Study Questions on the Presocratics, by Edward Hussey

Study Questions on The Presocratics, by Edward Hussey

Modified July 20, 2012

Chapter 3

1. Of what idea endemic in philosophy does Heraclitus seem to be the first exponent? (34 middle)

2. How do his utterances strike most people? (34, line 12)

3. What is the necessary beginning of any attempt to understand Heraclitus? (34 last full para.)

4. In what ways does he agree with the Milesians? (35)

5. How are philosophical views about God connected with concern about deceptive appearances? (35, second half of page)

6. Relate this to fragments 123 and 54 on p. 35. These are the Diels-Kranz fragment numbers that often differ from the bold numerals used in RAGP.

Fr. 123 is item #12 in RAGP’s numbering system. Note that RAGP translates this fragment on p. 32 more concisely (it is more literal) and that the Diels-Kranz number appears after the RAGP number with the addition of the capital letter B.

7. What do we learn about Heraclitus’ understanding of the supreme deity? (36)

(In fact, most if not all Presocratics were polytheists, although they found the supreme god far more interesting than the others. “God” is a misleading representation of the Greek daimon here and theos elsewhere, because ancient Greek did not distinguish upper and lower case.)

8. What do we learn about Heraclitus’ view of wisdom from the fragments at the top of p. 37?

9. What point is Heraclitus making with fr. 93 on p. 37? (The “prince whose oracle is at Delphi” is the god Apollo, often associated with wisdom and enlightenment.)

10. What points does H make about the beliefs and views of most human beings? (38)

11. With what being is true wisdom closely associated? What happens to a person as he or she becomes wiser? (39)

12. What does logos mean in ordinary (classical) Greek? (39) 13. When H uses it as a technical term, what does he mean? (39-40) Look for different insights in the two big paragraphs on p.40.

14. What general point is being made by the fragments given on middle p. 41? How does the fourth differ from the first three?

15. What special point does the “road” fragment seem to be making? (42 top)

16. What point is fr. 88 making? (42)

17. How do these fragments lead back to the idea in the three key words at the end of fr. 50 on p. 39? (43)

18. What basic notion is conveyed by the use of the word harmonie in Heraclitus? (43

19. If the bow and the lyre can be described as back-turning or back-stretched, what aspects of Heraclitus’ vision of things are being emphasized? (fr. 51 on p. 43 and discussion on 43-45; more on 49-50)

20. One rough way of dividing philosophies is into unifiers and splitters. Where does Heraclitus fit? (46)

21. How are the important pair-contraries in fr. 67 brought together? (46) In what does the unity of the universe seem to consist? (47) How are theology and physics related for Heraclitus? (47)

22. Is his god a zoon (living being)? Must we understand him as somehow thinking? (47) Where is the divine mind? (47-48) What elemental metaphor does Heraclitus use to describe it? (48)

23. What is the significance of the “war” fragments? (48-49) How does “war” related to “justice”?

24. What do the three fragments at 49 (bottom) -50 (top) have in common? What is preserved in the process of change? (50)

25. Summarize the two theories of elemental transformation that Heraclitus may have had in mind? (52)

26. What oscillation is being discussed toward the bottom of p. 53?

27. What are some reasonable interpretations of the soul fragments on p. 57 (57-58)

28. What problem does Hussey address on p. 58 (starting on line 6)? How does this relate to the Map paradox described near the bottom of p. 58?