from Coursera course: Ancient Philosophy
Parmenides Argument: Is vs. Is Not
Parmenides argues that Change is unthinkable because we cannot talk about What is not.
- Change involves coming to be from what is not
- We cannot think about what is not
- Therefore, Change is unthinkable
Empedocles responds to the change within the Parmenides frame however, he and Naturalists distinguish IS and IS NOT into existential and predicative sense. For example, there is an apple (existential) and Apple is red (predicative).
For existential sense if IS, Parmenides argument and inference hold, however, for predicative sense, it does not by fallacy of equivocation.
- Change involves coming to be from what is not (predicative)
- We cannot think about what is not (existential)
- Therefore, Change is unthinkable (fallacy of equivocation)
Empedocles insists that the changes that occur in the cosmos are simply rearrangement or alterations on entities that have always existed
Naturalists Slogan:
“All generation is alternation”
Naturalists perspectives of constituents of the cosmos:
Empedocles: Air, earth, fire, and water are the roots of the cosmos and they are joined, compounded, or separated
Democritus and Leucippus: the full (atoms) and the empty (void); this is a bold statement against Parmenides however, the void is also in the sense of predicative.. is not full
New words:
Assent (expression to approval) : I assent to the argument\
Concede (admit something after first denying it): concede all the territories he won
