Editing Heraclitus (section)

==Philosophy==
Heraclitus has been the subject of numerous interpretations. According to scholar Daniel W. Graham, Heraclitus has been seen as a "[[Material monism|material monist]] or a [[Process philosophy|process philosopher]]; a scientific [[cosmologist]], a [[Metaphysics|metaphysician]] and a religious thinker; an [[empiricism|empiricist]], a [[rationalism|rationalist]], a [[mysticism|mystic]]; a conventional thinker and a revolutionary; a developer of [[logic]] –&nbsp;one who denied the [[law of non-contradiction]]; the first genuine philosopher and an [[Anti-intellectualism|anti-intellectual]] [[Obscurantism|obscurantist]]".{{sfn|Graham|2019|loc=§1}}

=== Unity of opposites and flux ===
The hallmarks of Heraclitus's philosophy are the [[Unity of opposites|unity]] of [[Opposite (semantics)|opposites]] and change, or [[Impermanence|flux]].{{sfn|Graham|2019|loc=§3.1, 3.2}}{{sfn|Stokes|1961|page=478}} According to Aristotle, Heraclitus was a [[Dialetheism|dialetheist]], or one who denies the [[law of noncontradiction]] (a [[law of thought]] or logical principle which states that something cannot be true and false at the same time).<ref>Vieira, Celso. "Heraclitus, Change and Objective Contradictions in Aristotle's Metaphysics Γ" Rhizomata, vol. 10, no. 2, 2022, pp. 183–214. https://doi.org/10.1515/rhiz-2022-0012</ref><ref name=dliar/>{{efn|name=aris|{{harvnb| A7}}}} Also according to Aristotle, Heraclitus was a [[Materialism|materialist]].<ref name="metaxii">Aristotle. "M". ''Metaphysics'' 1078b</ref> Attempting to follow Aristotle's [[Hylomorphism|hylomorphic]] interpretation, scholar [[W. K. C. Guthrie]] interprets the distinction between flux and stability as one between [[matter]] and [[Substantial form|form]]. On this view, Heraclitus is a flux theorist because he is a materialist who believes matter always changes.<ref name="W" /> There are no unchanging forms like with Plato or Aristotle. As one author puts it, "Plato took flux as the greatest warning against materialism".<ref>Zhang, J. (2011). ''One and Many: A Comparative Study of Plato's Philosophy and Daoism Represented by Ge Hong''. Germany: University of Hawaii Press. p. 38</ref>

Several fragments seem to relate to the unity of opposites.{{sfn|Stokes|1961|p=478}} For example: "The straight and the crooked path of the [[Fulling|fuller]]'s comb is one and the same";{{efn|{{harvnb|Hippolytus|loc= B59}}}} "The way up is the way down";{{efn|name=Hippolyt60|{{harvnb|Hippolytus|loc= B60}}}} "Beginning and end, on a [[circle]]'s circumference, are common";{{efn|{{harvnb| B103}}}} and "Thou shouldst unite things whole and things not whole, that which tends to unite and that which tends to separate, the harmonious and the discordant; from all things arises the one, and from the one all things."{{Efn|{{harvnb|Pseudo-Aristotle, ''De Mundo''|loc=B10}}}}

Over time, the opposites change into each other:{{sfn|Graham|1997|page=9}}{{sfn|Graham|2008|p=175}} "Mortals are immortals and immortals are mortals, the one living the others' death and dying the others' life";{{efn|{{harvnb|Hippolytus|loc= B62}}}} "As the same thing in us is living and dead, waking and sleeping, young and old. For these things having changed around are those, and those in turn having changed around are these";{{efn|{{harvnb| B88}}}} and "Cold things warm up, the hot cools off, wet becomes dry, dry becomes wet."{{efn|{{harvnb| B126}}}}

It also seems they change into each other depending on one's [[Point of view (philosophy)|point of view]], a case of [[relativism]] or [[perspectivism]].{{sfn|Graham|1997|page=10}}<ref>Nakamura, H. (1992). A Comparative History of Ideas. India: Motilal Banarsidass. p. 170</ref> Heraclitus states: "Disease makes health sweet and good; hunger, satiety; toil, rest."{{efn|{{harvnb|Stobaeus|loc= B111}}}} While men drink and wash with water, [[fish]] prefer to drink saltwater, [[pig]]s prefer to wash in mud, and [[fowl]]s prefer to wash in dust.{{efn|{{harvnb|B13}}}}{{efn|{{harvnb|B37}}}}{{efn|{{harvnb|Hippolytus|loc= B61}}}} "[[Ox]]en are happy when they find bitter [[Vicia|vetches]] to eat"{{Efn|{{harvnb|B4}}}} and "[[Donkey|asses]] would rather have refuse than [[gold]]."{{Efn|{{harvnb|Aristotle, ''Nicomachean Ethics''|loc=B9}}}}

