
Breaking Light
Toward a Poetics of Opacity in Early Greek Thinking
D. M. Spitzer(Author)
State University of New York Press
Published on 1. May 2026
Book
Hardback
180 pages
979-8-8558-0737-0 (ISBN)
Description
Discloses the ways in which opacity and relation in the thought of Thales, Anaximandros, and Anaximenes depart from the predominant understanding of philosophy as clarity.
In Breaking Light D. M. Spitzer discloses the ways in which opacity and relation orient the thought of Thales, Anaximandros, and Anaximenes. In so doing, Breaking Light departs from a predominant understanding of philosophy as constituted by the principle of clarity-a principle already operative in Plato's and Aristotle's interpretations of the shadowy figures from the Greek east identified as the first philosophers, the Milesians. Drawing on opacity and relation as articulated by Martinican thinker Edouard Glissant and enhanced by the insights of Martin Heidegger and contemporary feminisms in the (trans-)continental tradition(s), Breaking Light lets the central terms orienting Milesian thinking-????, ???????, ???-radiate with the energies of provisionality, uncertainty, and abundance-of opacity. A comparative approach attends to figures like Pherekydes and texts from Egypt and the Near East that are understudied in the continental traditions.
In Breaking Light D. M. Spitzer discloses the ways in which opacity and relation orient the thought of Thales, Anaximandros, and Anaximenes. In so doing, Breaking Light departs from a predominant understanding of philosophy as constituted by the principle of clarity-a principle already operative in Plato's and Aristotle's interpretations of the shadowy figures from the Greek east identified as the first philosophers, the Milesians. Drawing on opacity and relation as articulated by Martinican thinker Edouard Glissant and enhanced by the insights of Martin Heidegger and contemporary feminisms in the (trans-)continental tradition(s), Breaking Light lets the central terms orienting Milesian thinking-????, ???????, ???-radiate with the energies of provisionality, uncertainty, and abundance-of opacity. A comparative approach attends to figures like Pherekydes and texts from Egypt and the Near East that are understudied in the continental traditions.
Reviews / Votes
"By demonstrating the unusual 'light' of opacity, the clarity of darkness, and the shimmering of shadows in pre-Socratic philosophy, Spitzer destabilizes the common views on the beginning of the Western philosophical tradition, which mostly rely on the belief that this beginning coincides with the birth of light itself. Breaking Light opens new paths for our reading of ancient Greek philosophy and enables a criticism of the common idea that philosophical thought is committed solely to clarity." - Marcia Sa Cavalcante Schuback, Soedertoern UniversityMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Albany, NY
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
US School Grade: College Graduate Student and over
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 14 mm
Weight
420 gr
ISBN-13
979-8-8558-0737-0 (9798855807370)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
05/2026
State University of New York Press
€40.99
Available for download
Person
D. M. Spitzer is Lecturer of Arts and Humanities at Pennsylvania State University, Mont Alto. He is the author of Parmenides and Translation: Figures of Motion, Figures of Being and the editor of Studies in Ancient Greek Philosophy: In Honor of Professor Anthony Preus.
Content
Acknowledgments
Notes, Editions, and Abbreviations
Introduction: Breaking Light
1. Divining: Thalean ????
2. Spanning: Anaximandrean ???????
3. Hovering: Anaximenean ???
Conclusion: Breaking Light, Unclosing Opacity
Bibliography
Index
Notes, Editions, and Abbreviations
Introduction: Breaking Light
1. Divining: Thalean ????
2. Spanning: Anaximandrean ???????
3. Hovering: Anaximenean ???
Conclusion: Breaking Light, Unclosing Opacity
Bibliography
Index