Wednesday Wisdom

WHO

Before Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, there were ten philosophers which are commonly known as the “Pre-Socratic” school of thought. They were important because they introduced new metaphysical ideas that transitioned ancient Greece away from purely mythological thought to a new epistemological view. The pre-Socratic philosophers used the natural elements as foundational principles to explain the nature and workings of the universe. Each philosopher proposed a different primary element or combination of elements as the basis of all matter and change. Thales believed the primary element was water, Anaximenes thought air, Empedocles believed the earth and Heraclitus believed fire was the element that explained the universe.

Heraclitus was born around 540 BCE in Ephesus, an ancient Greek city in Asia Minor which is now present-day Turkey. Not much is known about his early life or personal background, but it is thought that he belonged to a noble family and is believed to have inherited wealth. Heraclitus is said to have been self-taught and lived a solitary life, preferring contemplation and philosophical inquiry. He was known for his enigmatic and caustic personality leading to nickname the “Weeping Philosopher”. Because of his paradoxical style of writing, he also has been the nicknamed "the Obscure" or “the Riddler”. Despite his melancholy mood and general dislike of people, he gained a reputation as one of the most profound thinkers of his time.

What he Produced

Heraclitus's ideas had a lasting impact on Western philosophy, influencing later thinkers such as Plato, Aristotle, and the Stoics. While much of his work has been lost over time, 115 fragments of his writings survive in the form of quotations and references in the works of later authors. Despite the fragmentary nature of his work, Heraclitus is remembered as being influential across the ages from Plato to Nietzsche.

Heraclitus believed that fire was the fundamental substance or principle underlying all of reality. He saw fire as a symbol of both physical and metaphysical change, representing the eternal process of creation and destruction. In his view, the universe operates according to a divine Logos, or rational principle, which governs the harmonious order of the cosmos amid its perpetual change. Heraclitus's philosophical ideas centered around the concept of change, which he saw as the fundamental nature of the universe. He believed that everything is in a state of constant transformation, and that opposites are interconnected and dependent on each other. He famously stated, "Everything flows, and nothing abides; everything gives way, and nothing stays fixed. You cannot step twice into the same river, for other waters and yet others go flowing on." This is known as the “River Paradox”, where everything is in flux, and he expanded on this concept into the “Paradox of Stability and Change” where we know the river as a stable entity but also realize its changing nature.

Despite his emphasis on change, Heraclitus also recognized the existence of underlying patterns and regularities in the world. He famously asserted that "The way up and the way down are one and the same," suggesting a cyclical and interconnected nature to existence. This paradox is known as the “Unity of the Way” were opposites have an interconnectedness. For example, water can change from ice or vapor depending on the energy exerted, however it is still fundamentally water. This is the concept of metaphysical being and metaphysical becoming, where being is static and universal like math and becoming is the state of flux and change across the universe.

2024 why do we care?

Heraclitus's ideas had a profound influence on later philosophers, including the Stoics and the existentialists, who shared his preoccupation with the nature of change, flux, and the human condition. His legacy of paradoxes continues to influence and even seem prescient well before our current knowledge of the universe. His philosophical use of fire as metaphor for change certainly resembles the big bang theory and his unity of way/opposites seemingly prescribes a subatomic/quantum universe.

When Mark Twain famously said, “History doesn’t repeat, but it does rhyme”, he may have been looking back 2400 years to a little-known philosopher and saying you cannot step into the river twice.

And now you know...

Philosophy is the art of thinking, the building block of progress that shapes critical thinking across economics, ethics, religion, and science. 

Thank you, Dad, for the gift of curiosity.

METAPHYSICS: Literally, the term metaphysics means ‘beyond the physical.’ Typically, this is the branch that most people think of when they picture philosophy. In metaphysics, the goal is to answer the what and how questions in life. Who are we, and what are time and space?

LOGIC: The study of reasoning. Much like metaphysics, understanding logic helps to understand and appreciate how we perceive the rest of our world. More than that, it provides a foundation for which to build and interpret arguments and analyses. 

ETHICS: The study of morality, right and wrong, good and evil. Ethics tackles difficult conversations by adding weight to actions and decisions. Politics takes ethics to a larger scale, applying it to a group (or groups) of people. Political philosophers study political governments, laws, justice, authority, rights, liberty, ethics, and much more.

AESTHETICS: What is beautiful? Philosophers try to understand, qualify, and quantify what makes art what it is. Aesthetics also takes a deeper look at the artwork itself, trying to understand the meaning behind it, both art as a whole and art on an individual level. A question an aesthetics philosopher would seek to address is whether or not beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder.

EPISTEMOLOGY: This is the study and understanding of knowledge. The main question is how do we know? We can question the limitations of logic, how comprehension works, and the ability (or perception) to be certain.