==== ''Panta rhei''<!--'Panta rhei (Heraclitus)' redirects here--> ====
{{Main|Panta rhei (doctrine)}}

Diogenes Laërtius summarizes Heraclitus's philosophy as follows: "All things come into being by conflict of opposites, and the sum of things ({{lang|grc|τὰ ὅλα}} ''ta hola'' ('the whole')) flows like a stream."{{efn|name=DiogLae}} Classicist [[Jonathan Barnes]] states that "'''''Panta rhei'''''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA-->, 'everything flows' is probably the most familiar of Heraclitus's sayings, yet few modern scholars think he said it".{{sfn|Barnes|1982|p=49}} Barnes observes that although the ''exact'' phrase was not ascribed to Heraclitus until the 6th century by [[Simplicius of Cilicia|Simplicius]], a similar saying expressing the same idea,{{sfn|Barnes|1982|p=49}} ''panta chorei'', or "everything moves" is ascribed to Heraclitus by Plato in the ''[[Cratylus (dialogue)|Cratylus]]''.{{efn|name=plato1}}

==== You cannot step into the same river twice ====
[[File:Kızılırmak River from Kapıkaya Köyü.jpg|thumb|The [[Halys River]], Turkey's longest. Heraclitus's theory of flux has been associated with the metaphor of a flowing river.]]
Since Plato, Heraclitus's theory of flux has been associated with the metaphor of a flowing river, which cannot be stepped into twice.{{sfn|Graham|2019|loc=§3.1}}{{efn|name=plato1|{{harvnb| A6}}}} This fragment from Heraclitus's writings has survived in three different forms:{{sfn|Barnes|1982|p=49}}
* "On those who step into the same rivers, different and different waters flow" – [[Arius Didymus]], quoted in [[Stobaeus]]{{Efn|{{harvnb| B12}}}}
* "We both step and do not step into the same river, we both are and are not" – [[Heraclitus (commentator)|Heraclitus Homericus]], ''Homeric Allegories''{{Efn|{{harvnb| B49a}}}}
* "It is not possible to step into the same river twice" – [[Plutarch]], ''On the E at Delphi''{{Efn|{{harvnb|Plutarch, On the E at Delphi|loc= B91}}}}

The classicist [[Karl Reinhardt (philologist)|Karl Reinhardt]] identified the first river quote as the genuine one.{{sfn|Graham|2019|loc=§3}}  The river fragments (especially the second "we both are and are not") seem to suggest not only is the river constantly changing, but we do as well, perhaps commenting on [[Existentialism|existential]] questions about humanity and personhood.{{sfn|Warren|2014|pp=72–74}}

Scholars such as Reinhardt also interpreted the metaphor as illustrating what is stable, rather than the usual interpretation of illustrating change.<ref>Parmenides, 206–207</ref> Classicist {{Ill|Karl-Martin Dietz|de}} has said: "You will not find anything, in which the river remains constant&nbsp;... Just the fact, that there is a particular river bed, that there is a source and an estuary etc. is something, that stays identical. And this is&nbsp;... the concept of a river."<ref>{{Cite book|title=Heraklit von Ephesus und die Entwicklung der Individualität|last=Dietz|first=Karl-Martin|publisher=Verlag Freies Geistesleben|year=2004|isbn=978-3772512735|location=Stuttgart|pages=60}}</ref> According to American philosopher [[Willard Van Orman Quine|W. V. O. Quine]], the river parable illustrates that the river is a process through time. One cannot step twice into the same river-stage.<ref>Quine, W. V. (1950). ''Identity, Ostension, and Hypostasis. The Journal of Philosophy, 47(22), 621.'' {{doi|10.2307/2021795}}</ref>

Professor [[M. M. McCabe]] has argued that the three statements on rivers should all be read as fragments from a discourse. McCabe suggests reading them as though they arose in succession. The three fragments "could be retained, and arranged in an argumentative sequence".{{sfn|McCabe|2015}} In McCabe's reading of the fragments, Heraclitus can be read as a philosopher capable of sustained [[argument]], rather than just [[aphorism]].{{sfn|McCabe|2015}}

==== Strife is justice ====
[[File:AstraeaVSH.JPG|thumb|[[Dike (mythology)|Dike]] depicted on the [[Vermont]] state house. Heraclitus considered strife fundamental to a just world.]]

