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Wellsprings
greek-metaphysicsfeatured in 10 works

Becoming

The realm of change and passing-away set against changeless Being — the Parmenidean and Platonic Being-vs-becoming contrast.

Becoming (genesis) is the realm of change and process, classically set against unchanging Being. Heraclitus of Ephesus (c. 500 BCE) made flux the heart of reality — 'you cannot step into the same river twice' — while Parmenides of Elea denied that genuine becoming is possible at all. The tension they opened between Being and Becoming drove Plato's two-worlds metaphysics and echoes through philosophy ever since.

How it traveled

  1. Republic
    Athens · -375
    explains
  2. Parmenides
    Athens · -370
    explains
  3. Timaeus
    Athens · -360
    explains
  4. Metaphysics
    Chalcis · -322
    explains
  5. Adversus Mathematicos
    Alexandria · 190
    explains
  6. Pyrrhoniae Hypotyposes
    Alexandria · 210
    explains
  7. Sha'ar HaGilgulim
    Tzfat · 1570
  8. Ohr HaChammah on Zohar
    Tzfat · 1620
  9. Likutei Halakhot
    Breslov (Ukraine) · 1840
  10. Praeparatio Evangelica
    explains

Key passages(20)

Fragments & Testimonia · Heraclitus

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Pyrrhoniae Hypotyposes · Sextus Empiricus

Very high

Fragmenta · Parmenides

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Adversus Mathematicos · Sextus Empiricus

Very high

Adversus Mathematicos · Sextus Empiricus

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Pyrrhoniae Hypotyposes · Sextus Empiricus

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Praeparatio Evangelica · Eusebius of Caesarea

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Praeparatio Evangelica · Eusebius of Caesarea

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Ἀσκληπιῷ εὖ φρονεῖν · Hermetica

Very high

Adversus Coloten · Plutarch

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