Heraclitus: The Doctrine Of Flux And The Unity Of Opposites

Heraclitus

Heraclitus is a Greek philosopher of which not much is known beyond his works. What we do know is that he lived in Ephesus, a city on the Ionian coast of Asia Minor, and that his character has largely been inferred from his writings on philosophical issues. Two philosophical theories come to mind when the name Heraclitus is mentioned: The Doctrine of Flux and the Unity of Opposites. In his espousal of these theories he managed to draw the ire of many -- even Aristotle and Plato, who believed that his hypothesis of the world was one of logical incoherence. Heraclitus posited the theory of the Doctrine of Flux and the Unity of Opposites by claiming that everything is constantly changing and opposite things are identical, so that everything is and is not at the same time. (Graham, n.d.) By this, Heraclitus asserts that

Plato employs Socratic discussion to converse upon these issues — encouraging his interlocutors to interrogate — by asking numerous open-ended questions in order implore others to examine their beliefs.

Comparatively, Aristotle deviates from dialogue and instead expresses and elucidates on his theories in a prosaic and meticulous fashion.

Plato’s work reads like an offbeat conversation between curious minds. The questions he poses are deeply profound, often leaving his converser lost for rebuttal as the meaning behind his statements can be, at first, difficult to decipher. A comparison can be drawn between the topics Plato discusses and the way in which he discusses them; just as it can be sometimes arduous to understand the connotation behind the assertions Plato makes in order to bolster his arguments for or against a certain issue, it can be just as (or even more so) difficult to understand the issue