Does everything contain its opposite within it, which will replace it? The thought of Heraclitus.

Does everything contain its opposite within it, which will replace it? The thought of Heraclitus.

In this thread, we will discuss the thought of Heraclitus, a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher, on the question of whether everything contains its opposite within it, which will replace it.

Heraclitus is a representative of idealism. His ideas on change have paved the way for the emergence of great ideas years later. According to him, everything in nature is in a state of existence, change, and annihilation. Hot turns to cold, cold to hot. Dry becomes wet, wet becomes dry.

Heraclitus said, "No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man." Even if the river looks the same as yesterday's river, it has flowed away and changed. Just like the man who bathed yesterday.

According to Heraclitus, the fundamental reason for this change is the war of opposites. Heraclitus introduced the dialectical perspective to the literature of humanity with this thought. It is important to remember that Heraclitus's thought is not dialectical materialism. It is dialectical idealism. Because according to him, behind the opposites there is "unity", and behind the changes there is "immutability". He called it "logos". Logos can be compared to a river. A river flows and changes constantly, but it is still a whole. Logos is like this. The universe is in a constant state of change, but it is still a whole.

By starting from the idea of "logos" of Heraclitus, ideas can be obtained about his thoughts on social issues. "Logos" represents a universal mind that human reason also shares. So this "universal mind" encompasses human reason. People who have more share of the universal mind form the minority and conscious part of society. Those who have less share are less intelligent than others. Heraclitus calls this less intelligent people "crowd". They are people who are interested in the appearance of everything. So, according to Heraclitus, the people who should govern the society are aristocrats who have more share of the universal mind.

The dialectical perspective that Heraclitus put forward in the 6th century BC influenced the centuries after him. The foundation of dialectical materialism, which is the basis of Hegel's thoughts, was formed by Heraclitus' perspective. Through Hegel, Marx was also deeply influenced and some of the important perspectives of the past centuries have emerged.

So, does everything contain its opposite within it, which will replace it? The answer to this question is yes, according to Heraclitus. He believed that the opposites are constantly in conflict with each other, and that this conflict is the driving force of change.

Heraclitus's thought has had a profound impact on Western philosophy. His ideas on change and the dialectic have been influential in the development of many different philosophical schools of thought.

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