Parmenides de Eleia was one of the leading pre-Socratic Greek philosophers of antiquity. His studies were based on themes on the ontology of being, reason and logic.
His thinking influenced the philosophy of antiquity as well as modern and contemporary philosophy. His most famous sentence is: “ Being is and non-being is not. “
Biography: Summary
Parmenides was born in 510 BC in the Greek city of Eleia (present-day Italy), located in the region of Magna Greece.
Son of a wealthy family, the philosopher had a good education. Given his interest in philosophy, he approached the ideas of Pythagoras and the School he founded: the Pythagorean School.
However, he did not delve into the issues discussed by the Pythagoreans, founding a School in his hometown: Escola Eleática . In addition to him, in the group stood out the philosopher Zeno de Eleia , his disciple. Parmenides passed away around 470 BC
Thought: The Philosophy of Parmenides
Much of his thinking is gathered in the poetic work called ” About Nature “.
In his poem, Parmenides explains about two paths: the path of opinion and the path of truth.
The “path of opinion” ( doxa ) would be based on appearance, and therefore would lead to deception and uncertainties.
While the second, called the “path of truth” ( alétheia ) is driven by logical thinking based on reason. According to him:
“ You must learn: the solid heart of the very round Truth and the opinions of mortals, in whom there is no true certainty. And yet, you too will learn: how the things they seem to be should be, being all in all senses ”.
Parmenides and Heraclitus: Differences
Heraclitus of Ephesus was also a pre-Socratic philosopher considered to be the “Father of the Dialectic”. According to him, the world is constantly changing at a stage he called “becoming”. In his words: ” Nothing is permanent, except change “.
On the other hand, Parmenides refutes the ideas of Heraclitus added that nothing changes, everything is one. In other words, change (becoming, becoming) is an illusion of the senses that is guided by doxa (opinion).
In this sense, he used logical contradiction to reach the conclusion, while Heraclitus based his discourse on dialectics, the doctrine of opposites.
Phrases
Check out some famous phrases that translate Parmenides’ thought:
- ” It doesn’t matter where I started, because I will always go back there .”
- “ Being is immobile because if it moved it could become and then it would and would not be at the same time .”
- ” Thought and being are the same thing “.
- ” Language is the etiquette of illusory things .”
- ” Being is and non-being is not.”