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Ancient Greek Philosophers

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There has been much debate as to what change is, and is not. Ancient Greek Philosophers were not indifferent to this. The early Greek Philosophers tried to explain what our world is comprised of, whether it is monism (one true “stuff,” or reality), or pluralism (more than one reality, or “stuff”). They then proceeded to try to elaborate and explain how change and motion occur. Heraclitus’ conclusion can be summed up in a quote of his: “One cannot step into the same river twice.” Parmenides and Zeno, unlike Heraclitus, came to the conclusion that the world was practically an unmovable brick; there is no change, there is no motion. Finally, Epicurus came to the conclusion that the world was formed from indivisible, and constantly colliding atoms. Heraclitus was a monist. His interpretation of the one and true reality was fire. This is not to be taken literally, because Heraclitus believed that the “one’ could never be any material thing, but was found in the orderliness of change. He said fire was “always changing yet somehow is always the same.” He believed that everything is being changed constantly, and this is occurring through a state of flux. By having orderliness, it becomes possible for the human mind to comprehend the world, instead of it being entirely chaotic and based on the will of gods. Since the rate of change is constant, an appearance of permanence exists. Hence, “one cannot step into the same river twice.”(Jones 16) At first, it might appear as if you

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