Parmenides of Elea is considered like the founder of the school of Elea, although the fact does not verify truthfully. Parmenides wrote a single work, it was a philosophical poem in epic verse about nature, in which he advocated the existence of the absolute being , whose nature admitted to be inconceivable since this absolute Being is dissociated from all limitations under human thought. He maintained his position with respect to the phenomena of nature and ensured that reality and true being were not based on the senses, but could only be found in reason. His theory was based on the fact that being could not originate from non-being, and that being never arose or disappeared.
- Occupation: Philosopher and politician
- Why he’s famous: For being the founder of Elea’s school
Who was Parmenides of Elea?
He was the father and founder of the School of Elea , he firmly maintained his position with respect to nature and the absolute being which, for him, could not arise or disappear. He did not give importance to the senses and for him, the only truth was found in reason. Writer of a single work, a philosophical poem in epic verse.
- Biography of Parmenides of Elea
- Thought of Parmenides of Elea
- Arche of Parmenides of Elea
- Contributions of Parmenides of Elea
Biography of Parmenides of Elea
Parmenides of Elea was born between 530 BC and 515 BC in the city of Elea, a colony in Greece, Italy. His family was allegedly well-known, noble, and wealthy. His father was allegedly Pires. Although these data are present, the true date of his birth and death is not known. It is said that he was a Pythagorean and that he decided at a certain point to leave the school of Pythagoras to found his own school with elements against Pythagoras. His thought is definitely one of the main pillars of the Eleatic School , he devoted himself fully to philosophy and actively participated in political life of his city, contributing in an important way in the elaboration and constitution of the laws.
Thought of Parmenides of Elea
In his poem, Parmenides de Elea exposes us his way of thinking and his philosophy under an important and fundamental premise : what is, Being, can be thought, what is not, non-being , cannot be thought. This is an affirmation to reject the change. One of his main contributions regarding thought is the definition of being, to which he gave characteristics of unity , since he thought that being could not be more than one, he gave it indivisibility since, for him, being was indivisible. It gave him finite characteristics, he considered the being as finite and immutable, since the being could not change and if this happened then it would cease to be a being. The being could not be destroyed and could not be engendered, since, if so, it would be engendered by a non-being and this for him was impossible. He also attached great importance to knowledge . For him one way to get to knowledge was the truth and the other the opinion. The truth was based on reason and it was the only way to achieve knowledge. Opinion was based on the senses that were responsible for creating an illusion of change and multiplicity, and for this reason, everyone had a tendency to deceive . He was considered to be the creator of logic using deductive reasoningconsistently. Their language is symbolic and dark and probably incoherent at times.
Arche of Parmenides of Elea
Its main arche was represented by a new and creative way of philosophizing. His metaphysical position was unique and at the same time very radical. He expounded on his doctrine by means of a poem in which the Pythagorean ideas were raised . It was based on the way to always get the truth and opinion in which it exposed a somewhat misleading cosmology . For him, being was eternal and could never cease to exist, for him it had no beginning or end and there was nothing or no one to limit it, whether it was the beginning or the end of its existence. For Parmenides, thought can capture all the essence of the world as it is, and in this way it is observed how it enjoyed a highly rationalist . His reason is an instrument to get to know the origin of the world.
Contributions of Parmenides of Elea
The influence exerted by Parmenides de Elea is decisive in history and the foundations of philosophy, in addition, it greatly influenced the development of thought . His doctrine was in charge of affirming being and rejecting at all times the becoming of reality, which was considered illusory. He considers that there are two forms that are the most important for being, he called these the way of truth and opinion. Being was established as imperishable , unique, immutable and complete . He left clear ideas regarding thought and being, because for him they were the same. He taught us that being is one and does not change.