For other people named Heraclitus, see Heraclitus (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Heraclius or Heracles.
Heraclitus
Possible bust of Heraclitus, from the Hall of Philosophers in the Capitoline Museums
Born
c. 6th century BC
Ephesus, Ionia, Persian Empire (now Selçuk, İzmir, Turkey)
Died
c. 5th century BC
Ephesus, Ionia, Delian League
Era
Pre-Socratic philosophy
Region
Western philosophy
School
Ionian
Main interests
Cosmology Process Paradox
Notable ideas
Fire is the arche Logos Flux Unity of opposites
Heraclitus (/ˌhɛrəˈklaɪtəs/; Greek: ἩράκλειτοςHerákleitos; fl. c. 500 BC)[1] was an ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosopher from the city of Ephesus, which was then part of the Persian Empire.
Little is known of Heraclitus's life. He wrote a single work, only fragments of which have survived. Most of the ancient stories about him are thought to be later fabrications based on interpretations of the preserved fragments. His paradoxical philosophy and appreciation for wordplay and cryptic, oracular epigrams has earned him the epithets "the dark" and "the obscure" since antiquity. 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' philosophy are the unity of opposites and the concept of change. He also saw harmony and justice in strife. He viewed 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".[2] This changing aspect of his philosophy is contrasted with that of the ancient philosopher Parmenides, who believed in "being" and in the static nature of reality.
Like the Milesians before him – Thales with water, Anaximander with apeiron, and Anaximenes with air – Heraclitus chose fire as the arche, the fundamental element that gave rise to the other elements. He also saw the logos as giving structure to the world.
^Graham 2019.
^Koetsier, Teun (2024). Written at Cham. A history of kinematics from Zeno to Einstein: on the role of motion in the development of mathematics. History of Mechanism and Machine Science. preface: Springer. ISBN 978-3-031-39872-8.
antiquity, Heraclitus has been labeled an arrogant misanthrope. The skeptic Timon of Phlius called Heraclitus a "mob-abuser" (ochloloidoros). Heraclitus considered...
has been attributed to that Heraclitus by a copyist, and the original author's name is lost. Noted by Jacob Stern, "Heraclitus the Paradoxographer: Περὶ...
Heracleitus (Ancient Greek: Ἡράκλειτος) of Cyme, in Aeolis, was appointed by Arsinoe II, the wife of Lysimachus, to the government of Heraclea Pontica...
in Greek philosophy in the writings of Heraclitus and his doctrine of panta rhei (everything flows). Heraclitus was famous for his insistence on ever-present...
world. These ideas were very influential on Heraclitus, Parmenides and Plato. The two philosophers Heraclitus and Parmenides, influenced by earlier pre-Socratic...
Heraclitus of Halicarnassus (Ancient Greek: Ἡράκλειτος ὁ Ἁλικαρνασσεύς, romanized: Herakleitos ho Halikarnasseus; 3rd century BC) was an elegiac poet of...
Caffrocrambus heraclitus is a moth in the family Crambidae. It was described by Graziano Bassi in 1994. It is found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
Heraclitus (c. 535 – c. 475 BC) was the first place where the word logos was given special attention in ancient Greek philosophy, although Heraclitus...
or Panta Rhei may refer to: Panta rei (Heraclitus), "everything flows", a concept in the philosophy of Heraclitus Panta Rhei (band), a Hungarian rock band...
tension. The unity of opposites was first suggested to the western view by Heraclitus (c. 535 – c. 475 BC), a pre-Socratic Greek thinker. Philosophers had for...
among those commonly identified are Socrates, Pythagoras, Archimedes, Heraclitus, Averroes, and Zarathustra. Additionally, Italian artists Leonardo da...
was a contemporary of Heraclitus. The evidence suggests that Parmenides could not have written much after the death of Heraclitus.[citation needed] Beyond...
that the forms were based on a transcendental mathematical relation. Heraclitus must have lived after Xenophanes and Pythagoras, as he condemns them along...
suppose that the same thing is and is not, as some imagine that Heraclitus says Heraclitus, Fragments 36,57,59 (Bywater) Cornford, F.M., Plato's Theory of...
game. Heraclitus wanted future humanity to know his timeless truths. Many of Parmenides's qualities were the direct opposite of Heraclitus. Heraclitus grasped...
famous example is: It is not possible to step into the same river twice. — Heraclitus The word was first used in the Aphorisms of Hippocrates, a long series...
would place Parmenides well after other philosophers such as Xenophanes, Heraclitus, and Pythagoras. Although many philosophers throughout history have interpreted...
philosopher Heraclitus described Polemos as "both the king and father of all", with the capacity to bring all into existence and to annihilate. For Heraclitus, Polemos...
specific pre-Platonic, especially Heraclitus, who emerges as a pre-Platonic Nietzsche." The pre-Socratic thinker Heraclitus was known for rejecting the concept...
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