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Single Idea 416

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

Full Idea

That which is in opposition is in concert, and from things that differ comes the beautiful harmony.

Clarification

'In concert' means harmonious

Gist of Idea

Beautiful harmony comes from things that are in opposition to one another

Source

Heraclitus (fragments/reports [c.500 BCE], B008), quoted by Aristotle - Nicomachean Ethics 1155b04

Book Ref

'Ancilla to the Pre-Socratic Philosophers', ed/tr. Freeman,Kathleen [Harvard 1957], p.25

The 5 ideas with the same theme [concepts held to be totally opposed to each other]:

416 Beautiful harmony comes from things that are in opposition to one another [Heraclitus]
425 A thing can have opposing tensions but be in harmony, like a lyre [Heraclitus]
232 Opposites are as unlike as possible [Plato]
627 If everything is made of opposites, are the opposed things made of opposites? [Aristotle]
628 Not everything is composed of opposites; what, for example, is the opposite of matter? [Aristotle]