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76-432: Panta Rei or Panta Rhei may refer to: Panta rei (Heraclitus) , "everything flows", a concept in the philosophy of Heraclitus Media [ edit ] Panta Rhei (band) , a Hungarian rock band Panta Rei (Đorđe Balašević album) , a studio album by Đorđe Balašević Panta Rei (Jelena Tomašević album) , the debut album of Jelena Tomašević Panta Rhei (film) ,

152-411: A 1952 film by Bert Haanstra Panta Rei (film) , a 2005 film by Nisvet Hrustić "Panta Rhei", a trance single (mixed by Armin van Buuren and Mark Sixma) featured A State of Trance 2015 "Panta Rei", song by Agoria (musician) from "Impermanence" album "Panta Rhei", song by Myth & Roid Panta Rhei , cycle of performance art by VestAndPage Other [ edit ] Panta Rei,

228-485: A beginning and an end and that a world could be destroyed by collision with another world. Democritus was also a pioneer of mathematics and geometry in particular. According to Archimedes , Democritus was among the first to observe that a cone and pyramid with the same base area and height has one-third the volume of a cylinder or prism respectively, a result which Archimedes states was later proved by Eudoxus of Cnidus . Plutarch also reports that Democritus worked on

304-502: A child plays. Similar to his views on rivers, Heraclitus believed "the Sun is new each day." He also said the Sun never sets . This was "obviously inspired by scientific reflection, and no doubt seemed to him to obviate the difficulty of understanding how the sun can work its way underground from west to east during the night". The physician Galen explains: "Heraclitus says that the sun

380-467: A dry soul is best. Heraclitus is said to have produced a single work on papyrus , which has not survived; however, over 100 fragments of this work survive in quotations by other authors. The title is unknown, but many later writers refer to this work, and works by other pre-Socratics, as On Nature . According to Diogenes Laërtius, Heraclitus deposited the book in the Artemision – one of

456-858: A fictional secret society featured in Umberto Eco's novel Foucault's Pendulum Panta Rhei, a ship operated by Zürichsee-Schifffahrtsgesellschaft on Lake Zurich in Switzerland Panta Rhei (game engine) , a video game engine built by Capcom Panta Rhei, the name of the Scientific Decade 2013–2022 of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences See also [ edit ] Hōjōki – Japanese Impermanence – Buddhism Omnia mutantur , Tempora mutantur – Latin Topics referred to by

532-619: A likely reference to an alleged similarity to Pythagorean riddles. Timon said Heraclitus wrote his book "rather unclearly" ( ασαφεστερον ; asaphesteron ); according to Timon, this was intended to allow only the "capable" to attempt it. By the time of Cicero , this epithet became in Greek "The Dark" ( ὁ Σκοτεινός ; ho Skoteinós ) or in Latin "The Obscure" as he had spoken nimis obscurē ("too obscurely") concerning nature and had done so deliberately in order to be misunderstood. The obscurity

608-417: A passing and partial resemblance to the 19th-century understanding of atomic structure that has led some to regard Democritus as more of a scientist than other Greek philosophers; however, their ideas rested on very different bases. Democritus, along with Leucippus and Epicurus , proposed the earliest views on the shapes and connectivity of atoms. They reasoned that the solidness of the material corresponded to

684-615: A problem involving the cross-section of a cone that Thomas Heath suggests may be an early version of infinitesimal calculus . Democritus thought that the first humans lived an anarchic and animal sort of life, foraging individually and living off the most palatable herbs and the fruit which grew wild on the trees, until fear of wild animals drove them together into societies. He believed that these early people had no language, but that they gradually began to articulate their expressions, establishing symbols for every sort of object, and in this manner came to understand each other. He says that

760-487: A process of never-ending cycles. Plato and Aristotle attribute to Heraclitus a periodic destruction of the world by a great conflagration, known as ekpyrosis, which happens every Great Year – according to Plato, every 36,000 years. Heraclitus more than once describes the transformations to and from fire: Fire lives the death of earth, and air lives the death of fire; water lives the death of air, and earth that of water. The turnings of fire: first sea, and of sea half

