Heraclitus of Ephesus
Everything changes without rest, yet the world holds together by a common measure: unity comes from the tension of opposites.
Life
Heraclitus of Ephesus (c. 540-480 BC) was a Greek thinker whose work survives only in fragments quoted by later writers. He saw the world as in constant flux yet held together by a common measure, the Logos, with unity arising from the tension of opposites. The ancients nicknamed him 'the Obscure' for his riddling style. He shaped later Greek thought, from Plato to the Stoics, on change and the order of the world.
Main works
It sets out the common Logos, the flux of things and the unity of opposites.
In his own words
« Ever-newer waters flow on those who step into the same rivers. »
ποταμοῖσι τοῖσιν αὐτοῖσιν ἐμβαίνουσιν ἕτερα καὶ ἕτερα ὕδατα ἐπιῤῥεῖ
« This world order, the same for all, no god or man made; it always was, is and will be an ever-living fire, kindling in measures and going out in measures. »
κόσμον τόνδε, τὸν αὐτὸν ἁπάντων, οὔτε τις θεῶν οὔτε ἀνθρώπων ἐποίησεν, ἀλλ᾽ ἦν ἀεὶ καὶ ἔστιν καὶ ἔσται πῦρ ἀείζωον ἁπτόμενον μέτρα καὶ ἀποσβεννύμενον μέτρα.
« The wise is one only; it is unwilling and willing to be called by the name of Zeus. »
ἓν τὸ σοφὸν μοῦνον λέγεσθαι οὐκ ἐθέλει καὶ ἐθέλει Ζηνὸς ὄνομα.
« War is the father and king of all. »
πόλεμος πάντων μὲν πατήρ ἐστι, πάντων δὲ βασιλεύς
Positions
click a row to see the evidenceThe divine is the single wisdom ordering the cosmos, willing and unwilling to be called Zeus: an impersonal Logos.
Heraclitus, fragment B32 (Diels-Kranz)
The senses are poor witnesses for those who lack understanding: the common Logos must be grasped by thought.
Heraclitus, fragments B1 and B107 (Diels-Kranz)