- Paperback: 372 pages
- Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 1 edition (Sep 30 1981)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 052128645X
- ISBN-13: 978-0521286459
- Product Dimensions: 2.3 x 1.5 x 0.2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 599 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #170,500 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
Behind the superficial obscurity of what fragments we have of Heraclitus' thought, Professor Kahn claims that it is possible to detect a systematic view of human existence, a theory of language which sees ambiguity as a device for the expression of multiple meaning, and a vision of human life and death within the larger order of nature. The fragments are presented here in a readable order; translation and commentary aim to make accessible the power and originality of a systematic thinker and a great master of artistic prose. The commentary locates Heraclitus within the tradition of early Greek thought, but stresses the importance of his ideas for topical theories of language, literature and philosophy.
Book Description
In this study, the disconnected fragments of the writings of Heraclitus, the Greek philosopher (ca. 500 B.C.), are translated, and the pattern of his thought is reconstructed by the author.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
I give here as a 'fragment' every ancient citation or report that seems to provide information about the content of Heraclitus' book not otherwise available. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
I give here as a 'fragment' every ancient citation or report that seems to provide information about the content of Heraclitus' book not otherwise available. Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Heraclitus' thought comes to life,
This review is from: The Art and Thought of Heraclitus: A New Arrangement and Translation of the Fragments with Literary and Philosophical Commentary (Paperback)
The dense language and riddling nature of Heracitus' prose has baffled many of us for the past 2500 years. The approach here taken to Heraclitus' fragments is fascinating. The author points out that only by putting the fragments in context with the way the greeks of the fifth century BC reasoned, Heraclitus' thought may come to life to the modern reader. Unlike today's "rational" thought, the greeks of the fifth century BC were not yet enslaved to deductive thinking and causality, but were quite aware of the self-referent nature of things, of the unending web of interelations that makes up Nature and the Universe. Science exclusively endowed with causality and deduction is very good at finding the hows, but terribly clumsy at finding the whys. This book is definitely recommended to all science people interested not only in learning the hows, but also in understanding the whys.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Inspirational for Certain Philosophers,
This review is from: The Art and Thought of Heraclitus: A New Arrangement and Translation of the Fragments with Literary and Philosophical Commentary (Paperback)
One of the things that is most interesting to me about this book is the way it illustrates how we can know so much about someone whose main book is not available to us. By writing about nature in a way that emphasized the power of fire, war, and strife, Heraclitus produced a book that was so well known to ancient writers that many of them lifted ideas for their own purposes. This combination of the knowledge that we have from many sources produces a picture of the permutations that basic philosophy is prone to fall prey to in a history which never finds any particular idea useful for long. I find the application of such ideas most interesting in the field of deep politics, where the idea of "killing the killers," mentioned in connection with the riddle which Homer couldn't guess at the time of his death according to the tradition explained in this book, could be related to some modern despicabilities.
0 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The foundation of all Western thought......,
By Guido von Stennetti (Seattle, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Art and Thought of Heraclitus: A New Arrangement and Translation of the Fragments with Literary and Philosophical Commentary (Paperback)
Devoid of all "Slave Morality" influences from Semitic thinking, Heraclitus is pure European thought at its finest. It's usually proclaimed, that all Western philosophies are but a footnote to Plato. I disagree. Even Plato is subjected to Heraclitus. These fragments shine through, and Charles Kahn does an excellent job of giving his opinions about each fragment without forcing them down your throat and proclaiming his opinions as 100% the ONLY way they can be understood (but, in my opinion, he makes a good case for this reasons). After reading these 123 fragments, you'll see that philosophers such as Plato through Hitler among others owe much of their thinking to this one man. An Excellent Read.
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