<p>Study Questions on The Presocratics, by Edward Hussey</p><p>Modified July 20, 2012</p><p>Chapter 3</p><p>1. Of what idea endemic in philosophy does Heraclitus seem to be the first exponent? (34 middle)</p><p>2. How do his utterances strike most people? (34, line 12)</p><p>3. What is the necessary beginning of any attempt to understand Heraclitus? (34 last full para.)</p><p>4. In what ways does he agree with the Milesians? (35)</p><p>5. How are philosophical views about God connected with concern about deceptive appearances? (35, second half of page)</p><p>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. </p><p>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.</p><p>7. What do we learn about Heraclitus’ understanding of the supreme deity? (36)</p><p>(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.)</p><p>8. What do we learn about Heraclitus’ view of wisdom from the fragments at the top of p. 37? </p><p>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.)</p><p>10. What points does H make about the beliefs and views of most human beings? (38)</p><p>11. With what being is true wisdom closely associated? What happens to a person as he or she becomes wiser? (39)</p><p>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.</p><p>14. What general point is being made by the fragments given on middle p. 41? How does the fourth differ from the first three?</p><p>15. What special point does the “road” fragment seem to be making? (42 top)</p><p>16. What point is fr. 88 making? (42)</p><p>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)</p><p>18. What basic notion is conveyed by the use of the word harmonie in Heraclitus? (43 </p><p>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)</p><p>20. One rough way of dividing philosophies is into unifiers and splitters. Where does Heraclitus fit? (46) </p><p>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)</p><p>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)</p><p>23. What is the significance of the “war” fragments? (48-49) How does “war” related to “justice”?</p><p>24. What do the three fragments at 49 (bottom) -50 (top) have in common? What is preserved in the process of change? (50)</p><p>25. Summarize the two theories of elemental transformation that Heraclitus may have had in mind? (52)</p><p>26. What oscillation is being discussed toward the bottom of p. 53?</p><p>27. What are some reasonable interpretations of the soul fragments on p. 57 (57-58)</p><p>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? </p>