836-406: A public fact like a proposition or formula ; like Guthrie, he views Heraclitus as a materialist, so he grants Heraclitus would not have considered these as abstract objects or immaterial things. Another possibility is the logos referred to the truth , or to the book itself. Classicist Walther Kranz translated it as " sense ". Heraclitus's logos doctrine may also be the origin of

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912-430: A single scientific explanation than become the king of Persia. Although many anecdotes about Democritus' life survive, their authenticity cannot be verified and modern scholars doubt their accuracy. Ancient accounts of his life have claimed that he lived to a very old age, with some writers claiming that he was over a hundred years old at the time of his death. Democritus wrote on ethics as well as physics. Democritus

988-413: A thousand years with her voice, thanks to the god in her". Kahn characterized the main features of Heraclitus's writing as "linguistic density", meaning that single words and phrases have multiple meanings, and "resonance", meaning that expressions evoke one another. Heraclitus used literary devices like alliteration and chiasmus . Aristotle quotes part of the opening line of Heraclitus's work in

1064-496: A void, but simply rejected the argument of Parmenides on the grounds that motion was an observable fact. Therefore, they asserted, there must be a void. Democritus held that originally the universe was composed of nothing but tiny atoms churning in chaos, until they collided together to form larger units—including the earth and everything on it. He surmised that there are many worlds , some growing, some decaying; some with no sun or moon, some with several. He held that every world has

1140-443: A wide variety of other uses, such that Heraclitus might have a different meaning of the word for each usage in his book. Kahn has argued that Heraclitus used the word in multiple senses, whereas Guthrie has argued that there is no evidence Heraclitus used it in a way that was significantly different from that in which it was used by contemporaneous speakers of Greek. Professor Michael Stokes interprets Heraclitus's use of logos as

1216-399: Is a burning mass, kindled at its rising, and quenched at its setting." Heraclitus also believed that the Sun is as large as it looks, and said Hesiod "did not know night and day , for they are one." However, he also explained the phenomenon of day and night by if the Sun "oversteps his measures", then " Erinyes , the ministers of Justice, will find him out". Heraclitus further wrote

1292-455: Is also believed to impart some controversial advice such as " It is better not to have any children, for to bring them up well takes great trouble and care, and seeing them grow up badly is the cruellest of all pains ". He also wrote a treatise on the purpose of life and the nature of happiness. He held that " happiness was not to be found in riches but in the goods of the soul and one should not take pleasure in mortal things ". Another saying that

1368-520: Is an inert solid that excludes other bodies from its volume and interacts with other atoms mechanically. Quantum-mechanical atoms are similar in that their motion can be described by mechanics in addition to their electric, magnetic and quantum interactions. They are different in that they can be split into protons, neutrons, and electrons. The elementary particles are similar to Democritean atoms in that they are indivisible but their collisions are governed purely by quantum physics . Fermions observe

1444-568: Is at the same time a divine law." The Milesians before Heraclitus had a view called material monism which conceived of certain elements as the arche – Thales with water, Anaximander with apeiron , and Anaximenes with air. Since antiquity, philosophers have concluded that Heraclitus construed of fire as the arche , the ultimate reality or the fundamental element that gave rise to the other elements. Pre-Socratic scholar Eduard Zeller has argued that Heraclitus believed that heat in general and dry exhalation in particular, rather than visible fire,

1520-454: Is common, most people live as though they had an understanding peculiar to themselves." Heraclitus did not seem to like the prevailing religion of the time, criticizing the popular mystery cults , blood sacrifice , and prayer to statues. He also did not believe in funeral rites , saying "Corpses are more fit to be cast out than dung." He further criticized Homer , Hesiod , Pythagoras , Xenophanes , and Hecataeus . He endorsed

1596-492: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Heraclitus#Panta rhei Little is known of Heraclitus's life. He wrote a single work, only fragments of which have survived, catalogued under philosopher number 22 in the Diels–Kranz numbering system. Already in antiquity, his paradoxical philosophy, appreciation for wordplay , and cryptic, oracular epigrams earned him