Heraclitus said "strife is justice"{{efn|{{harvnb|Origen|loc= B80}}}} and "all things take place by strife".{{efn|name=ArisB8|{{harvnb|Aristotle, ''Nicomachean Ethics''|loc=B8}}}} He called the opposites in conflict {{lang|grc|ἔρις}} ({{transliteration|grc|eris}}), "[[Eris (mythology)|strife]]", and theorized that the apparently unitary state, {{lang|grc|δίκη}} ({{transliteration|grc|dikê}}), "[[Dike (mythology)|justice]]", results in "the most beautiful [[Harmonia (mythology)|harmony]]",{{efn|name=ArisB8}} in contrast to [[Anaximander]], who described the same as injustice.<ref name="Nietzsche" />{{sfn|Guthrie|1962|p=46}}<ref>Michael Gagarin (1974). Dike in Archaic Greek Thought. Classical Philology, 69(3), 186–197. {{doi|10.2307/268491}}</ref>

Aristotle said Heraclitus disagreed with Homer because Homer wished that strife would leave the world, which according to Heraclitus would destroy the world; "there would be no harmony without high and low notes, and no animals without male and female, which are opposites".{{efn|{{harvnb| A22}}}} It may also explain why he disagreed with the Pythagorean emphasis on harmony, but not on strife.<ref name="W">W. K. C. Guthrie "Pre-Socratic Philosophy" ''Cambridge Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' (1961) p. 443</ref>

Heraclitus suggests that the world and its various parts are kept together through the [[Tension (physics)|tension]] produced by the unity of opposites, like the string of a [[Bow and arrow|bow]] or a [[lyre]].<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/4182189|last=Snyder|first=Jane McIntosh|title=The Harmonia of Bow and Lyre in Heraclitus Fr. 51 (DK)|journal=Phronesis|volume=29|number=1|year=1984|pages=91–95|doi=10.1163/156852884X00201|jstor=4182189|access-date=June 9, 2023}}</ref>{{efn|{{harvnb|Hippolytus|loc= B51}}}} On one account, this is the earliest use of the concept of [[force]].<ref name="Cambridge Encyclopedia of Philosophy">Cambridge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Force, by M. Jammer (1961)</ref> A quote about the bow shows his appreciation for wordplay: "The bow's name is life, but its work is death."{{efn|{{harvnb| B48}}}}{{NoteTag|[[wikt:βιός|Biós]] with the accent on the O, is the Greek for "bow". [[wikt:βίος|Bίοs]] with the accent on the I, is the Greek for "life".}} Each substance contains its opposite, making for a continual circular exchange of generation, destruction, and motion that results in the stability of the world.{{sfn|Sandywell|1996|pp=263–265}}{{sfn|Graham|2008|pp=175–177}} This can be illustrated by the quote "Even the ''[[kykeon]]'' separates if it is not stirred."{{efn|{{harvnb| B125}}}}

According to Abraham Schoener: "War is the central principle in Heraclitus' thought."<ref>Schoener, Abraham (1993). Heraclitus on War. Dissertation, University of Toronto (Canada)</ref> Another of Heraclitus's famous sayings highlights the idea that the unity of opposites is also a conflict of opposites: "War is father of all and king of all; and some he manifested as gods, some as men; some he made slaves, some free";{{efn|{{harvnb|Hippolytus|loc= B53}}}} war is a creative tension that brings things into existence.{{sfn|Sandywell|1996|pp=263–265}}{{sfn|Curd|2020|loc= Xenophanes of Colophon and Heraclitus of Ephesus}} Heraclitus says further "Gods and men honour those slain in war";{{efn|{{harvnb|Clement, ''Stromateis''|loc=B24}}}} "Greater deaths gain greater portions";{{efn|{{harvnb|Clement, ''Stromateis''|loc=B25}}}} and "Every beast is tended by blows."{{efn|{{harvnb|Pseudo-Aristotle, ''De Mundo''|loc=B11}}}}

