Editing Parmenides (section)

=== Cosmology ===
Parmenides developed a system defined by opposites, based on light and dark.{{Sfn|Vamvacas|2009|p=143}} Mortal perception of the world involves the shifting light and dark within a person, which creates subjective mortal opinions that can differ between individuals. This was the first philosophical model of how sensory perception relates to mental understanding.{{Sfn|Vamvacas|2009|p=144}} From the perspective of mortal opinions, each instance of opposites—such as hot and cold or male and female—are derived from the understanding of light and dark as distinct entities.{{Sfn|Vamvacas|2009|p=143}} Life and death are a shifting of one's soul from light to dark.{{Sfn|Vamvacas|2009|p=144}} In the mortal understanding, the exchange between light and dark is guided by a supreme power and blends the two to create different phenomena.{{Sfn|Vamvacas|2009|p=143}} The supreme power, personified by the Goddess, exists in the center of the universe.{{Sfn|Vamvacas|2009|p=144}} The existence of light and dark implies that Being and Nonbeing exist simultaneously. It is this contradiction that prevents mortals from understanding the true nature of Being.{{Sfn|Vamvacas|2009|p=143}} These mortal opinions allow the perception of time and change even though they do not exist under a divine understanding.{{Sfn|Vamvacas|2009|p=144}}