Becoming (philosophy)

Becoming (philosophy)

The concept of becoming was born in eastern ancient Greece by the philosopher Heraclitus of Hephesus, who in the Sixth century BC, said that nothing in this world is constant except change or becoming. His theory stands in direct contrast to Parmenides, another Greek philosopher, but from the italic Magna Grecia, who believed that the ontic changes or "becoming" we perceive with our senses is deceptive, and that there is a pure perfect and eternal being behind nature, which is the ultimate truth. In philosophy, the word "becoming" concerns a specific ontological concept, which should not be confused with the process philosophy, which indicates a metaphysical doctrine of theology.

Contents

History

Heraclitus (c. 535 - c. 475 BC) spoke extensively about becoming. Shortly afterwards Leucippus of Miletus similarly spoke of becoming as the movement of atoms.

The becoming ontology

According to tradition[1], Heraclitus wrote a treatise about nature named "Περὶ φύσεως" ("Perì phýseōs"), "About Nature," in which appears the famous aphorism πάντα ῥεῖ ("panta rei [os potamòs]") translated literally as "the whole flows [as a river]," or figuratively as "everything flows, nothing stands still." The concept of "becoming" in philosophy is strictly connected with two others: movement and evolution, as becoming assumes a "changing to" and a "moving toward."

Quotations

Clemens Alexandrinus (Stromata, v, 105). Similar: Plutarchus (De animae procreatione, 5 p, 1014 A) concerning Heraclitus:

This universal order, which is the same for all, has not been made by any god or man, but it always has been, is, and will be an ever-living fire, kindling itself by regular measures and going out by regular measures.

See also

  • Being
  • Physical ontology

References

Notes

  1. ^ Diogenes Laertius,"Vitae Philosophorum", IX, 17


Sources

Online
Books and Articles
  • R.Arthur, Minkowski Spacetime and the Dimensions of the Present in The Ontology of Spacetime, Vol. 1, Dieks, D., Amsterdam, Elsevier 2006.
  • M.Born, Einstein's Theory of Relativity, New York City,Dover Publications 1962.
  • A.Einstein, On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies, New York, Dover Publications 1952, pp. 35–65.
  • P.Fitzgerald, Four Kinds of Temporal Becoming,Philosophical Topics 13 1985, pp. 145–177.
  • A.Shimony, The Transient now (in Search for a Naturalistic World View), Cambridge,Cambridge University Press 1993, Vol. II.
  • J.J.C.Smart, Philosophy and Scientific Realism, New York, The Humanities Press 1963.
  • G.Whitrow, The Natural Philosophy of Time, Oxford, Oxford University Press 1980.
  • A. Mitov - S. Moch - A. Vogt, Next-to-next-to-leading order evolution, Phys. Lett. B 638 (2006) 61 [hep-ph/0604053] [SPIRES]



Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Philosophy — • Detailed article on the history of the love of wisdom Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Philosophy     Philosophy     † …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Philosophy in the Tragic Age of the Greeks — ( Philosophie im tragischen Zeitalter der Griechen ) is a publication of an incomplete book by Friedrich Nietzsche. He had a clean copy made from his notes with the intention of publication. The notes were written around 1873. In it he discussed… …   Wikipedia

  • Philosophy of space and time — is the branch of philosophy concerned with the issues surrounding the ontology, epistemology, and character of space and time. While such ideas have been central to philosophy from its inception, the philosophy of space and time was both an… …   Wikipedia

  • becoming — See change …   Philosophy dictionary

  • PHILOSOPHY, JEWISH — This article is arranged according to the following outline: WHAT IS JEWISH PHILOSOPHY? recent histories of jewish philosophy biblical and rabbinic antecedents bible rabbinic literature hellenistic jewish philosophy philo of alexandria biblical… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • philosophy, Western — Introduction       history of Western philosophy from its development among the ancient Greeks to the present.       This article has three basic purposes: (1) to provide an overview of the history of philosophy in the West, (2) to relate… …   Universalium

  • Philosophy of Søren Kierkegaard — Søren Kierkegaard s philosophy has been a major influence in the development of 20th century philosophy, especially in the movements of Existentialism and Postmodernism. Søren Kierkegaard was a 19th century Danish philosopher who has been called… …   Wikipedia

  • Philosophy of healthcare — The philosophy of healthcare is the study of the ethics, processes, and people which constitute the maintenance of health for human beings. (Although veterinary concerns are worthy to note, the body of thought regarding their methodologies and… …   Wikipedia

  • philosophy, process —    A philosophy developed by Alfred North Whitehead and Charles Hartshorne, process philosophy replaces the traditional Western metaphysics of being and substance with one of becoming and event. For this reason, Whitehead chose as the fundamental …   Christian Philosophy

  • Philosophy — For other uses, see Philosophy (disambiguation) …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”