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1672-431: Is earth, half fireburst. [Earth] is liquefied as sea and measured into the same proportion as it had before it became earth. However, it is also argued by many that Heraclitus never identified fire as the arche ; rather, he only used fire to explain his notion of flux, as the basic stuff which changes or moves the most. Others conclude he used it as the physical form of logos . On yet another interpretation, Heraclitus

1748-794: Is not a material monist explicating flux nor stability, but a revolutionary process philosopher who chooses fire in an attempt to say there is no arche . Fire is a symbol or metaphor for change, rather than the basic stuff which changes the most. Perspectives of this sort emphasize his statements on change such as "The way up is the way down", as well as the quote "All things are an exchange for Fire, and Fire for all things, even as wares for gold and gold for wares", which has been understood as stating that while all can be transformed into fire, not everything comes from fire, just as not everything comes from gold. While considered an ancient cosmologist , Heraclitus did not seem as interested in astronomy , meteorology , or mathematics as his predecessors. It

1824-415: Is nothing—but a nothing cannot exist. The Parmenidean position was "You say there is a void; therefore the void is not nothing; therefore there is not the void." The position of Parmenides appeared validated by the observation that where there seems to be nothing there is air, and indeed even where there is not matter there is something , for instance light waves. The atomists agreed that motion required

1900-495: Is often attributed to him is " The hopes of the educated were better than the riches of the ignorant ". He also stated that " the cause of sin is ignorance of what is better " which become a central notion later in the Socratic moral thought. Another idea he propounded which was later echoed in the Socratic moral thought was the maxim that " you are better off being wronged than doing wrong ". His other moral notions went contrary to

1976-400: Is surmised Heraclitus believed that the earth was flat and extended infinitely in all directions. Heraclitus held all things occur according to fate . He said "Time ( Aion ) is a child playing draughts , the kingly power is a child's." It is disputed whether this means time and life is determined by rules like a game , by conflict like a game, or by arbitrary whims of the gods like

2052-562: Is tended by blows." A core concept for Heraclitus is logos , an ancient Greek word literally meaning "word, speech, discourse, or meaning ". For Heraclitus, the logos seems to designate the rational structure or ordered composition of the world. As well as the opening quote of his book, one fragment reads: "Listening not to me but to the logos , it is wise to agree ( homologein ) that all things are one." Another fragment reads: "[ hoi polloi ] ... do not know how to listen [to Logos ] or how to speak [the truth]." The word logos has

2128-457: Is that the work fell naturally into these parts when the Stoic commentators took their editions of it in hand". The Stoics divided their own philosophy into three parts: ethics, logic, and physics. The Stoic Cleanthes further divided philosophy into dialectics , rhetoric , ethics , politics, physics , and theology, and philologist Karl Deichgräber has argued the last three are the same as

2204-535: Is the central principle in Heraclitus' thought." Another of Heraclitus's famous sayings highlights the idea that the unity of opposites is also a conflict of opposites: "War is father of all and king of all; and some he manifested as gods, some as men; some he made slaves, some free"; war is a creative tension that brings things into existence. Heraclitus says further "Gods and men honour those slain in war"; "Greater deaths gain greater portions"; and "Every beast

2280-451: Is the earliest use of the concept of force . A quote about the bow shows his appreciation for wordplay: "The bow's name is life, but its work is death." Each substance contains its opposite, making for a continual circular exchange of generation, destruction, and motion that results in the stability of the world. This can be illustrated by the quote "Even the kykeon separates if it is not stirred." According to Abraham Schoener: "War

2356-492: The Rhetoric to outline the difficulty in punctuating Heraclitus without ambiguity; he debated whether "forever" applied to "being" or to "prove". Aristotle's successor at the lyceum Theophrastus says about Heraclitus that "some parts of his work [are] half-finished, while other parts [made] a strange medley". Theophrastus thought an inability to finish the work showed Heraclitus was melancholic. Diogenes Laërtius relays

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2432-479: The Delphic maxim to know thyself . Heraclitus has been the subject of numerous interpretations. According to scholar Daniel W. Graham, Heraclitus has been seen as a " material monist or a process philosopher ; a scientific cosmologist , a metaphysician and a religious thinker; an empiricist , a rationalist , a mystic ; a conventional thinker and a revolutionary; a developer of logic – one who denied

