The world in identity in Heraclitus

Abstract

Heraclitus is not only the philosopher of the law of constant change but also the philosopher of identity. The fact that the cosmos is one and the same for itself and for all, means that it is in unity and identity with itself. The unity of diverse phenomena is to be found not in their matter, but in their logos. Indeed the very identity of an object depends not on the matter that composes it, but on the regularity and predictability of the changes it undergoes. The world in Heraclitus is the same, one and common and its identity lies exclusively in that it is "everlasting fire" and also in its eternal, same, one and common ontological nature.