Heraclitus

Reliable information about the life of Heraclitus has been preserved a little. He was born and lived in the Asia Minor city of Ephesus , his acme falls at the 69th Olympiad (504-501 BC), from this we can approximately derive the date of his birth (about 540 BC) According to some sources , belonged to the family of Basileus (kings and priests with purely nominal power in the time of Heraclitus), descendants of Androclus , however, voluntarily renounced the privileges associated with the origin in favor of his brother.

Diogenes Laertius reports that Heraclitus, "having hated people, left and began to live in the mountains, feeding on past and grasses." He writes that a pupil of Parmenides Meliss appeared to the philosopher in his voluntary exile and “introduced Heraclitus to the Ephesians who did not want to know him” ^[4] .

Biographers emphasize that Heraclitus was “no one's listener” ^[4] . He, apparently, was familiar with the views of the philosophers of the Miletus school , Pythagoras , Xenophanes . Most likely, he also did not have direct students, but his intellectual influence on subsequent generations of ancient thinkers is significant. With the work of Heraclitus, Socrates , Plato and Aristotle were familiar, his follower Kratil becomes the hero of the eponymous Plato dialogue .

The gloomy and controversial legends about the circumstances of the death of Heraclitus (“ordered to spread manure and lying down, died”, “became a prey for dogs”), some researchers interpret as evidence that the philosopher was buried according to Zoroastrian customs. Traces of Zoroastrian influence are also found in some fragments of Heraclitus ^[5] .

Emperor Marcus Aurelius writes in his memoirs that Heraclitus died of dropsy, and was smeared with manure as a remedy for the disease ^[6] .

Heraclitus is one of the founders of dialectics .

Since antiquity, first of all, thanks to the testimonies of Aristotle , Heraclitus is known for the five doctrines that are most important for the general interpretation of his teachings:

1. Fire is the beginning ( dr. Greek ἀρχή ) or the original material cause of the world ^[7] .
2. There are periodic episodes of the world fire ( dr. Greek ἐκπύρωσις ), during which the cosmos is destroyed in order to be reborn again ^[8] .
3. Everything is flow (the so-called doctrine or flow theory ) ^[9] .
4. The identity of opposites ^[10] .
5. Violation of the law of contradiction ^[11] . This doctrine is more a consequence of (3) and (4) than an independent provision of the teachings of Heraclitus.

Modern interpretations are often based on the recognition of partially or fully of all these provisions by Heraclitus, and are characterized by the refutation of each of these doctrines. In particular, F. Schleiermacher rejected (1) and (2), Hegel - (2), J. Burnet - (2), (4), (5), K. Reinhardt, J. Kirk and M. Marcovich reject all five ^[12] .

In general, the teachings of Heraclitus can be reduced to the following key positions, with which, according to most researchers ^[13] :

• People try to comprehend the proper connection of things: this is expressed in the Logos as a formula or element of ordering, establishing a common for all things (Fr. 1, 2, 50 DK).

Heraclitus speaks of himself as one who has access to the most important truth about the structure of the world, of which man is a part, knows how to establish this truth. The main ability of a person is to recognize the truth, which is "common." Logos is the criterion of truth, the final point of the method of ordering things. The technical meaning of the word is “speech”, “attitude”, “calculation”, “proportion”. The Logos was probably believed by Heraclitus as an actual component of things, and in many respects correlated with the primary cosmic component, fire.

• Various types of evidence of the essential unity of opposites (Fr. 61, 111, 88; 57; 103, 48, 126, 99);

Heraclitus establishes 4 different types of connection between obvious opposites:

a) the same things produce the opposite effect

“The sea is pure and dirty water: for fish - drinking and saving, for people - unfit for drinking and fatal” (61 DK)

“Pigs enjoy mud more than clean water” (13 DK)

“The most beautiful of monkeys is ugly in comparison with another genus” (79 DK)

b) different aspects of the same things can find opposite descriptions (writing - linearly and roundly).

c) good and desirable things, such as health or relaxation, look possible only if we recognize their opposite:

“Disease makes pleasant and good health, hunger - satiety, fatigue - rest” (111 DK)

d) some opposites are essentially connected (literally “to be the same”), because they follow each other, are persecuted by each other and by nothing but themselves. So hot-cold is a hot-cold continuum, these opposites have one essence, one thing that is common for the whole pair is temperature. Also, a day-night pair - the temporal meaning of “day” will be common for opposites included in it.