2508-561: The Pauli exclusion principle , which is similar to the Democritean principle that atoms exclude other bodies from their volume. However, bosons do not, with the prime example being the elementary particle photon . The theory of the atomists appears to be more nearly aligned with that of modern science than any other theory of antiquity. However, the similarity with modern concepts of science can be confusing when trying to understand where

2584-556: The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World – as a dedication. Classicist Charles Kahn states: "Down to the time of Plutarch and Clement , if not later, the little book of Heraclitus was available in its original form to any reader who chose to seek it out." Yet, by the time of Simplicius of Cilicia , a 6th-century neoplatonic philosopher, who mentions Heraclitus 32 times but never quotes from him, Heraclitus's work

2660-406: The law of non-contradiction ; the first genuine philosopher and an anti-intellectual obscurantist ". The hallmarks of Heraclitus's philosophy are the unity of opposites and change, or flux . According to Aristotle, Heraclitus was a dialetheist , or one who denies the law of noncontradiction (a law of thought or logical principle which states that something cannot be true and false at

2736-470: The Great . However, this date can be considered "roughly accurate" based on a fragment that references Pythagoras, Xenophanes, and Hecataeus as older contemporaries, placing him near the end of the sixth century BC. According to Diogenes Laertius, Heraclitus died covered in dung after failing to cure himself from dropsy . This may be to parody his doctrine that for souls it is death to become water, and that

2812-625: The Sun is in charge of the seasons . On one account, Heraclitus believed the Sun and Moon were bowls containing fire, with lunar phases explained by the turning of the bowl. His study of the moon near the end of the month is contained in one of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri , a group of manuscripts found in an ancient landfill . This is the best evidence of Heraclitean astronomy. Democritus Democritus ( / d ɪ ˈ m ɒ k r ɪ t ə s / , dim- OCK -rit-əs ; Greek : Δημόκριτος , Dēmókritos , meaning "chosen of

2888-690: The alleged division of Heraclitus. The philosopher Paul Schuster has argued the division came from the Pinakes . Scholar Martin Litchfield West claims that while the existing fragments do not give much of an idea of the overall structure, the beginning of the discourse can probably be determined, starting with the opening lines, which are quoted by Sextus Empiricus : Of the logos being forever do men prove to be uncomprehending, both before they hear and once they have heard it. For although all things happen according to this logos they are like

2964-411: The doctrine of natural law . Heraclitus stated "People ought to fight to keep their law as to defend the city walls. For all human laws get nourishment from the one divine law." "Far from arguing like the latter Sophists, that the human law, because it is a conventional law, deserves to be abandoned in favor of the law of nature, Herakleitos argued that the human law partakes of the law of nature, which

3040-458: The earliest men lived laboriously, having none of the utilities of life; clothing, houses, fire, domestication, and farming were unknown to them. Democritus presents the early period of mankind as one of learning by trial and error, and says that each step slowly led to more discoveries; they took refuge in the caves in winter, stored fruits that could be preserved, and through reason and keenness of mind came to build upon each new idea. Democritus

3116-455: The epithets "the dark" and "the obscure". He was considered arrogant and depressed, a misanthrope who was subject to melancholia . Consequently, he became known as "the weeping philosopher" in contrast to the ancient philosopher Democritus , who was known as "the laughing philosopher". The central ideas of Heraclitus's philosophy are the unity of opposites and the concept of change . He also saw harmony and justice in strife . He viewed

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3192-565: The field of natural philosophy . He was known in antiquity as the ‘laughing philosopher’ because of his emphasis on the value of cheerfulness. Democritus was born in Abdera, on the coast of Thrace . He was a polymath and prolific writer, producing nearly eighty treatises on subjects such as poetry, harmony, military tactics, and Babylonian theology. He traveled extensively, visiting Egypt and Persia, but wasn't particularly impressed by these countries. He once remarked that he would rather uncover

