PARMENIDES by Elea: most important contributions

We are going to talk about one of the first philosophers in history and the most important pre-Socratics, Elea Parmenides (V-VI a. C.), whose philosophical thought has reached us 2500 after his death, thanks to philosophers like Plato or Diogenes.

He was the founder of the school of Elea (Greek colony of Italian Campania), the propeller of the theory of Being, of the monism and the initiator of the iscientific research. If you want to know more about the contributions Elea Parmenides, keep reading this lesson from a TEACHER We will explain everything to you!

Before studying the main contributions of Parmenides to philosophy, it is necessary to briefly explain the historical context in which our protagonist lived. In this way, it is believed that he was born around 530-515 BC. C. on Elea (Greek colony), within an aristocratic family and that intervened directly in the government of its city, collaborating in the elaboration of its laws.

Likewise, tradition also indicates him as the possible founder of the Eleatic philosophical school, as one of the

pre-Socratics more important, as a staunch opponent of the philosophical thought of Heraclitus, as a disciple of Xenophanes ofColophon or Aminias and follower of the Pythagoreans, although with time he ended up moving away from his postulates.

On the other hand, thanks to Plato, we know that he wrote only one work, About nature. A poem that is divided into two parts and in which exposes your thinking philosophical:

1. The way of truth and the way of falsehood: He tells us how, after having an encounter with the goddess of Truth, has a philosophical revelation. This is where we find much of his thinking: it is where he claims that the reason he brings us to the truth (what exists and is immutable) and exposes his idea of Be.
2. The way of opinion: He tells us what an erroneous and misleading cosmology is for him. That which is the result of unfounded opinions that do not lead to the truth.

Among the contributions of Parmenides, the following stand out:

Being as the basis of philosophy

Parmenides is the first to place Being as a fundamental element of philosophy and, from there, elaborates his thought. Thus, he differentiates between:

1. Being: It is the support of the universe (which has always existed), the only thing, what exists, the perfect, the immutable, the indivisible, the eternal and the perfect. Therefore, change, movement, becoming and multiplicity are impossible and do not exist, it would be non-being.
2. The Non-being: It is what does not exist, the unthinkable, the unreal and the impossible.

Promoter of materialistic monism

The monism (doctrine of the only thing), is a current of the pre-Socratic philosophy that establishes that the universe exists and comes from a single substance (arche). In this sense, as Parmenides affirms, the support and the basis of the universe is Being (the only true thing that he maintains, that has always existed that maintains a unity) outside of Being there is nothing and change is impossible.

Likewise, he affirms that this support is made up of matter and that, therefore, the way to find knowledge is in the material and in what exists. For this reason, Parmenides is considered one of the first materialists.

The path to knowledge: the supremacy of truth over opinion

Our protagonist was one of the first thinkers to talk about the way in which knowledge is reached. So for him, you could get through of two ways, of which one is the correct way and the other the wrong way:

• The right way, the truth: Knowledge is achieved through reason and leads us to true knowledge, despite the fact that it is a complex path to travel.
• The wrong way, the opinion: This path is based on the illusions generated by the senses and opinions, it is the one that leads us to a deceptive knowledge and acceptance of non-being, does not lead us to the truth and distances us from knowledge true.

Propeller of scientific research and reason

He was one of the first to establish that knowledge about something has to be carried out from a scientific vision: through research and rationally.

In this sense, he affirms that the correct way to arrive at knowledge is truth = reason, Leaving aside the mere assumption or opinion, that is, knowledge must have a foundation. In this way, the interpretation of the world and natural phenomena must be rational: what happens is because it has been generated by the human being and not by a divine entity.

The shape of the earth is spherical and has different climates

Some authors maintain that Parmenides was one of the first to affirm that the Earth was round and that it was heated differently, distinguishing five climatic areas:

• A hot area, practically uninhabited. Where the sun's rays strike perpendicularly all year round.
• Two very cold areas, practically uninhabited. Where the sun's rays strike obliquely throughout the year.
• A middle zone with a temperate climate (Hellas and the Mediterranean) and inhabited.