HERACLEITUS - OVERVIEW

<BODY> <TABLE width=400 BORDER=0 CELLSPACING=2 CELLPADDING=1> <TR> <TD><IMG ALIGN=Top SRC="0201a.jpg" WIDTH="129" HEIGHT="150" ALT="SHIVA"></TD> <TD><CENTER><FONT SIZE=5><B><FONT SIZE=6>HERACLEITUS</FONT><BR> THE RIDDLER<P> <FONT SIZE=4>(EARLY 5TH CENTURY BC)</FONT></B></FONT><BR><BR> "All things come into being by conflict of opposites"</CENTER></TD> </TR> </TABLE> <FONT SIZE=4><B>Overview</B></FONT><P> <BLOCKQUOTE>"We descend and do not descend into the same river, we are and are not ourselves."<P> Fragment B 49A</BLOCKQUOTE> Heracleitus was one of the first to seek a universal explanation for nature and man's role within it, an explanation not reliant on the gods. Like <A HREF="../01/01f01.html" TARGET="_top">Parmenides</A>, Heracleitus held that things are not as we perceive them. Unlike Parmenides, he conceives of a world of constant change and conflict. His is a world in which the interaction, the tension, of opposites, is a creative force. The only permanent feature of things is their constant becoming. This most famous part of his doctrine came to be encapsulated in the phrase "all things are flowing".<P> Heracleitus identified fire as the principle element of nature and creation. This he identified with what he termed the <A HREF="../t03/g028.html" TARGET="_top">Logos</A>, a sort of world soul which permeated and governed all life.<P> Much of Heracleitus better fits Eastern philosophy than what has become the western tradition. The Hindu god, Shiva, encompasses many of the elements emphasised by Heracleitus - eg. the the important interaction between destructive and creative forces and the importance of fire as a creative force. <BR clear=left><BR> <HR width=100%> <A HREF="http://www.creatorix.com.au"><IMG SRC="../creatorix.gif" WIDTH="85" HEIGHT="40" BORDER="0" ALT="Creatorix" align=right></A> </BODY>