All these types of opposites can be reduced to two large groups: (i - a-c) opposites that are inherent or simultaneously produced by one subject; (ii - d) opposites, which are connected through existence in different states into one stable process.

• Each pair of opposites thus forms both unity and multiplicity. Different pairs of opposites form an internal relationship

  “Conjugations ( dr. Greek συνάψιες ): whole and non-integer, converging diverging, consonant, dissonant, of all - one, of one - all” (10 DK)

Συνάψιες ^[14] are letters. “Things taken together”, interconnections. Such “things taken together” should be primarily opposites: what is given together with the night is day (Heraclitus expresses here what we could call “simple qualities” and which he could then classify as opposites; that is, all those changes that can be correlated as occurring between opposites). So “things taken together” are really described in one sense as “whole”, that is, forming one continuum, in another sense - as “not whole”, as individual components. Applying these alternative analyzes to the conglomeration of “things taken together”, we can see that “unity is formed of all things”, and also that an external, discrete, multiple aspect of things (“everything”, πάντα) can stand out from this unity (ἐξ ἑνὸς) .

There is some relationship between god and the number of pairs of opposites

“God: day-night, winter-summer, war-peace, excess-need (that is, all opposites - that’s the point); it changes as if when mixed with incense, it is called by the smell of each [of them] ”(67 DK)

Unlike the teachings of Xenophanes , in Heraclitus, God looks like immanent to things or as the sum of pairs of opposites. Heraclitus did not associate God with the need for worship or service. God is essentially indistinguishable from the Logos and the Logos among other things collects things and makes them opposites, the relations between them are proportional and balanced. God is the common connecting element for all the opposite ends of any oppositions. The total multiplicity of things in this way forms a single, connected, definite complex - unity.

• The unity of things is obvious, it lies directly on the surface and depends on balanced interactions between opposites (Fr. 54, 123, 51 DK).

Moreover, the implicit type of connection between opposites is stronger than the obvious type of connection

“Hidden harmony is better than manifest” (ἁρμονίη ἀφανὴς φανερῆς κρείττων) (54 DK)

• General equilibrium in space can only be maintained if changes in one direction ultimately lead to a change in another, that is, if there is an endless “enmity” between opposites (Fr. 80, 53).
• The image of the river ("Theory of Flow") illustrates that kind of unity, which depends on the preservation of the measure and balance in the changes (Fr. 12).
• The world is an ever-living fire , parts of which always fade to the forms of the other two basic world-components, water and earth. Changes between fire, sea and earth strike a balance between themselves; pure or etheric fire plays a decisive role.
• Astronomy Celestial bodies are chalices of fire, fed by fumes from the sea; astronomical events also have their measure.
• Wisdom is a true understanding of how the world works. Only God can be wise, a person is endowed with reason (φρόνησις) and intuition (νοῦς), but not wisdom.

“The wisdom is to know everything as one” (50 DK)

“Only one thing can be considered wise: A mind that can rule the entire Universe [everything through everything] - εἶναι γὰρ ἓν τὸ σοφόν, ἐπίστασθαι γνώμην, ὁτέη ἐκυβέρνησε πάντα διὰ πάντων” (41 D

• Souls are made of fire ; they arise from it and return to it, moisture, completely absorbed by the soul, leads it to death. The fire of the soul is correlated with the fire of the world.
• Waking, sleeping, and dead are correlated according to the degree of fiery in the soul. In a dream, souls are partially separated from world fire, and so on. their activity is reduced.
• Virtuous souls do not become water after the death of the body , on the contrary live, connecting with cosmic fire.
• The worship of traditional religion is stupid, although it may accidentally point to the truth (Fr. 5, 14, 15, 93 DK).
• Ethical and political recommendations , suggesting that self-realization and moderation should be recognized as the main ideals.

