Single Idea 425

[catalogued under 2. Reason / B. Laws of Thought / 5. Opposites]

Full Idea

They do not understand how that which differs with itself is in agreement: harmony consists of opposing tensions, like that of the bow and the lyre.

Gist of Idea

A thing can have opposing tensions but be in harmony, like a lyre

Source

Heraclitus (fragments/reports [c.500 BCE], B051), quoted by Hippolytus - Refutation of All Heresies 9.9.2

Book Reference

'Ancilla to the Pre-Socratic Philosophers', ed/tr. Freeman,Kathleen [Harvard 1957], p.28


A Reaction

Like squabbling couples who resent outside intervention. The remark suggests the virtues of 'dialectic', and may get to the heart of what philosophy is.