Heraclitus
Listen for order within change.
Heraclitus of Ephesus investigates the world’s common order through compressed statements about logos, opposites and fire. His book is lost: what we read depends on ancient quotations and testimonies whose context and interpretation remain contested.
How can order be recognized within change?
Biography
Heraclitus of Ephesus investigates the world’s common order through compressed statements about logos, opposites and fire. His book is lost: what we read depends on ancient quotations and testimonies whose context and interpretation remain contested.
02 /Philosophy
The term may mean a common account or order. Readers debate how it connects Heraclitus’ speech to the structure of the world.
03 /Reading guides
Original introductions to enter the works, discover their central questions and take the reflection further.
04 /Bibliography
Works, testimonies and further readings are distinguished. Dates refer to composition or first publication, as specified in each entry.
A first reading.
Listening for logos
Enter the fragments without turning difficulty into mystification.
Fragments and testimoniesReading an uncertain life
Separate sources, anecdotes and reconstruction in Diogenes’ biography.
Diogenes Laertius — Life of HeraclitusThe river and names
Compare Plato’s reading with the fragments and their context.
Plato — Cratylus: flux