Unfortunately, as with other pre-Socratics, his writings only survive in fragments quoted by other authors. He disagreed with Thales, Anaximander, and Pythagoras about the nature of the ultimate substance, but instead claimed that the nature of everything is change itself; he uses fire—with its connotations of both Promethean/human "fire", and the cosmic fire outlined by contemporaneous pre-Socractics—as a metaphor rather than his solution to material monism. This led to the belief that change is real, and stability illusory. For Heraclitus everything is "in flux", as exemplified in his famous aphorism "Panta Rhei":

"Everything flows, nothing stands still." ()

Heraclitus is recognized as one of the earliest dialectical philosophers with his acknowledgement of the universality of change and development through internal contradictions, as in his statements:

"By cosmic rule, as day yields night, so winter summer, war peace, plenty famine. All things change. Fire penetrates the lump of myrrh, until the joining bodies die and rise again in smoke called incense."

"Men do not know how that which is drawn in different directions harmonises with itself. The harmonious structure of the world depends upon opposite tension like that of the bow and the lyre."

He is famous for expressing the notion that no man can cross the same river twice:

"We both step and do not step in the same rivers. We are and are not." (ποταμος τος ατος μβαίνομέν τε κα οκ μβαίνομεν. εμέν τε κα οκ εμεν.)

The idea of the logos is also credited to him, as he proclaims that everything originates out of the logos. Further, Heraclitus said "I am as I am not", and "He who hears not me but the logos will say: All is one." Heraclitus held that an explanation of change was foundational to any theory of nature. This view was strongly opposed by Parmenides, who argued that change is an illusion and that everything is fundamentally static. This promotion of change also led Heraclitus to promote conflict (e.g., agon in Greek) and to argue against Homer, as he saw strife as something that led to change: "War is the father of all and the king of all" and "Every animal is driven to pasture with a blow."

His view on the random chance inherent in the universe is famously the direct opposite of Einstein's (in which he stated "God does not play dice with the universe"): "Time is a child playing dice; the kingly power is a child's."

The Heraclitean emphasis on the nature of things and existence as one of constant change, expressed with language of polarity, is particularly reminiscent of another ancient philosophical tradition, that of Taoism: the Tao (or "the Way") often refers to a space-time sequence, and is similarly expressed with seemingly-contradictory language (e.g., "The Way is like an empty vessel / that may still be drawn from / without ever needing to be filled"). Indeed, parallels may be drawn between the fundamental concepts of the logos (as it was understood during Heraclitus's time) and the Tao.

Heraclitus is described as having a melancholy disposition, and is sometimes referred to as the "weeping philosopher", as opposed to Democritus, who is known as the "laughing philosopher".Kenny, Anthony. A Brief History of Western Philosophy. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1998. ISBN 0631201327Montaigne, Michel de. "Of Democritus and Heraclitus". The Essays of Michel de Montaigne.

There are several legendary stories about Heraclitus, especially concerning his eventual death from illness, including his supposed attempt to stave off death using dung and ignoring doctors. These mostly stem from mis-interpretations of the metaphors in his fragments and an attempt to construct a narrative based on these fragments.Kirk, G.S. Heraclitus: The Cosmic Fragments London: Cambridge University Press, 1954. ISBN 521054259

Influence

Friedrich Nietzsche on the other hand, adopted Heraclitus' doctrine of becomming. Nietzsche, Friedrich; The Twilight of the Idols; "Reason in Philosophy;" section 2.

Karl Popper accused Heraclitus as having played a part in laying the foundations for a closed society. In particular, Popper concludes that Heraclitus relativises moral values, quoting Heraclitus: "The good and the bad are identical", relating to Heraclitus's theory of the unity of opposites. Popper also alleges Heraclitus of having formulated a historicist doctrine based on the "justice of war and the verdict of history a tribalist and romantic ethic of Fame, Fate, and the superiority of the Great Man". Popper, Karl, The Open Society and Its Enemies: Vol. 1 The Spell of Plato London: Routledge Classics, 1965.

Notes