The doctrine of the fire of Heraclitus can be understood as an answer to the early Ionian (Miletus) philosophers . The philosophers of Miletus (a city near Ephesus ), Thales , Anaximander , Anaximenes believed that there is some original primordial matter or primitive element, which becomes any other things. The world, as we know it, is an ordered combination of various elements or substances produced by the primary element, primary matter. For the Milesians, explaining the world and its phenomena meant simply showing how everything happens, arises or transforms from the original substance, as happens with Thales water or Anaximenes air.

Heraclitus seems to follow this model of explaining the world when he sees the world as an “everlasting fire” (B 30 DK) and claims that “ Lightning rules all things”, alluding to the controlling power of fire (B 64 DK). But the choice of fire as the initial primary is extremely strange: the primary must be stable and steady, preserving its essential qualities, while fire is unstable and extremely variable, being a symbol of change and process. Heraclitus notes:

“On the security of fire all things, and the fire [on security] of all things, as if [on the security of] gold - property and [on the security] of property - gold” (B 90 DK)

We can measure all things in relation to fire as a standard; there is an equivalence between gold and all things, but things are not identical to gold. Similarly, fire provides a standard of value for other elements, but is not identical to them. Fire plays a significant role in the teachings of Heraclitus, but it is not an exceptional and unique source for other things, since all things or elements are equivalent. Fire is important more as a symbol than as a primary element. Fire is constantly changing, however, like the rest of the elements. One substance transforms into another in a cycle of change. That which carries constancy is not some primary element, but the universal process of change itself. There is a certain constant law of transformations, which can be correlated with the Logos . Heraclitus could say that the Milesians correctly believed that one element turns into another through a series of transformations, but they incorrectly deduced from this the existence of a certain primary element as the only source for everything existing.

If A is the source of B, and B is the source of C, and C turns to B, and then to A, then B is similar to the source of A and C, and C is the source for A and B. There are no special reasons for the promotion of one element or substance as compensation for the consumption of another substance. It is important to note that any substance can be contacted by any other. The only constant in this process is the law of change, through which the order and sequence of changes is established. If this is really what Heraclitus kept in mind when developing his philosophical system, then he goes far beyond the usual physical theory of his predecessors, and rather builds a system with a more subtle understanding of metaphysics ^[15] .

According to his teaching, everything came from fire and is in a state of constant change. Fire is the most dynamic, volatile of all elements. Therefore, for Heraclitus, fire became the beginning of the world, while water is only one of its states. Fire thickens into air, air turns into water, water - into the earth ("way down", which is replaced by "way up"). The Earth itself, on which we live, was once a red-hot part of the universal fire, but then it cooled down.

Philosophers are the companions of the gods. The Logos - both the mind and the Word - has a control function (of things, processes, space). Through Socrates and the Stoics, this thought of Heraclitus passed, apparently, into the Targums , and from there into the Christian doctrine of the Logos, the second person of the Holy Trinity ^[16] .

Sextus adv. math. VII 132; Hippolyt. Refiitatio IX 9.1 του δε λόγου .. οκωςεχει “But although this logo exists forever, people find themselves misunderstood before listening to it and once listening. For although all / people / come face to face with this logo, they look unfamiliar with it even when they try to understand such words and deeds that I am talking about, dissecting them according to nature and clearly expressing what they are. As for the rest of the people, they are not aware of what they are doing in reality, just as they are in oblivion about what they are doing in a dream. ”

Heraclitus believed that everything is constantly changing. The provision on universal variability was connected by Heraclitus with the idea of ​​the internal bifurcation of things and processes on opposite sides, with their interaction. Heraclitus believed that everything in life arises from opposites and is known through them: “Disease makes health good and good, hunger means satiety, fatigue rest.” The Logos as a whole is a unity of opposites, a system-forming connection. “Not to me, but to the Logos, it’s wise to admit that everything is one” ^[16] .

