biography
| name: |
Heraclitus or Heracleitos
|
pronunciation:
[herakliytus]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (?–460 BC)
|
| biography:
| Greek philosopher, born in Ephesus. He became known as ‘the obscure’ and ‘the riddler’ because of his oracular style. Although only fragments of his writings survive, he seems to have thought that all things are composed of opposites (eg hot/cold, wet/dry). Because the opposites are constantly at strife with one another, all things are in perpetual change. Yet the change is governed by logos (Greek: reason), a principle of order and intelligibility. Fire is the ultimate constituent of the world, and the fire of the human soul is thus linked to the cosmic fire which virtuous souls eventually join. |
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