Heraclitus: philosophy, basic ideas, statements

Do you know that when you say: "Everything flows, everything changes," do you quote the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus? His name is known throughout the world, and such luminaries as Nietzsche, Kant, Schopenhauer, proudly called themselves followers of the great philosopher.

Ancient Greece gave the world many worthy people. From antiquity originates philosophy. Heraclitus was one of the founders of this science. Briefly about the philosopher you can learn from our article that will help not only greatly expand your horizons, but also tell about the birth of many sciences and doctrines.

Who is Heraclitus? Than he is known

Ancient Greece, or, as poetically it was called in ancient times, Hellas, has become the cradle of many sciences.

One of the most famous philosophers of antiquity was Heraclitus. Philosophy as a science owes him the formation of many concepts and basic theses. Many centuries of Heraclitus are considered the author of the phrase "everything flows, everything changes." The concepts of the ancient Greek sage are still the subject of study of many representatives of science.

Known Heraclitus was due to the introduction in the system of philosophy of the concept of "logos" and the development of the original dialectic. Dialectics of Heraclitus became the basis of the teachings of many philosophers after him, for example, Plato in his monumental work "The State" in one of the chapters conducts a conditional dialogue with Heraclitus.

With the theses of a sage, one can agree or disagree, but they do not leave indifferent people as science people or as an accidental reader.

Briefly about the life of the philosopher

There are very few reliable reports on the philosopher's life. It is known that he lived in the city of Ephesus in 544-483 BC. He came from an ancient family. Possessing aristocratic noble roots, Heraclitus, in adulthood, renounced all possible privileges and preferred to society life in the mountains.

The questions that were studied are ontology, ethics and political science. Unlike many philosophers of his time, he did not belong to any of the existing schools and directions. In his teaching was "by itself." The Miletus school, which the philosopher criticized, though had no effect on his views, but left its imprint on the worldview. More details about this are in the next sections of the article. He had no actual students, but the wisest thinkers from antiquity to our days weave in their ideas his theses and views.

The heyday of Heraclitus's activities fell on the period of the 69th Olympiad. But his teaching was untimely and did not find a response. Perhaps, therefore, according to some historians, Heraclitus is leaving Ephesus for the mountains, in order to develop one's own ideas and the emerging ingenious innovative concepts alone. Those brief information about the sage that have survived to this day describe him as a closed man, with a sharp mind and a critical attitude to everything seen and heard. Heraclitus' statements were like arrows that hit the target exactly. And the purpose of his criticism could be both his fellow villagers, and the local government and the people standing at her helm. The philosopher was not afraid of blame or punishment, he was direct, like a sword, and made no exceptions. Perhaps, at an already mature age, his consciousness reached a peak, and he could not stand in an environment that was completely remote from his views and knowledge, and did not understand it. The philosopher was called "dark," and there are two versions of why. The first - the nickname arose from the fact that the thoughts of the sage were incomprehensible to his contemporaries, she called them confusing and "dark", respectively. The second theory is based on the philosopher's outlook and attitudes. Knowing what is inaccessible to others, Heraclitus was closed and constantly in a melancholic or sarcastic mood.

There are many myths about the death of a wise man, none of them has been confirmed or refuted. According to one of the existing opinions, the philosopher was ripped off by stray dogs, according to other sources, the sage died from dropsy, on the third - he came to the village, ordered himself to be covered with manure and died. He was too unusual for his time. Just as people did not understand him during his lifetime, he remained a mystery to them after his mysterious death. Only after many centuries of thought, Heraclitus found their admirers.

The Works of Heraclitus

It is believed that the great sage had a lot of work, but up to now only one could reach - the book "On Nature", consisting of the parts "About God", "On Nature" and "On the State." The book was preserved not in its entirety, but in separate parts and fragments, nevertheless it was able to convey the teachings of Heraclitus.

Here, he justifies his concept of "logos", which we will discuss below.

Due to the fragmented nature of the book, many ideas and concepts remained outside the field of vision of modern philosophy. However, those grains that we have the opportunity to study and realize bear the great wisdom of the philosopher, his theses, which do not lose either their value or relevance.

Fundamentals of the philosophy of Heraclitus

The ancient sages gave the world a love of wisdom and stood at the origins of the birth of many sciences. So was Heraclitus. Philosophy as a science owes its development and origin.

The main theses of the philosopher:

1. Fire as the primary source of everything. It is not known whether it was fire in the actual sense or in the figurative (fire, as energy), but it was he who considered Heraclitus the foundation of the creation of the world.

2. The world and the cosmos are periodically burned from a powerful fire in order to recover again.

3. The concept of flow and circulation. The essence of the phrase: "Everything flows, everything changes." This thesis of Heraclitus is ingeniously simple, but the essence of the variability, the course of life and time was not revealed to anyone before him.

