Editing Heraclitus (section)

====Fire as symbolic====
However, it is also argued by many that Heraclitus never identified fire as the ''arche''; rather, he only used fire to explain his notion of flux, as the basic stuff which changes or moves the most.{{sfn|West|1971|pp=172–173}} Others conclude he used it as the physical form of ''logos''.{{sfn|Stokes|1961|pages=477–478}}

On yet another interpretation, Heraclitus is not a material monist explicating flux nor stability, but a revolutionary [[Process philosophy|process philosopher]] who chooses fire in an attempt to say there is no ''arche''. Fire is a symbol or metaphor for change, rather than the basic stuff which changes the most.{{sfn|Graham|1997|page=37}} Perspectives of this sort emphasize his statements on change such as "The way up is the way down",{{sfn|Graham|1997|page=40}}{{efn|name=Hippolyt60}} as well as the quote "All things are an exchange for Fire, and Fire for all things, even as wares for gold and gold for wares",{{efn|{{harvnb|Plutarch, On the E at Delphi|loc= B90}}}} which has been understood as stating that while all can be transformed into fire, not everything comes from fire, just as not everything comes from gold.{{sfn|Graham|1997|page=45}}