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autonomy; it is said that he compelled the usurper Melancomas to abdicate. From the lonely life he led, and still more from the extreme profundity of his See also:

PHILOSOPHY (Gr. gthos, fond of, and vo4 (a, wisdom)

philosophy and his contempt for mankind in See also:

general, he was called the " Dark Philosopher " (6 QKOravos), or the " Weeping Philosopher," in contrast to See also:

DEMOCRITUS

Democritus, the " Laughing Philosopher." Heraclitus is in a real sense the founder of See also:

metaphysics. Starting from the See also:

PHYSICAL

physical standpoint of the Ionian physicists, he accepted their general See also:

IDEA (Gr. Ibia, connected with i&eiv, to see; cf. Lat. species from specere, to look at)

idea of the unity of nature, but entirely denied their theory of being. The fundamental See also:

UNIFORM

uniform fact in nature is See also:

CONSTANT, BENJAMIN (1845-1902)

constant See also:

CHANGE (derived through the Fr. from the Late Lat. cambium, cambiare, to barter; the ultimate derivation is probably from the root which appears in the Gr. «a urmu', to bend)

change (sravra )(tope? sal o66& Ova); everything both is and is not at the same See also:

time. He thus arrives at the principle of Relativity; See also:

HARMONY (Gr. dpµovia, a concord of musical sounds, dpA'ew to join; &plan midi (sc. TeXvil)

harmony and unity consist in diversity and multiplicity. The senses are " See also:

BAD, BCD

bad witnesses " (KaKoi pAprvpes); only the See also:

wise See also:

man can obtain knowledge. To appreciate the significance of the doctrines of Heraclitus, it must be See also:

BORNE, KARL LUDWIG (1786–1837)

borne in mind that to Greek philosophy the See also:

sharp distinction between subject and See also:

OBJECT

object which pervades See also:

MODERN

modern thought was See also:

FOREIGN

foreign, a See also:

CONSIDERATION (from Lat. considerare, to look at closely, examine, generally taken to be from con-, and the base seen in sidus, sideris, a star, the word being supposed to be originally an astrological or astronomical term)

consideration which suggests the conclusion that, while it is a See also:

GREAT

great See also:

MISTAKE (i.e. take amiss)

mistake to reckon Heraclitus with the materialistic cosmologists of the Ionic See also:

SCHOOLS

schools, it is, on the other See also:

hand, going too far to treat his theory, with See also:

HEGEL, GEORG WILHELM FRIEDRICH (1770-1831)

Hegel and See also:

LASSALLE, FERDINAND (1825-1864)

Lassalle, as one of pure Panlogism. Accordingly, when he denies the reality of Being, and declares Becoming, or eternal See also:

FLUX (Lat. fluxus, a flowing; this being also the meaning of the English term in medicine, &c.)

flux and change, to be the See also:

SOLE (Solea)

sole actuality, Heraclitus must be understood to enunciate not only the unreality of the abstract notion of being, except as the correlative of that of not-being, but also the physical See also:

DOCTRINE

doctrine that all phenomena are in a See also:

state of continuous transition from non-existence to existence, and See also:

VICE

vice versa, without either distinguishing these propositions or qualifying them by any reference to the relation of thought to experience.

" Every thing is and is not "; all things are, and nothing remains. So far he is in general agreement with Anaximander (q.v.), but he differs from him in the See also:

SOLUTION (from Lat. solvere, to loosen, dissolve)

solution of the problem, disliking, as a poet and a mystic, the See also:

PRIMARY

primary See also:

MATTER

matter which satisfied the patient researcher, and demanding a more vivid and picturesque See also:

ELEMENT (Lat. elementum)

element. Naturally he selects See also:

FIRE (in O. Eng. f j'r; the word is common to West German languages, cf. Dutch vuur, Ger. Feuer; the pre-Teutonic form is seen in Sanskrit pu, pavaka, and Gr. irup; the ultimate origin is usually taken to be a root meaning to purify, cf. Lat. purus)

fire, according to him the most See also:

COMPLETE

complete embodiment of the See also:

PROCESS

process of Becoming, as the principle of empirical existence, out of which all things, including even the soul, grow by way of a quasi condensation, and into which all things must in course of time be again resolved. But this primordial fire is in itself that divine rational process, the harmony of which constitutes the See also:

law of the universe (see See also:

LOGOS (X4os)

LOGOS). Real knowledge consists in comprehending this all-pervading harmony as embodied in the manifold of See also:

PERCEPTION (from Lat. percipere, to perceive)

perception, and the senses are " bad-witnesses," because they apprehend phenomena, not as its manifestation, but as " stiff and dead." In like manner real virtue consists in the subordination of the individual to the See also:

LAWS

laws of this harmony as the universal See also:

REASON (Lat. ratio, through French raison)

reason wherein alone true freedom is to be found. " The law of things is a law of Reason Universal (Xlyos), but most men live as though they had a wisdom of their own." See also:

Ethics here stands to See also:

SOCIOLOGY

sociology in a See also:

close relation, similar, in many respects, to that which we find in Hegel and in See also:

COMTE, AUGUSTE [ISIDORE AUGUSTE MARIE FRANCOIS XAVIER] (1798-1857)

Comte. For Heraclitus the soul approaches most nearly to perfection when it is most akin to the fiery vapour out of which it was originally created, and as this is most so in See also:

DEATH

death, " while we live our souls are dead in us, but when we See also:

die our souls are restored to life." The doctrine of See also:

IMMORTALITY (Lat. in-, not, mortalis, mortal, from mors, death)

immortality comes prominently forward in his ethics, but whether this must not be reckoned with the figurative See also:

ACCOMMODATION (Lat. accommodare, to make fit, from ad, to, cum, with, and modus, measure)

accommodation to the popular See also:

THEOLOGY

theology of See also:

GREECE

Greece which pervades his ethical teaching, is very doubtful. The school of disciples founded by Heraclitus flourished for See also:

long after his death, the See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief exponent of his teaching being Cratylus. A See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good See also:

DEAL

deal of the See also:

INFORMATION (from Lat. informare, to give shape or form to, to represent, describe)

information in regard to his doctrines has been gathered from the later Greek philosophy, which was deeply influenced by it.

End of Article: HERACLITES (`Hpaoharos; c. 540–475 B.C.)

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