. I observed that life itself requires moisture and that all things seem to be nourished by it. Water, in its various states—solid, liquid, and gas—demonstrates a remarkable capacity for transformation. This malleability, this ability to exist in different forms yet remain essentially water, convinced me it was the primal element from which all variety in the cosmos arises and to which it ultimately dissolves.