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1999 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

On the Unity of Opposites in Heraclitus

Research Project

Project/Area Number 10610012
Research Category

Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)

Allocation TypeSingle-year Grants
Section一般
Research Field Philosophy
Research InstitutionJumonji University

Principal Investigator

MIURA Kaname  Jumonji Univ., Faculty of Social and Information Sciences, Assoc. Prof., 社会情報学部, 助教授 (20222317)

Project Period (FY) 1998 – 1999
KeywordsPresocratics / Heraclitus / the unity of opposites
Research Abstract

The conception of the unity of opposites in Heraclitus may be taken to be a transgression of the law of contradiction, if it is interpreted literally. Some interpreters, therefore, try to recognize that the "unity" means not so much the "identity" as some "connexion" of the opposites. However, this interpretation, which aims to reconcile Heraclitus' thought with logic anachronistically, is nothing but to rationalize it more than necessary and, as a result, to degrade his originality in this point improperly. It should be noted here that Hippolytus of Rome, who is, among others, an important and authoritative source of information on Presocratic philosophy and cites many fragments of Heraclitus referring to the unity of opposites in his Refutatio omnium haeresium, thinks of this unity not as only an association of different elements but as the absolute and objective identity. Hippolytus' interpretation is, we assume, not beside the mark at all. It is true that some of the examples with … More which Heraclitus illustrates the unity of opposites are taken from everyday life and are easily explained in terms of relativity without illogicalness. However, there are also some in which the unity is invisible and we cannot readily observe its existence; this unity is much more generalized so that it represents a latent structure or an objective pattern of the universe composed with all the pairs of opposites. Consequently, we should make a clear distinction between two levels of the unity of opposites in Heraclitus: that which is only a superficial phenomenon and, on the other hand, that which is objective and essential. It goes without saying that, for Heraclitus, it is the latter that is decisively important for the understanding of the nature of the universe. This is the dynamic unicity in which the opposites, opposing with one another, realize a cosmic adjustment or harmony between themselves at the same time. The assertion of the unity of opposites seems very illogical to us, but, in the eyes of Heraclitus, such a paradoxical way the universe subsists shows certainly the cosmic reality. Less

  • Research Products

    (10 results)

All Other

All Publications (10 results)

  • [Publications] 三浦要: "禁じられた道-パルメニデスにおける探究の行方-"哲学研究. 567. 59-92 (1999)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
  • [Publications] 三浦要: "ギリシア人は環境をどう見ていたか"アルケー・関西哲学会年報. 7. 123-133 (1999)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
  • [Publications] 三浦要: "すべてを聞いて学ぶがよい-パルメニデスにおける真理の「啓示」と「探究」"現代思想. 27-8. 180-189 (1999)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
  • [Publications] 三浦要: "ヘラクレイトスにおける「対立者の一致」-ヒッポリュトス『全異端派論駁』IX8-10を手がかりとして"社会情報論叢. 3. 1-16 (1999)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
  • [Publications] 三浦要: "ヘラクレイトスにおける「希望」と「探究」"慶應義塾大学言語文化研究所紀要. 31. 95-113 (1999)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
  • [Publications] Miura Kaname: "The Forbidden Routes of Inquiry in Parmenides"The Journal of Philosophical Studies. No.567. 59-92 (1999)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(欧文)」より
  • [Publications] Miura Kaname: "The Attitude of the Presocratic Philosophers toward Nature"Arche (Annual Review of the Kansai Philosophical Association). No.7. 123-133 (1999)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(欧文)」より
  • [Publications] Miura Kaname: "Inquiry and Revelation of the Truth in Parmenides"Revue de la pensee d'aujourd'hui. vol.27-9. 180-189 (1999)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(欧文)」より
  • [Publications] Miura Kaname: "The Unity of Opposites in Heraclitus"The Jumonji Journal of Social and Information Sciences. Vol.3. 1-16 (1999)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(欧文)」より
  • [Publications] Miura Kaname: "Hope and Inquiry in Heraclitus"Reports of the Keio Institute of Cultural and Linguistic Studies. No.31. 95-113 (1999)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(欧文)」より

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Published: 2001-10-23  

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