4. The law of opposites. Here we are talking about the difference of concepts. As an example, the great philosopher leads the sea, which gives life to marine life, but often brings death to people. In a way, Einstein's theory of relativity owes its birth to this brilliant idea-ancestor, which has come down to us thanks to the great philosopher.

Unfortunately, due to the fact that the only teaching of Heraclitus came to us only in fragments, its doctrines are very difficult to interpret, they seem completely incomplete, fragmented. Because of this, they are constantly being criticized. For example, Hegel considered them insolvent. We are fully unable to assess and accept them. It remains to speculate and fill in the missing fragments in a completely intuitive way, based on the premonition and traditions and views dominating the ancient Greece of the time of the great philosopher. Although he denied the influence of schools and thinkers that existed before him, it is impossible not to notice some similarities, for example with the same Pythagoras.

Miletus school in the formation of the views of the philosopher

This school, founded by Thales in the colony of Greece in Asia, in the city of Miletus. Its peculiarity is that it was the first philosophical school of the ancient world. It was created in the first half of the 6th century. The main subject of studying the school was natural philosophy (the study of natural physical problems and the essence). According to many science scholars, it is from this school that astronomy and mathematics, biology and geography, physics and chemistry began their way not only in Greece, but throughout the world. One of the main principles of the school was the position "nothing arises from nothing." That is, every arising creature or phenomenon has a root cause. Often this reason was given a divine beginning, but such a definition did not stop the philosophers in their search, but helped to move on.

As we said above, Heraclitus was not representative of any of the existing schools. But with the Miletus School, whose views he criticized and did not perceive, the philosopher entered into polemics, which was reflected in his writings.

Another feature of the school is that it perceived the world as a living whole being. There was no difference between the living and the dead, everything was interesting for science. According to some sources, it was thanks to the Milesian school that the term "philosophy" was born and was first pronounced. Love for science, for knowledge was the main stimulus for development for representatives of this society. The school of Heraclitus, as it is sometimes incorrectly called, developed in parallel with him most. Although the great sage denied this connection, it is quite obvious.

The concept of dialectics

The term "dialectic" came to us, like many others, from antiquity. It literally means "to conduct a dialogue, to argue."

There are many definitions of this concept, but we will dwell only on the way in which Heraclitus worked.

For the great philosopher the concept of dialectics consisted in the doctrine of the eternal becoming and, together with this, the changeability of being. The idea of Heraclitus about eternal flow seems to us too simple, but at the time of its inception it was a very serious breakthrough in philosophy in particular and in science in general.

Here, of course, the views of the Miletus school and its representatives are felt. Developing freely from Heraclitus, in completely different planes, they nevertheless intersected in their conclusions, although they were independent and obtained as a result of purely personal observations and conclusions.

In addition to the concept of dialectics, modern science owes the ancient philosopher another immortal notion and concept, which grew on its basis. This is Heraclitus' logo - the great idea of fire as the primary basis of everything.

The concept of the Logos, the wise man of antiquity, was as follows: there is a world and there is fire (logos proper). The world began with him, in the fire it is waiting and the end. In the Cosmos, fires are constantly occurring, from which new worlds are born. Does this judgment resemble anything? Perhaps, much faster than others, this question would be answered by people who have knowledge of astronomy. Remember the birth (and death, in principle, too) of stars in outer space. After the explosion and release of his accumulated, and then instantly given energy, a new young star is born. Perhaps we, who know this from the school course of astronomy or physics, this information will not seem anything supernatural. But back in the days of antiquity. Before our era , astronomy was clearly not taught at school, so that, after learning about the process of the birth of stars, the Greek philosopher could make up his concept. If such knowledge is not explained by science, then with what help could they get Heraclitus? Philosophy has never denied the concept of intuition, the notorious sixth sense, of gift or punishment for selected representatives of the human race.

The great sage was able to realize and perceive what would be revealed only thousands of years after his death. Does this not speak of his supreme wisdom and providence?

Followers of the philosopher

According to some information, the philosopher still had a student - Kratil. Perhaps, with his light hand and desire to restore the works of his mentor, we got some absent-mindedness of the true thoughts of Heraclitus. Cratil was a diligent student, he adopted the concept of a teacher. Later, he will become to some extent a mentor of Plato, who will conduct with him conditional fictional monologues in his monumental "State." The philosopher Heraclitus was so great that he inspired his followers for many centuries after his death.

Plato will also follow the path of dialectics. On its basis, almost all of his works will be built. The use of dialectics will make them quite accessible and understandable.

Since Kratil was the inspiration of Plato, the great author of the "myth of the cave" can also be conditionally attributed to the followers of Heraclitus.

Later Socrates and Aristotle, taking as a basis the dialectic of Heraclitus, created their own, new, sufficiently strong concepts. But, despite all their independence, it is completely unreasonable to deny the influence of the ancient sage on them.

