Heraclitus and Parmenides Greek Philosophy Essay

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document

Total Length: 702 words ( 2 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 0

Page 1 of 2

I. Heraclitus

30. Kosmos: the same for all, no man or god has made, but it ever was and ever will be: fire everliving, kindled in measures and in measures going out.

Here, Heraclitus reveals his paradoxical thinking about the nature of the universe. The universe (Kosmos/cosmos) is simultaneously limited and limitless. The fire of life is “kindled in measures,” meaning it is ignited within a specific space/time unit, and it is also meted out according to an ordered, measurable, and likely mathematical means. Yet at the same time, that fire is “everliving,” referring to an eternal flame. It is also eternal in that it “ever was and ever will be.” Through this statement Heraclitus explains simply the notions of timelessness: that all time exists simultaneously. The riddle of the passage is given “it ever was and ever will be,” how was the fire ever kindled in the first place. The answer to the riddle is found earlier in the passage: “no man or god has made” the eternal flame of the Kosmos. That flame was never kindled in the sense that human beings can understand; rather it exists in a state of being and no-being simultaneously.

124. Kosmos is a heap of random sweepings.

Here, Heraclitus offers an ironic, almost humorous description of the cosmos/Kosmos. As a “heap of random sweepings,” the universe is practically a midden. Heraclitus shows how the universe has an underlying chaos in spite of its semblance of order. Linked with the paradoxes inherent in #30, Heraclitus presents a remarkably unified cosmology.

94. The Sun will not transgress his measures. If he does, the Furies, ministers of Justice, will find him out.

This passage offers insight into some of the elements that comprise the Kosmos, including Sun, Justice, and the Furies.

Stuck Writing Your "Heraclitus and Parmenides Greek Philosophy" Essay?

View All Our Example Heraclitus and Parmenides Greek Philosophy Essay

Have A Custom Example Essay Written

As subordinates to the Kosmos, these elements have different features and roles to play in the unfolding and sustenance of the universal order. Each part has its place, referred to by the limit of its “measures.” The sun cannot “transgress his measures,” or else the ministers of Justice, in the form of the Furies, will come in and check that power. The universe is kept in order by a sophisticated system of checks and balances, a harmonic chaos.

II. Parmenides

"What exists for saying and for thinking must be. For it exists for it to be; but nothing does not exist. You ponder that!"

If a human being can conceive of something, that something must naturally exist. A person cannot cognitively conceptualize any issue that is beyond human comprehension, let alone anything that does not exist in the universe. Yet Parmenides reassures readers that “nothing does not exist.” Parmenides seems to imply that the category of nothingness does not exist, while also implying that everything does exist. This would mean that a human being can think on anything, and talk on anything. Everything “exists for it to be,” and thus a human being can eventually contemplate even the densest and most difficult of subjects, including the subject of nothingness itself. Not only does the category of nothingness not exist, for that would….....

Show More ⇣

     Open the full completed essay and source list


OR

     Order a one-of-a-kind custom essay on this topic


sample essay writing service

Cite This Resource:

Latest APA Format (6th edition)

Copy Reference
"Heraclitus And Parmenides Greek Philosophy" (2017, December 03) Retrieved July 1, 2025, from
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/heraclitus-parmenides-greek-philosophy-2166670

Latest MLA Format (8th edition)

Copy Reference
"Heraclitus And Parmenides Greek Philosophy" 03 December 2017. Web.1 July. 2025. <
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/heraclitus-parmenides-greek-philosophy-2166670>

Latest Chicago Format (16th edition)

Copy Reference
"Heraclitus And Parmenides Greek Philosophy", 03 December 2017, Accessed.1 July. 2025,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/heraclitus-parmenides-greek-philosophy-2166670
   

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document
order custom essay example