Timkang, Jensie Kai

BSAC-III
Philo-E
6/16/14
A Reflection Paper
Due to humanity's undying curiosity, various philosophical theories concerning
the source of everything has been concluded, but still conducting explorations for
another sound perception. This never-ending task was led by the great pioneers of
wisdom specifically during pre-Socratic era. The majority of ancient philosophers utilizes
the four elements of nature as the subject/s of their study. One of these elements is
used by my chosen philosopher. And this is Fire. But before expanding it further on how
it relates to life, I will first give a brief introduction of my paper.
Permanence is illusory. Everything regardless of nature, person, thing, or any
kind of situation diverge from one form to another. Through change, a new beginning is
established. This is only one of my interpretation of the fragments given by the well-
known, obscure and weeping philosopher, Heraclitus. He is said to be an obscure
philosopher due to his unclear ideas regarding the "stuff" out of which all is made and
only a few of his original works were found and most were deciphered by another
theorist. Heraclituss justification is indeed quite vague and difficult to comprehend
because of somewhat contradicting quotations like No man ever steps in the same river
twice and the path up and down are one and the same. This led me into a deeper
understanding to bind with certain circumstances of reality that coincide with Heraclitus
thoughts.
"The death of fire is the birth of air, and the death of air is the birth of water." This
is the transformation of the Greek writings of Heraclitus. Heraclitus mentioned that one
fundamental stuff that best explain the concept of arche(source) is fire. He considered
that fire conceives other elements and led to the conclusion that it is also the origin of
other things. He also indicated that soul as a mixture of water and fire, with fire being
principal of the soul while the water is the inferior part. Hence, Heraclitus concluded that
a dry soul is more preferred having more full of fire and less of water. In this it can be
inferred that the noble pursuit to purify the souls fire is to master the attainment of its
desire. Bringing back the subject, Fire is the product of energy, a scientific change,
where it brings to another dimension due to the intense heat produced by the scientific
activity between matters. Fire supplement the idea of Heraclitus that nothing remains
permanent like fire which only exist in a period of time or depending upon the
circumstances, if the wind is strong or if some water was thrown into it. It is never a
stable element unlike water and air. It dies after its consumption that produce only dust
and smoke. In application, fire can be exemplified by love, hatred, anger, depression, or
shame. It is the fuel of life that starts the engine running. Like fire, our intense feelings,
emotions and thoughts urge us to embark a new way of living. Everything is rooted from
one way and another. Like what Plato paraphrased from Heraclitus philosophies,
nothing ever is, everything is becoming. Heraclitus also pointed out that nothing
remains still in which no person will step the same river twice. Change is inevitable. This
is evident in some important scenario in reality. The value of the money changes due to
inflation that creates a new standard prices of the products in a certain country. It will
also lead to a recession or expansion of the economy. Even in a simple event like
changes in the period of time. Time is a primary factor why prior situations are almost
distinctive with that of the present. Through the passage of time, people begin to age
through the appearance wrinkles on their faces and other unusual physical changes yet
a highly matured thinking is developed. The change of residence is another good
example. Migrating into another country or city to live in for some period of time tend to
build another lifestyle suited for the society you belong. You allow yourself to diverge a
new customs and traditions, norms and beliefs. Transferring schools also create a new
set of knowledge, values, and peers. There are still many situations in reality that helps
to justify Heraclitus theory, but for now these would be sufficient.
The reason why I chose Heraclitus is because his ideas is close to reality. The
source of everything is changing. We change for certain purposes because life offers us
discontentment. I think change is the core of his theory and the fire is only an example
to accompany his theory. To sum it all, again, due to the endless curiosity of human
beings, more and more things are invented through collaboration of the hands and
brains of men. Thus, change is mainstream since at the birth of the universe,