Pre Socratic-Philosopher Heraclitus Philosophy YouTube Lecture Handouts
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Heraclitus: Pre Socratic-Philosopher- Upwards-downwards Theory; Harmony in Opposites|Philosophy
Title: Pre Socratic-Philosopher Heraclitus
Heraclitus
- Heraclitus was a pre-Socratic philosopher.
- He was a religious thinker and believed in God.
- “The road up and the road down are the same thing,” and “one cannot step into the same river twice,” etc.
- Some of his areas of interests are cosmology, metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, politics, etc.
- He was influenced by the philosophy of Milesians, Pythagoras, Homer, etc.
- He influenced a list of philosophers such as Socrates, Aristotle, Plato, Heidegger, Nietzsche, Hegel, etc.
- Heraclitus was a contemporary of Parmenides. But both the philosophers held opposite views.
- Heraclitus՚ philosophy presents the anti-thesis of Eleaticism.
- For him, reality is change, flux, and always Becoming.
- “No one can step into the same river twice, for when a man enters into a river, he meets one stream of water and the next moment, when he enters again, he meets a newer stream of water.”
- Becoming, impermanence or change is the only reality.
His arche
- According to him, the concept of arche or logo is best symbolised by Fire.
- Fire is ever-changing entity which constitutes life or reality. There is fire in a man too, the one with more fire is considered to be more intellectual in nature and the one with less fire is regarded to be sick or ill.
- Fire - Heraclitus՚ Philosophy
- Fire - Sankhya Philosophy (Sattva-Rajas-Tamas)
Upwards-Downwards Theory
- Downward Way; Through condensation, fire changes into water and stones or earth.
- Upwards Way; Through rarefaction, water and stones or earth give way to fire.
- This order produces the illusion of permanence but it is not permanence.
- On the other hand, the reality is change!
Harmony in Opposites
- All things are composed of opposites.
- This is also known as his famous theory of, “harmony of opposites.”
- According to him, every existent thing deals with a harmony of opposites, such as hot-cold, day-night, dry-wet, condensation-rarefaction, etc.
- Therefore, the unity or the harmony of the opposites is the father of all things.
- “Cold things grow hot, a hot thing cold, a moist thing withers, a parched thing is wetted,”
Question
According to Heraclitus, ________ is the arche or logo
A. Fire
B. Change
C. Opposites
D. All of the above
Answer: A
Explanation: according to Heraclitus, the fire is the arch or logo. The theory of opposites is propounded by Pythagoras.
✍ Manishika