=== ''Logos'' ===
[[File:Logos.svg|thumb|[[Greek alphabet|Greek spelling]] of ''logos'']]
A core concept for Heraclitus is ''[[logos]]'', an ancient Greek word literally meaning "word, speech, discourse, or [[Meaning (philosophy)|meaning]]". For Heraclitus, the ''logos'' seems to designate the rational structure or ordered composition of the world.<ref name="Hoffman">Hoffman, David. (2006). Structural Logos in Heraclitus and the Sophists. Advances in the History of Rhetoric. 9. 1–32. {{doi|10.1080/15362426.2006.10557259}}.</ref>{{sfn|Kahn|1979|p=98}} As well as the opening quote of his book, one fragment reads: "Listening not to me but to the ''logos'', it is wise to agree (''homologein'') that all things are one."{{efn|name=Hippolyt50|{{harvnb|Hippolytus|loc= B50}}}} Another fragment reads: "[''[[hoi polloi]]''] ... do not know how to listen [to ''Logos''] or how to speak [the truth]."{{sfnm|1a1=Warren|1y=2014|1p=63|2a1=Sandywell|2y=1996|2p=237}}{{efn|{{harvnb|Clement, ''Stromateis''|loc= B19}}}}

The word ''logos'' has a wide variety of other uses, such that Heraclitus might have a different meaning of the word for each usage in his book. Kahn has argued that Heraclitus used the word in multiple senses,{{sfn|Kahn|1979|page=94}} whereas Guthrie has argued that there is no evidence Heraclitus used it in a way that was significantly different from that in which it was used by contemporaneous speakers of Greek.{{sfn|Guthrie|1962|p=419}}

Professor [[Michael Stokes (academic)|Michael Stokes]] interprets Heraclitus's use of ''logos'' as a public [[fact]] like a [[proposition]] or [[formula]]; like Guthrie, he views Heraclitus as a materialist, so he grants Heraclitus would not have considered these as [[Abstract object theory|abstract objects]] or [[Incorporeality|immaterial]] things.{{sfn|Guthrie|1962|p=46}}{{sfn|Stokes|1961|p=477–8}} Another possibility is the ''logos'' referred to the [[truth]], or to the book itself.<ref>[[Olof Gigon]], Untersuchungen Zu Heraklit, p. 4</ref>{{sfn|Kirk|1954|p=37}} Classicist [[Walther Kranz]] translated it as "[[Intension|sense]]".{{sfn|Kirk|1954|p=37}}

Heraclitus's ''logos'' doctrine may also be the origin of the doctrine of [[natural law]].<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.2307/2707978|jstor=2707978|title=Herakleitos and the Law of Nature|last1=Singh|first1=Raghuveer|journal=Journal of the History of Ideas|date=1963|volume=24|issue=4|pages=457–472}}</ref>{{sfn|Stokes|1961|p=480}} Heraclitus stated "People ought to fight to keep their law as to defend the city walls. For all human laws get nourishment from the one divine law."{{efn|name=stob114|{{harvnb|Stobaeus|loc=B114}}}} "Far from arguing like the latter Sophists, that the human law, because it is a conventional law, deserves to be abandoned in favor of the law of nature, Herakleitos argued that the human law partakes of the law of nature, which is at the same time a divine law."<ref>R. D. Ranade, 'Herakleitos' in Philosophical and Other Essays (Jamkhandi, 1956), 19–22.</ref>

=== Fire as the ''arche'' ===
{{See also|Classical element#Hellenistic philosophy}}
[[File:DancingFlames.jpg|thumb|220px|Heraclitus believed the cosmos "no god nor man did create, but it ever was and is and will be: ever-living fire".]]
The Milesians before Heraclitus had a view called [[material monism]] which conceived of certain elements as the ''arche'' – Thales with water, Anaximander with ''apeiron'', and Anaximenes with air. Since antiquity, philosophers have concluded that Heraclitus construed of fire as the ''arche'', the ultimate reality or the fundamental element that gave rise to the other elements.{{sfn|Graham|2019|loc=§3.3}}{{efn|{{harvnb| A5}}}}{{efn|name=aetA8|{{harvnb| A8}}}} Pre-Socratic scholar [[Eduard Zeller]] has argued that Heraclitus believed that heat in general and dry exhalation in particular, rather than visible fire, was the ''arche''.<ref>{{harvnb|Kahn|1979|page=147}}</ref> 
In one fragment, Heraclitus writes:

