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Full-Text Articles in History of Philosophy
On The Nature Of Heraclitus' Book, Herbert Granger
On The Nature Of Heraclitus' Book, Herbert Granger
The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter
Heraclitus is critical of book-learning, yet, unlike Pythagoras, he wrote a book, which presumably he intended to be read. Heraclitus may think himself justified in composing his book because in his composition he remains true to the nature of things, which ‘loves to hide’ (B123). He writes a book that is just as taxing as the nature of things and demands the reader’s careful attention and thorough engagement. Like the Lord in Delphi, and the nature of things, Heraclitus ‘neither speaks out nor conceals, but gives a sign’ (B93). What is more important, he informs his readership about subjects that …
Heraclitus: The River Fragments, Leonardo Taran
Heraclitus: The River Fragments, Leonardo Taran
The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter
Heraclitus was known in antiquity for the obscurity and the ambiguity of his expression, and there can be little doubt .that he purposely made use of ambiguity to emphasize the paradoxical character of some of his doctrines. For us who so many centuries later wish to understand his thought, these characteristics are increased and magnified by the very way his thought has been transmitted: citations and paraphrases by others whose interests were in most cases alien to his. Yet many ancient authors cited him to find authority and corroboration for their views in such an archaic thinker. Other writers, among …
Paradox, Poetry, And Eternity: Socrates, Parmenides, And Nietzsche, Scott Austin
Paradox, Poetry, And Eternity: Socrates, Parmenides, And Nietzsche, Scott Austin
The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter
Abstractly, some metalanguages and their allied languages are such that the metalinguistic truths cannot be put into the language itself without a (fruitful or devastating) paradox which breaks the very rules which the metalanguage itself enunciates for the language. Others are such that the transposition of metalanguage into language occurs without difficulty. The status of philosophy as a purported "science of all sciences" from classical times to the present hangs on this difference; for, unless there can be speech about speech in one’s own (however elaborated) natural language, the metaphysical enterprise sooner or later topples, to be replaced by faith, …
Some Heraclitean Problems, Miroslav Marcovich
Some Heraclitean Problems, Miroslav Marcovich
The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter
Beginning from a critique of the idea that a characteristic thought pattern in Heraclitus is the geometrical proportion (proposed by Hermann Fraenkel and others), the author critically discusses the fragments on which that interpretation rests, and goes on to delineate several characteristic means of expression: Paradox, Folklore Motifs, Traditional Wisdom (proverbs), vivid Similes, and metrical forms. The author concludes by discussing the meaning of "logos" in Heraclitus.