• What can be seen, heard, learned, I prefer. (55 DK ^[17] )
• Nature loves to hide. (123 DK)
• Secret harmony is better than obvious. (54 DK)
• I was looking for myself. (101 DK)
• Eyes and ears are bad witnesses for people if their souls are barbaric. (107 DK)
• You should know that war is generally accepted, that enmity is the law (δίκη), and that everything arises through enmity and mutually. (80 DK)
• War is the father of all, the king of all: it declares some to be gods, others to be people, some to be slaves, others to be free. (53 DK)
• On the rivers entering the same rivers, one water flows at one time, and another time another (12 DK)
• Century - a child playing, throwing dice, a child on the throne. (52 DK)
• Personality (ἦθος) is the deity of man. (119 DK)
• The people must fight for the violated law, as for the wall (of the city). (44 DK)
• Born to live, they are doomed to death (or rather, to repose), and still leave their children to be born [new] death (20 DK)
• Doubtfulness does not teach mind. (40 DK, often mistakenly attributed to Lomonosov )

(Cited from the publication: Fragments of the early Greek philosophers, M., Science, 1989 )

• This cosmos, the same for all, was not created by any of the gods or people, but it has always been, is and will be forever alive fire, flaring up measures and extinguishing measures. ^[18]
• For those who are awake, there is one common world ( other Greek: κοινὸς κόσμος ), and from sleeping each one turns into his own ( other Greek ἴδιος κόσμος ) ^[19] .

Later authors (from Aristotle and Plutarch to Clement of Alexandria and Hippolytus of Rome ) have found numerous (about 100 in total) quotes and periphrases from his work. The experiments of collecting and systematizing these fragments have been undertaken since the beginning of the 19th century, the work of F. Schleiermacher ^[20] became a significant milestone in the study of Heraclitus’s heritage. But the pinnacle of these studies was the classic work of Herman Diels (Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, first edition in 1903 ). During the XX century. the collection of Heraclitian fragments was repeatedly supplemented; attempts were also made to reconstruct their original order, to recreate the structure and content of the source text (Markovich, Muravyov).

Diogenes of Laertes cites several titles of the work of Heraclitus: “Muses”, “On Nature”, “The Rule Unsolvable to the Charter to Live” and a number of other options; most likely, all of them do not belong to the author. He writes that the "poem" of Heraclitus "is divided into three arguments: about everything, about the state and about the deity." According to him, Heraclitus placed his book “in the sanctuary of Artemis, taking care (as they say) to write it as dark as possible so that only capable people have access to it” ^[4] . Diogenes Laertius preserved the epigram characterizing the work of Heraclitus:

Do not rush to read to the end of Heraclitus the Ephesian -

His book is a path difficult for a foot,

The darkness is hopeless and darkness. But if the initiate is you

It brings to this path - it is brighter than the sun. ( DL IX, 16 )

The same Diogenes of Laertes reports that Socrates supposedly read the work of Heraclitus, and after reading said: “What I understood is fine; which I probably didn’t understand, either. Only, really, for such a book you need to be a Delos diver ” ^[21] .

• Crying Heraclitus and the laughing Democritus

In 1935, the International Astronomical Union named Heraclitus a crater on the visible side of the moon .