{{blockquote|This world-order (''[[Cosmos|kosmos]]''), the same for all, no god nor man did create, but it ever was and is and will be: ever-living fire, kindling in measures and being quenched in measures.{{efn|{{harvnb|Clement, ''Stromateis''|loc= B30}}}}}}

This is the oldest extant quote using ''kosmos'', or order, to mean the world.{{sfn|Graham|2019|loc=§4}}{{sfn|Vlastos|2022|p=134}} Heraclitus seems to say fire is the one thing eternal in the universe.{{sfn|Graham|2008|pp=170–172}} From fire all things originate and all things return again in a process of never-ending cycles.{{sfn|Graham|2008|pp=170–172}}  Plato and Aristotle attribute to Heraclitus a periodic destruction of the world by a great conflagration, known as ''ekpyrosis,'' which happens every [[Great Year]] – according to Plato, every 36,000 years.<ref name=ekpyro>Mondolfo, Rodolfo, and D. J. Allan. "Evidence of Plato and Aristotle Relating to the Ekpyrosis in Heraclitus." Phronesis, vol. 3, no. 2, 1958, pp. 75–82. {{JSTOR|4181631}}. Accessed 30 May 2024.</ref>

Heraclitus more than once describes the transformations to and from fire:

{{blockquote|Fire lives the death of earth, and air lives the death of fire; water lives the death of air, and earth that of water.{{efn|name=Aurel76|{{harvnb|Aurelius|loc= B76}}}}}}
{{blockquote|The turnings of fire: first sea, and of sea half is earth, half fireburst. [Earth] is liquefied as sea and measured into the same proportion as it had before it became earth.{{Efn|{{harvnb|Clement, ''Stromateis''|loc=B31}}}}}}

====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}}

=== Cosmology ===
While considered an ancient [[Cosmology|cosmologist]],<ref>Wiggins D. "Heraclitus' conceptions of flux, fire and material persistence." In: Schofield M, Nussbaum MC, eds. ''Language and Logos: Studies in Ancient Greek Philosophy Presented to G. E. L. Owen''. Cambridge University Press; 1982:1–32.</ref> Heraclitus did not seem as interested in [[astronomy]], [[meteorology]], or [[mathematics]] as his predecessors.{{sfn|Stokes|1961|p=479}} It is surmised Heraclitus believed that the [[Flat Earth|earth was flat]] and extended infinitely in all directions.{{sfn|Patrick|1889|page=32}}

Heraclitus held all things occur according to [[fate]].{{sfn|Kahn|1979|page=157}}{{efn|name=aetA8}} He said "Time (''[[Aion (deity)|Aion]]'') is a child playing [[Checkers|draughts]], the kingly power is a child's."{{efn|name=Hippolyt52}} It is disputed whether this means time and life is determined by [[Norm (philosophy)|rules]] like a [[game]], by conflict like a game, or by arbitrary whims of the gods like a child plays.<ref>Nagel, M. (2002). Masking the Abject: A Genealogy of Play. United Kingdom: Lexington Books. p. 18</ref>