3268-550: The genuine one. The river fragments (especially the second "we both are and are not") seem to suggest not only is the river constantly changing, but we do as well, perhaps commenting on existential questions about humanity and personhood. Scholars such as Reinhardt also interpreted the metaphor as illustrating what is stable, rather than the usual interpretation of illustrating change. Classicist Karl-Martin Dietz  [ de ] has said: "You will not find anything, in which

3344-416: The greatest warning against materialism". Several fragments seem to relate to the unity of opposites. For example: "The straight and the crooked path of the fuller 's comb is one and the same"; "The way up is the way down"; "Beginning and end, on a circle 's circumference, are common"; and "Thou shouldst unite things whole and things not whole, that which tends to unite and that which tends to separate,

3420-473: The harmonious and the discordant; from all things arises the one, and from the one all things." Over time, the opposites change into each other: "Mortals are immortals and immortals are mortals, the one living the others' death and dying the others' life"; "As the same thing in us is living and dead, waking and sleeping, young and old. For these things having changed around are those, and those in turn having changed around are these"; and "Cold things warm up,

3496-644: The hot cools off, wet becomes dry, dry becomes wet." It also seems they change into each other depending on one's point of view , a case of relativism or perspectivism . Heraclitus states: "Disease makes health sweet and good; hunger, satiety; toil, rest." While men drink and wash with water, fish prefer to drink saltwater, pigs prefer to wash in mud, and fowls prefer to wash in dust. " Oxen are happy when they find bitter vetches to eat" and " asses would rather have refuse than gold ." Diogenes Laërtius summarizes Heraclitus's philosophy as follows: "All things come into being by conflict of opposites, and

3572-407: The hypothesis came from. Classical atomists could not have had an empirical basis for modern concepts of atoms and molecules. The atomistic void hypothesis was a response to the paradoxes of Parmenides and Zeno , the founders of metaphysical logic, who put forth difficult-to-answer arguments in favor of the idea that there can be no movement. They held that any movement would require a void—which

3648-404: The opposites in conflict ἔρις ( eris ), " strife ", and theorized that the apparently unitary state, δίκη ( dikê ), " justice ", results in "the most beautiful harmony ", in contrast to Anaximander , who described the same as injustice. Aristotle said Heraclitus disagreed with Homer because Homer wished that strife would leave the world, which according to Heraclitus would destroy

3724-446: The people"; c.  460 – c.  370 BC ) was an Ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosopher from Abdera , primarily remembered today for his formulation of an atomic theory of the universe . Democritus wrote extensively on a wide variety of topics. None of Democritus' original work has survived, except through second-hand references. Many of these references come from Aristotle , who viewed him as an important rival in

3800-452: The philosopher's oeuvre which had belonged to aesthetics as a discipline, but only fragments of the relevant works are extant; hence of all Democritus writings on these matters, only a small percentage of his thoughts and ideas can be known. Diogenes Laertius attributes several works to Democritus, but none of them have survived in a complete form. A collections of sayings credited to Democritus have been preserved by Stobaeus , as well as

3876-454: The preserved fragments; the anecdote that Heraclitus relinquished the hereditary title of "king" to his younger brother may at least imply that Heraclitus was from an aristocratic family in Ephesus. Heraclitus appears to have had little sympathy for democracy or the masses . However, it is unclear whether he was "an unconditional partisan of the rich", or if, like the sage Solon , he

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3952-431: The river remains constant ... Just the fact, that there is a particular river bed, that there is a source and an estuary etc. is something, that stays identical. And this is ... the concept of a river." According to American philosopher W. V. O. Quine , the river parable illustrates that the river is a process through time. One cannot step twice into the same river-stage. Professor M. M. McCabe has argued that

4028-459: The sage Bias of Priene , who is quoted as saying "Most men are bad". He praised a man named Hermodorus as the best among the Ephesians, who he says should all kill themselves for exiling him. Heraclitus is traditionally considered to have flourished in the 69th Olympiad (504–501 BC), but this date may simply be based on a prior account synchronizing his life with the reign of Darius

4104-454: The same idea, panta chorei , or "everything moves" is ascribed to Heraclitus by Plato in the Cratylus . Since Plato, Heraclitus's theory of flux has been associated with the metaphor of a flowing river, which cannot be stepped into twice. This fragment from Heraclitus's writings has survived in three different forms: The classicist Karl Reinhardt identified the first river quote as

4180-417: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Panta Rhei . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Panta_Rhei&oldid=1191635565 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

4256-472: The same time). Also according to Aristotle, Heraclitus was a materialist . Attempting to follow Aristotle's hylomorphic interpretation, scholar W. K. C. Guthrie interprets the distinction between flux and stability as one between matter and form . On this view, Heraclitus is a flux theorist because he is a materialist who believes matter always changes. There are no unchanging forms like with Plato or Aristotle. As one author puts it, "Plato took flux as

4332-417: The senses; they are infinite in numbers and come in infinitely many varieties, and they have existed forever and that these atoms are in constant motion in the void or vacuum. The middle-sized objects of everyday life are complexes of atoms that are brought together by random collisions, differing in kind based on the variations among their constituent atoms. For Democritus, the only true realities are atoms and

4408-418: The shape of the atoms involved. Using analogies from humans' sense experiences , he gave a picture or an image of an atom that distinguished them from each other by their shape, their size, and the arrangement of their parts. Moreover, connections were explained by material links in which single atoms were supplied with attachments: some with hooks and eyes, others with balls and sockets. The Democritean atom

4484-457: The story that the playwright Euripides gave Socrates a copy of Heraclitus's work and asked for his opinion. Socrates replied: "The part I understand is excellent, and so too is, I dare say, the part I do not understand; but it needs a Delian diver to get to the bottom of it." Also according to Diogenes Laërtius, Timon of Phlius called Heraclitus "the Riddler" ( αἰνικτής ; ainiktēs )

4560-399: The sum of things ( τὰ ὅλα ta hola ('the whole')) flows like a stream." Classicist Jonathan Barnes states that " Panta rhei , 'everything flows' is probably the most familiar of Heraclitus's sayings, yet few modern scholars think he said it". Barnes observes that although the exact phrase was not ascribed to Heraclitus until the 6th century by Simplicius , a similar saying expressing

4636-516: The then prevalent views such as his idea that " A good person not only refrains from wrongdoing but does not even want to do wrong. " for the generally held notion back then was that virtue reaches it apex when it triumphs over conflicting human passions. Later Greek historians consider Democritus to have established aesthetics as a subject of investigation and study, as he wrote theoretically on poetry and fine art long before authors such as Aristotle . Specifically, Thrasyllus identified six works in

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4712-460: The three statements on rivers should all be read as fragments from a discourse. McCabe suggests reading them as though they arose in succession. The three fragments "could be retained, and arranged in an argumentative sequence". In McCabe's reading of the fragments, Heraclitus can be read as a philosopher capable of sustained argument , rather than just aphorism . Heraclitus said "strife is justice" and "all things take place by strife". He called

4788-412: The unexperienced experiencing words and deeds such as I explain when I distinguish each thing according to its nature and declare how it is. Other men are unaware of what they do when they are awake just as they are forgetful of what they do when they are asleep. Heraclitus's style has been compared to a Sibyl , who "with raving lips uttering things mirthless, unbedizened, and unperfumed, reaches over

4864-434: The vacuum were the beginning of the universe; and that everything else existed only in opinion. (trans. Yonge 1853) He concluded that divisibility of matter comes to an end, and the smallest possible fragments must be bodies with sizes and shapes, although the exact argument for this conclusion of his is not known. The smallest and indivisible bodies he called "atoms." Atoms, Democritus believed, are too small to be detected by

4940-537: The void. What we perceive as water, fire, plants, or humans are merely combinations of atoms in the void. The sensory qualities we experience are not real; they exist only by convention. Of the mass of atoms, Democritus said, "The more any indivisible exceeds, the heavier it is." However, his exact position on atomic weight is disputed. His exact contributions are difficult to disentangle from those of his mentor Leucippus , as they are often mentioned together in texts. Their speculation on atoms, taken from Leucippus, bears