Of our contemporaries, the followers of Heraclitus were Hegel and Heidegger. A very strong influence of the conclusions of the Greek sage was felt by Nietzsche. Many of the chapters of "Zarathustra" are marked by this influence. The German philosopher with the world-famous name and concept of the superman thought a lot about the very concept and essence of time and its flow. The axiom that everything changes has been taken for granted and developed in many works.

The denial and criticism of the ideas of Heraclitus

In 470 years BC. E. At the court of Hieron lived comedian Epiharm. In many of his works he ridiculed the theories of Heraclitus. "If a person has borrowed, he can not give, because he has already changed, this is a completely different person, so why should he pay debts for someone" - just one of the examples. There were many of them, and it is now difficult to judge what is at issue: about ordinary entertainment at court, based on ridicule over the works of Heraclitus, or about comprehension and criticism of his concept by the court comedian? And why did Heraclitus become the target of the comic scenes? Epiharm's views on his writings were rather sarcastic and ironic. But even behind such a screen, admiration for the wisdom of the great ancient philosopher did not disappear.

The same Hegel and Heidegger, using in their many treatises the judgments of Heraclitus, accused him of imperfection of views, paradoxicality and chaotic thoughts. Nevertheless, it seems that the understanding of the philosophers eluded the fact that the works are not kept completely, and what is, is supplemented and rewritten by heirs with work and students who could not understand their teacher completely, which forced them to fill in the blanks with their own Thoughts, and sometimes conjectures.

The thoughts of Heraclitus and their place in modern philosophy

Though Heraclitus had denied the influence of other individuals and schools, but undoubtedly his views did not arise out of nowhere.

Many researchers argue that the philosopher was well acquainted with the works of Pythagoras and Diogenes. Much of what he wrote resembles the concepts introduced into the everyday life of science by these ancient sages.

The words of Heraclitus are repeated and quoted even today.

Here are the most famous theses of the wise man, who, after going through the millenniums, have not lost their value.

• Eyes - witnesses are more accurate than ears. Short wisdom, which is the true perception of man. Not knowing the human anatomy (as we remember from the sections of the article above, the school of natural philosophy only marked the beginning of the development of this branch of science), without knowing scientific knowledge of the senses, the philosopher subtly and accurately noted the priorities in the perception of information. Remember the saying that it is better to see once than to hear. Now, this can be found almost in every people, but during the life of the philosopher it was a worthy discovery.
• When all the man's wishes come true, it makes him worse. This is really so. If a person has no place to strive, he does not develop, but degrades. If an individual has everything he wants, he loses the ability to sympathize with those who are less fortunate; Ceases to appreciate what is available, takes it for granted. After thousands of years, this thesis is interpreted in its own way by the British writer of Irish descent Oscar Wilde: "Wishing to punish us, the gods perform our prayers," he will say in his brilliant novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray". And Wilde never denied that he drew his knowledge of the world from the source of antiquity.
• Knowledge of many things does not teach the mind. Some researchers believe that this phrase was said in reproach and denial to the very Miletus school. However, there is no documentary confirmation of this fact, however, like many other episodes. The dialectic of Heraclitus in this thesis blossomed with bright colors and showed the multifaceted thinking of the great sage.
• The essence of wisdom is not only to pronounce the truth, but also, following the laws of nature, to follow it. Here we will not delve into the arguments about the essence of this inference of the ancient philosopher. Everyone can perceive it in their own way, but the essence of this is only enriched by meaning.
• One for me is ten thousand, if he is the best. In this thesis - an explanation of why the Greek philosopher did not want to teach his disciples during his lifetime. Perhaps in his time he never found worthy.
• Rock is the sequence and order of causes in which one cause generates another. And so on ad infinitum.
• The knowledge and understanding of the wise sage is just an opinion.
• Those who are deaf are like deaf who, when they listen, do not perceive. About them you can say that when they are present, they are absent. In this statement Heraclitus expressed all bitterness from the misunderstanding with which he had to face. He was too ahead of his time to have chances of understanding.
• With anger it is very difficult to fight. You can pay with your life for everything that he requires. But it is even more difficult to overcome the desire for pleasure in oneself. It is stronger than anger.

Finally

There are individuals who do not fit into the framework of their time so much that they simply can not be understood by contemporaries. Such an individual was the ancient Greek sage Heraclitus. Philosophy, as it is today, would not be so without its theses and works, theories and concepts.

The great philosopher spent most of his life in the mountains, alone with nature and his thoughts. People who called it "dark", was not destined to understand the depth of wisdom of this amazing man.

His aphorisms are still quoted in dozens of languages, and the work inspires more and more new students. Many philosophers of our time take as their basis the works of the great Greek hermit. And, although his works came to us only in the form of brief incomplete fragments, this in no way diminishes their value.

It is worth to get acquainted with the theories and concepts of the great sage not only for general development, but also for acquaintance with the ancient world.