Heraclitus

Heraclitus ~ a.k.a. “The Obscure” He was an heir to a throne, a student of life who gave up all for the path of wisdom, and one cantankerous old coot. He lived in Ephesus, on the Asia Minor coast around 535-475 BC. His writing survived the Persian Empire, the Greeks and then the Romans. Plato, Aristotle, Marcus Aurelis, Nietzsche, Whitehead and Jung have all used his work as a touchstone.

He is known for his doctrine of change: Logos (see below) is both the source and the way the universe operates. The primary meaning of logos is something said; by implication a subject, topic of discourse or reasoning. Secondary meanings such as logic, reasoning, etc. derive from the fact that if one is capable of speech, and then intelligence and reason are assumed. “All things are flowing” is the iconic flux and fire philosophers phrase.

He was not a “let’s all get along” kind of person, he felt most of humankind was stupid and inherently bad, even more so if one disagreed with him. Not surprisingly, he admires war~, “War is the father of all, king of all. Some it makes gods, some it makes men, some it makes slaves, some free”. He is a fan of self-purification and the power gained through self-mastery. “It is not good for men to get all they wish to get. Whatever our desire wishes to get, it purchases at the cost of the soul”.

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