5016-585: The western coast of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey ). In the 6th century BC, Ephesus, like other cities in Ionia , lived under the effects of both the rise of Lydia under Croesus and his overthrow by Cyrus the Great c. 547 BC. Ephesus appears to have subsequently cultivated a close relationship with the Persian Empire; during the suppression of the Ionian revolt by Darius the Great in 494 BC, Ephesus

5092-419: The world as constantly in flux, always "becoming" but never "being". He expressed this in sayings like "Everything flows " ( Greek : πάντα ρει , panta rhei ) and "No man ever steps in the same river twice". This insistence upon change contrasts with that of the ancient philosopher Parmenides , who believed in a reality of static " being ". Heraclitus believed fire was the arche , the fundamental stuff of

5168-538: The world. In choosing an arche Heraclitus followed the Milesians before him –  Thales with water , Anaximander with apeiron ( lit.  boundless or infinite), and Anaximenes with air . Heraclitus also thought the logos ( lit.   word, discourse, or reason) gave structure to the world. Heraclitus, the son of Blyson, was from the Ionian city of Ephesus, a port on the Cayster River , on

5244-485: The world; "there would be no harmony without high and low notes, and no animals without male and female, which are opposites". It may also explain why he disagreed with the Pythagorean emphasis on harmony, but not on strife. Heraclitus suggests that the world and its various parts are kept together through the tension produced by the unity of opposites, like the string of a bow or a lyre . On one account, this

5320-491: Was "probably with the idea that it is for us to seek within ourselves, as he sought for himself and found". Heraclitus seemed to pattern his obscurity after oracles . Heraclitus did state "nature loves to hide" and "a hidden connection is stronger than an obvious one". He also stated "The lord whose oracle is in Delphi neither speaks nor conceals, but gives a sign." Heraclitus is the earliest known literary reference to

5396-403: Was "withdrawn from competing factions". Since antiquity, Heraclitus has been labeled a solitary figure and an arrogant misanthrope. The skeptic Timon of Phlius called Heraclitus a "mob-abuser" ( ochloloidoros ). Heraclitus considered himself self-taught. He criticized fools for being "put in a flutter by every word". He did not consider others incapable, but unwilling: "And though reason

5472-542: Was a student of Leucippus . Early sources such as Aristotle and Theophrastus credit Leucippus with creating atomism and sharing its ideas with Democritus, but later sources credit only Democritus, making it hard to distinguish their individual contributions. We have various quotes from Democritus on atoms, one of them being: δοκεῖ δὲ αὐτῶι τάδε· ἀρχὰς εἶναι τῶν ὅλων ἀτόμους καὶ κενόν, τὰ δ'ἀλλα πάντα νενομίσθαι [δοξάζεσθαι]. (Diogenes Laërtius, Democritus, Vol. IX, 44) Now his principal doctrines were these. That atoms and

5548-453: Was eloquent on ethical topics. Some sixty pages of his fragments, as recorded in Diels–Kranz , are devoted to moral counsel. The ethics and politics of Democritus come to us mostly in the form of maxims. In placing the quest for happiness at the center of moral philosophy, he was followed by almost every moralist of antiquity. The most common maxims associated with him are " Accept favours only if you plan to do greater favours in return ", and he

5624-531: Was so rare that it was unavailable even to Simplicius and the other scholars at the Platonic Academy in Athens. Diogenes Laërtius wrote that the book was divided into three parts: the universe , politics , and theology , but, classicists have challenged that division. Classicist John Burnet has argued that "it is not to be supposed that this division is due to [Heraclitus] himself; all we can infer

5700-453: Was spared and emerged as the dominant Greek city in Ionia. Miletus , the home to the previous philosophers, was captured and sacked. The main source for the life of Heraclitus is the doxographer Diogenes Laërtius . Although most of the information provided by Laertius is unreliable, and the ancient stories about Heraclitus are thought to be later fabrications based on interpretations of

5776-455: Was the arche . In one fragment, Heraclitus writes: This world-order ( kosmos ), the same for all, no god nor man did create, but it ever was and is and will be: ever-living fire, kindling in measures and being quenched in measures. This is the oldest extant quote using kosmos , or order, to mean the world. Heraclitus seems to say fire is the one thing eternal in the universe. From fire all things originate and all things return again in

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