Fragment collections and translations

• Tsereteli G.F. Doksografiya (Appendix) // Tannery P. The First Steps of Ancient Greek Science. SPb., 1902. / Heraclitus: p. 59-69, 25-28.
• Heraclitus of Ephesus. Fragments / Per. Vladimir Nilender . M .: Musaget Publishing House, 1910. 147 p.
• 12. Heraclitus // Dosocracy. The first Greek thinkers in their creations, in the evidence of antiquity and in the light of recent research. Part I (The Pre-Eleatic Period) / Historical and critical review and translation of fragments, doxographic and biographical material by Alexander Makovelsky. Kazan: Publication of the bookstore of M. A. Golubev, 1914. 211 p. S. 116-180.
• Fragments of Heraclitus / Per. P. Blonsky // Hermes. 1916. V. 18. No. 3. p. 58-67.
• Ancient philosophers (texts) / Per. M.A. Dynnik. M., 1935. / Heraclitus: p. 5-18.
• Fragments of Heraclitus // Materialists of Ancient Greece. Collection of texts of Heraclitus, Democritus and Epicurus / General edition and introductory article by M. A. Dynnik; USSR Academy of Sciences. Institute of Philosophy. Moscow: State Publishing House of Political Literature. 1955.240 s. / Per. M.A. Dynnik. S. 39-52.
• Heraclitus of Ephesus. Fragments of the composition, later known as the Muses or On Nature. / Per. S. Muravyova. // Titus Lucretius Car . About the nature of things. - M.: “Fiction”, 1983. (Library of Ancient Literature). - S. 237-268. Transfer. S. 361-371. Comment. [one]
• Heraclitus // Fragments of the early Greek philosophers. Part 1. / Per. A.V. Lebedev . - M .: Nauka , 1989. - No. 22. - S. 176—257.
• Heraclitus of Ephesus: all heritage: in the original languages ​​and in Russian. trans .: short ed. / preparation. S. N. Muravyov. - M .: Ad Margin Press LLC, 2012. - 416 p. ISBN 978-5-91103-112-1
• Lebedev A.V. Logos of Heraclitus. Reconstruction of thought and word (with a new critical edition of fragments). - SPb .: Nauka, 2014 .-- 533 p. - (Ser. "The Word of Existence"). ISBN 978-5-02-038399-9
• Marcovich M. Heraclitus: Greek text with a short commentary including fresh addenda, corrigenda and a select bibliography (1967-2000) / 2 ed. Sankt Austin: Academia-Verlag, 2001. (International Pre-Platonic Studies; Vol. 2). 677 p. ISBN 3-89665-171-4 .
• Robinson, TM Heraclitus: Fragments: A Text and Translation with a Commentary. Toronto: University of Toronto Press , 1987. ISBN 0-8020-6913-4 .

Research

Bibliography:

• Evangelos N. Roussos. Heraklit-Bibliographie. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft. - Darmstadt, 1971. ISBN 3-534-05585-3 .
• Francesco De Martino, Livio Rossetti, Pierpaolo Rosati. Eraclito. Bibliografia 1970-1984 e complementi 1621-1969. - Neapel, 1986.

Monographs:

• Akhutin A.V. Antique principles of philosophy. - St. Petersburg: Science, 2010.
• Melon M.A. Dialectic of Heraclitus of Ephesus. - M.: RANION , 1929 .-- 205 p.
• Cassidy F. Kh. Philosophical and aesthetic views of Heraclitus of Ephesus. 2500 years since the birth. - M.: Publishing House of the Academy of Arts, 1963 .-- 164 p.
  • 2nd ed. called: Heraclitus. - M.: Thought, 1982. - 199 p. (Thinkers of the past)
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• Wolf M.N. Epistemology of Heraclitus of Ephesus // Rationalism and Irrationalism in Ancient Philosophy: Monograph / V.P. Goran, M.N. Wolf and others; Grew up. Acad. sciences, Sib. Separation. Institute of Philosophy. and rights. - Novosibirsk: Publishing House of the SB RAS, 2010 .-- 386 p. - Chapter II. - S. 67-119. ISBN 978-5-7692-1144-7 .
• Wolf M.N. Philosophical search: Heraclitus and Parmenides. St. Petersburg: Publishing House of the Russian Academy of Arts, 2012.382 s. ISBN 978-5-88812-558-8
• Lebedev A.V. Logos of Heraclitus Reconstruction of thought and word (with a new critical edition of fragments). - SPb .: Nauka, 2014 .-- 533 ISBN 978-5-02-038399-9

Articles and dissertations:

• Prince Trubetskoy S.N. Heraclitus of Ephesus // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Bakina V.I. Cosmological doctrine of Heraclitus of Ephesus // Bulletin of Moscow University. - Ser. 7. - Philosophy. - 1998. - No. 4. - S.42-55.
• Bakina V. I. The philosophical doctrine of Heraclitus of Ephesus about the Universe in the context of ancient culture. Abstract. diss. ... K. Philos. n - M., 1995.
• Guseva A. A. Some terms of Heraclitus translated by V. O. Nilender. // Vox. Philosophical Journal . - No. 9. - December, 2010.
• Kabisov R. S. Logos of Heraclitus and the science of logic // Philosophy and Society. Philosophy and society. - M., 1998. - No. 3. - S.135-154.
• Kamelchuk E.N. Heraclitus as a rationalist: a method of argumentation // Humanities in Siberia .2001. No. 1. S. 34-38.
• Cassidy F.H. , Kondzelka V.V. Heraclitus and the Ancient East // Philosophical sciences . - 1981. - No. 5. - S.94-100.
• Cassidy F. H. Heraclitus and dialectical materialism // Problems of Philosophy . - 2009. - No. 3. - S.142-146.
• Lapteva M. Yu. Heraclitus // Lapteva M. Yu. At the origins of ancient Greek civilization: Ionia of the XI-VI centuries. BC e. - SPb .: Information Center "Humanitarian Academy", 2009. - S.383-396.
• Lebedev A.V. ΨΗΓΜΑ ΣΥΜΦΥΣΩΜΕΝΟΝ. A new fragment of Heraclitus (reconstruction of metallurgical metaphorics in cosmogonic fragments of Heraclitus). // Bulletin of ancient history . - 1979. - No. 2; 1980. - No. 1.
• Lebedev A.V. ΨΥΧΗΣ ΠΕΙΡΑΤΑ (on the denotation of the term ψυχή in cosmological fragments of Heraclitus 66-67 Mch) // Text structure. - M., 1980 .-- S. 118-147.
• Lebedev A.V. The agonal model of space at Heraclitus // Historical and Philosophical Yearbook '87. - M., 1987. S. 29-46.
• Muravyov S.N. Sillabo-tonicity of the rhythmic prose of Heraclitus of Ephesus // Antiquity and modernity. To the 80th anniversary of Fedor Alexandrovich Petrovsky. - M., 1972. - S. 236—251.
• Muravyov S.N. Poetics of Heraclitus: Phonemic Level // The Balkans in the Mediterranean Context: Abstracts and preliminary materials for the symposium. - M., 1986. - S. 58-65.
• Muravyov S.N. Hidden harmony. Preparatory materials for the description of the poetics of Heraclitus at the level of phonemes // Paleobalkanistics and antiquity. - M ,: Science, 1989 .-- C.145-164. ISBN 5-02-010950-9 .
• Muravyov S. N. Traditio Heraclitea (A): Code of ancient sources about Heraclitus // Bulletin of Ancient History . - 1992. - No. 1. - S.36-52.
• Murzin N. N. Gods and philosophers: the kitchen of Heraclitus // Vox. Philosophical Journal . - No. 9. - December, 2010.
• Poznyak I. B. Dialectic of Heraclitus. Abstract. diss. ... K. Philos. n - L., 1955.
• Holtzman A. The similarity and difference between the teachings on opposites in Heraclitus and Nicholas of Cusa // Verbum. - SPb., 2007. - Issue. 9. The legacy of Nicholas of Cusa and the traditions of European philosophizing. - S. 55-69.
• . Heraclitus ' Critique of Ionian Philosophy = Heraclitus' criticism of Ionian philosophy // Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy / Ed. by CCW Taylor. - Oxford: Clarendon Press , 1997 .-- T. XV. - S. 1-50.

• Fragments of Heraclitus (original, Eng. and fr. translations)
• Heraclitus on the Philosophy in Russia portal
  • Fragments of Heraclitus Per. M. A. Dynnik
  • 22. Heraclitus // Fragments of the early Greek philosophers. Part 1: From epic theocosmogonies to the emergence of atomism / Ed. sub. A.V. Lebedev . - M .: Nauka, 1989. - (Monuments of philosophical thought.) - ISBN 5-02-008030-6
  • * A. Biographical evidence
  • * Fragments: 1 , 2 , Heraclitus on the meaning of life (inaccessible link from 12-05-2013 [2279 days]) , 3 ,
• Site "Heraclitus" - A site dedicated to Heraclitus and the study of his worldview, his way of thinking.
• Graham DW Heraclitus (English) . The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy .