Being and Becoming: Becoming by Being Essay

Pre-Socratic era was marked by periods from Thales of Miletus until that period when Socrates philosophy was yet to be born.   It was during this period when the fundamentals of science (both natural and social were being founded using scientific research and inquiry, and where philosophy and practical science were still married.   Sophos tried to understand and explain the origin, nature, elements, development and workings of the universe by way of argumentative reasoning, critical inquiry and justifications. Pre-Socratic philosophy was mainly characterized by its elements such as essence, change/absolute, harmony and its effort to understand the essential substance of a thing that caused its existence and the dynamic movement it undergoes (changes) to be known as what it is today.   Among the famous thinkers of this period were Thales, Heraclitus, Anaxagoras, Empedocles, Democritus and Parmenides. Whereas pre-Socratic philosophers have had formulated a common line of thought, disparity was inevitable.   Among the arguments that showed differences of the philosophy of that period was Parmenides’ theory of Being and Heraclitus’ theory of Becoming.   Heraclitus argued that the existence of everything was brought about by nothing and that it continuously exists through constant change or by undergoing a dynamic transformation.   What is more striking about the concept of change for Heraclitus is the concept of change within. According to him, it is that contradiction of elements/substance within the object that caused it to transform and that to cause its change, an external intervening need not to be imposed.   Accordingly, for Heraclitus, the world is a continuous struggle and strife, hence it needs change. In contrast, while the internal aspect of an existing element undergoes alterations, the process by which an element transforms is ever constant. Through the understanding of the nature of an element, Heraclitus recognized that the fixed states of being are all part of the varied state of perpetual becoming1.   In humans, the processes of giving birth, living, dying and rebirth are all changes that a person passes through.   However, such pattern is a never-ending cycle, after all.   What will â€Å"become† of a matter is a product of the dynamic development it subjects itself through a never ceasing rhythm. Contrary to Heraclitus’, while Parmenides likewise argued that an object exists because it does exist (that no other factor that may explain the causality of its existence), he failed to recognize if it ever underwent an evolutionary state, thus making it the â€Å"being† as it is today.   Because Parmenides believed – and apparently refuted Heraclitus – that the universe was already at the state of stability, why should it be basking on the process of modification? Everything is what it is because it is what it is and it cannot become what it is not. Both arguments are of much interest specifically in understanding how do we â€Å"become† or what make us came to â€Å"being†.   Later on during Plato’s time, both arguments could be reconciled by proposing that, what might â€Å"become† is caused by a â€Å"being†. However, unlike the foregoing arguments of Heraclitus’ and Parmenides, it is apparent that the reconciliation of the arguments were based on the thought that, indeed, there is a â€Å"first cause† that is never changing but rather causes the â€Å"second being† to become what it is today.   Note that both the initially mentioned thinkers do not believe on something that might have caused on object to exist. What could be more difficult in the understanding of this discourse is the process of analyzing concepts that flourished centuries apart and merging them into one critical explanation such that conflict resolution could be gained. References: __________. Philosophy Pages. In Britannica Internet Guide Selection. Retrieved April 11, 2008, from http://www.philosophypages.com/dy/p.htm#parm __________. (April 16, 2002). Pre-Socratic Era. Posted to http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=628825 Ballantyne, Paul F., Ph.D. History and Theory of Psychology: An Early 21st Century Student’s Perspective. (2008). Retrieved April 10, 2008, from www.comnet.ca/~pballan/section1(210).htm Goodman, Len E. (1992). Avicenna:Arabic Thought and Culture (pp 53-54). Routledge. Retrieved April 12, 2008, from http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=VJ6x-pcqMicC&pg=PA51&lpg=PA51&dq=resolving+the+argument+of+being+and+becoming&source=web&ots=gctA47HxTQ&sig=R0YNJ23QzZlvTpaLA5XclFgdKfY&hl=en#PPR5,M1 Rose, Jake. Being and Becoming. In Ezine Articles. Retrieved April 11, 2008, from http://ezinearticles.com/?Being-and-Becoming&id=148729