Formal Analysis
- P1: All living beings undergo constant change at every point in their lives.
- P2: Inanimate things are subject to continuous change.
- P3: Everything in the world exists in a cycle of change as fire does.
- C: Heraclitus’s philosophy of change is the correct way to think about the world.
Essay
Heraclitus and Parmenides had opposite viewpoints on the way of the world. Heraclitus denied that anything can remain the same and that such thing as permanence or immutability exists in the world (McCarron 8). Instead, he argued that everything is constantly changing and transforming from one state to another. In contrast, Parmenides viewed reality as unchangeable and permanent (McCarron 8). Following his idea of permanence, Parmenides also argued that no things are created; rather, they have always existed (McCarron 9). In this paper, I will argue that Heraclitus’s philosophy of change is the correct way of thinking about the world. I will first prove that all living creatures undergo constant change throughout their lives. Next, I will provide evidence of how inanimate things also continuously change. Finally, I will explain how everything exists in a cycle of change like fire, to which Heraclitus referred in his arguments.
First of all, all living beings in this world undergo constant change at every point in their lives. For example, a seed planted in the soil grows into a sapling and then into a tree. This process does not happen abruptly, with changes alternating with periods of permanence. Instead, the plant grows gradually; it breathes and consumes the sunlight, and its cells are constantly dividing, replacing the dead cells, and dying. Similar processes occur in humans who continuously change throughout their lifetime. It is doubtful that one would claim that an infant and an elderly person are the same and unchanged. Even when individuals stand still and hold their breath for a while, their state changes: the heart goes on pumping the blood, and the cells continue to fulfill their functions. As McCarron writes, a person now and the same person a second ago are distinct people: some of this person’s cells died, he or she grew a second older, and he or she has different thoughts (8). Thus, constant change experienced by all living beings supports Heraclitus’s philosophy of change.
Second, inanimate things are subject to continuous change. This thought is best illustrated by the saying, “One cannot step twice into the same river” (McCarron 8). This is because the river continuously changes as it flows. The molecules of water that were upstream at one moment move downstream a second later. The pebbles or grains of sand in a river bed move and change as the water carries them from one place to another. Other objects are also altered over time, even if left alone. For example, clothes and furniture stored in the attic become decrepit and covered with dust. Even such stable and long-living structures as mountains erode under the influence of temperature, water, and wind. It appears that no such thing exists in this world that would not change as time goes by, even if this process is not noticeable to humans. Hence, the fact that inanimate objects are subject to continuous change provides support for Heraclitus’s philosophy of change.
Finally, everything in the world exists in a cycle of change as fire does. Heraclitus referred to fire to explain how the world is in constant flux and how various things are transformed into the opposite ones. According to Heraclitus, reality is characterized by the unity of oppositions, meaning that different forms of change one can observe are based on transformations from one state to the opposite (McCarron 8). For example, hot can turn into cold, or wet can become dry. These transitions between the opposites are the changes that one can often see in reality and that constitute the constant flux of the world. Furthermore, referring to fire, Heraclitus considered it the base element that could be transformed into the air, then water, and eventually, the earth, and vice versa. This idea of consecutive transformations bears a resemblance to the cyclical nature of the world. For instance, like fire can gradually turn into earth, living beings slowly grow old and eventually die, or seasons change each other in a sequence, transforming nature. Thus, Heraclitus’s idea of constant transformations similar to those of fire reflects how the world works.
To sum up, in this paper, I have shown that Heraclitus is correct in his view of the world. I have demonstrated how living beings continuously change throughout their lives. Further, I have explained the constant change that occurs in inanimate objects. Finally, I have discussed how Heraclitus’s idea of fire transformations and the unity of the opposites reflects the cyclical nature of the world. These arguments prove that reality is in a continuous flux, thus supporting Heraclitus’s principle of change. At the same time, the evidence in this paper can serve as counterarguments against Parmenides’s philosophy of permanence.
Work Cited
McCarron, Gary. “The McCarron Lectures. Lecture 3: Plato and Persuasion.” Scholarly and Research Communication, vol. 12, no. 1, 2021, pp. 1-25.