Philosophical Writings

Author(s): Hemant Shah
Publisher: Academy of Philosophy

Page 42

Logos In Philosophy, Religion and Science
behind appearance acting on the world in accordance with the Logos, which maintains an equal proportion of opposites, so producing all things."
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Logos is the central notion of Heraclitus' philosophy and to him Logos means not only Law, but also fire, mind, unit... etc. In fact, Fire as conceived by Heraclitus is characterised by its own Logos. His "fire :gold"and"Logos: city law" similes clearly show that he understood fire and Logos as two different aspects of reality: "Fire represents its qualitative and variable nature, Logos, its structural stability, the former stands for change, the later for its proportion."
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Heraclitus taught that 'we inhale the Logos by breathing. He says "when man is asleep, his reason departs, and when he wakes up it returns so that his soul is like coals or amber which glow brighter when brought near the fire and fade when removed from it." It is indeed a worth noting characteristic to see 'the affinity of the soul to the Logos and Fire with life and knowledge' in Heraclitus. He conceives soul as a modification of single living 'nature'. "Drawing in, as it were, its Logos, the soul communicates with this 'nature' and cognises it to the extent to which it assimilates to its Logos." (B.55) The soul in Heraclitus, "is a part of the universe which is everlasting Fire and Logos." On the other hand, "the thinking faculty is common to all" (B.113) and "all men have the capacity of knowing themselves and acting with moderation" (B 116). "The Logos is 'common' and everybody can grasp it and attain wisdom - however according to fragment 2, "most men live as if they had a private understanding of their own."
In our final conclusion of Heraclitus' concept and theory of Logos, we can say that the Logos in Heraclitus is the rational necessity of being, "and it is intelligence, 'nature's word' addressed to man, though he may be too stupid to understand it. But what does nature say when you have listened, not to me but to the Law (Logos), it is wise to agree, that all things are one.". (B.50) Although this Logos exists forever, "men are always incapable of