==== Sun ====
Similar to his views on rivers, Heraclitus believed "the [[Sun]] is new each day."{{sfn|BardonDyke2015|p=26}}{{efn|{{harvnb|B6}}}} He also said the Sun never [[Sunset|sets]].<ref>Oudemans, Th C. W. (1992). De nooit ondergaande zon (Summary: The Never Setting Sun), p. 456. Tijdschrift Voor Filosofie 54 (3):424.</ref>{{efn|{{harvnb|B16}}}}  According to [[Bertrand Russell]], this was "obviously inspired by scientific reflection, and no doubt seemed to him to obviate the difficulty of understanding how the sun can work its way underground from west to east during the night".<ref name=mystic/> The physician [[Galen]] explains: "Heraclitus says that the sun is a burning mass, kindled at its rising, and quenched at its setting."<ref name="ancast">Lewis, G. C. (1862). An Historical Survey of the Astronomy of the Ancients. Kiribati: Parker, Son, and Bourn. p. 96-97</ref><ref>Galen, Historia philosopha 62</ref><ref>Fairbanks, A. (1898). The First Philosophers of Greece; an Edition and Translation of the Remaining Fragments of the Pre-Sokratic Philosophers, Together with a Translation of the More Important Accounts of Their Opinions Contained in the Early Epitomes of Their Works. United Kingdom: K. Paul, Trench, Trübner & Company, Limited. p. 61</ref>
[[File:Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 3710, col. ii 43-47 - fragment Heraclitus.jpg|thumb|upright=1.30|Heraclitus (named outlined in red) in a fragment of Oxyrhynchus Papyri discusses the Moon.]]
Heraclitus also believed that the Sun is as large as it looks,{{sfn|Patrick|1889|page=32}}{{Notetag|Literally, the width of a man's foot.{{efn|name=B3foot|{{harvnb|B3}}}}}} and said Hesiod "did not know [[night]] and [[day]], for they are one."{{efn|{{harvnb|Hippolytus|loc=B57}}}}  However, he also explained the phenomenon of day and night by if the Sun "oversteps his measures", then "[[Erinyes]], the ministers of Justice, will find him out".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=KaWGEAAAQBAJ Studies on the Derveni Papyrus] pp. 176–178</ref>{{efn|name=exile94|{{harvnb|B94}}}} Heraclitus further wrote the Sun is in charge of [[Season|the seasons]].{{efn|{{harvnb|B100}}}}

==== Moon ====
On one account, Heraclitus believed the Sun and [[Moon]] were [[bowl]]s containing fire, with [[lunar phase]]s explained by the turning of the bowl.{{sfn|Stokes|1961|p=479}}<ref name="ancast" />{{efn|{{harvnb|Aëtius|loc=A12}}}} His study of the moon near the end of the month is contained in one of the [[Oxyrhynchus Papyri]], a group of [[manuscript]]s found in an ancient [[landfill]].<ref>Oxyrhynchus Papyri LIII 3710 ii. 43–47 and iii. 7–11</ref> This is the best evidence of Heraclitean astronomy.{{sfn|Graham|2019|loc=§4, 8}}

=== God ===
[[File:Jupiter Smyrna Louvre Ma13.jpg|thumb|140px|Zeus hurls a thunderbolt.]]
Heraclitus said "[[thunderbolt]] steers all things",{{efn|{{harvnb|Hippolytus|loc=B64}}}} a rare comment on meteorology and likely a reference to [[Zeus]] as the supreme being.{{sfn|Graham|2019|loc=§4}}  Even his theology proves contradictory: "One being, the only wise one, would and would not be called by the name of Zeus."{{sfn|Graham|2019|loc=§4}}{{efn|{{harvnb|Clement, ''Stromateis''|loc=B32}}}} He invokes relativism with the divine too: God sees man the same way man sees children and apes;{{sfn|Stokes|1961|p=480}}{{Efn|{{harvnb|B83}}}}{{Efn|{{harvnb|Origen|loc=B79}}}} and he seems to give a [[theodicy]], "for god all things are fair and good and just, but men suppose that some are unjust and others just".{{sfn|Graham|2019|loc=§4}}{{efn|{{harvnb| B102}}}} Yet another interpretation for Heraclitus's use of fire is it refers to the sun god, [[Apollo]];<ref>Tor S. Heraclitus on Apollo’s Signs and his own: Contemplating oracles and philosophical inquiry. In: Eidinow E, Kindt J, Osborne R, eds. ''Theologies of Ancient Greek Religion''. Cambridge Classical Studies. Cambridge University Press; 2016:89-116.</ref><ref name=":0" /> "The lord whose oracle is in Delphi."{{efn|name=PythianO}} 

According to one writer, "When Heraclitus speaks of "God" he does not mean a single deity as an omnipotent and omniscient or God as Creator, the universe being eternal; he meant the divine as opposed to human, the immortal as opposed to the mortal, and the cyclical as opposed to the transient. Thus, it is arguably more accurate to speak of "the Divine" and not of "God".{{sfn|Wheelwright|1959|pages=69–73}}

In ''[[Parts of Animals]]'', Aristotle relays this story: "Heraclitus, when the strangers who came to visit him found him warming himself at the furnace in the kitchen and hesitated to go in, reported to have bidden them not to be afraid to enter, as even in that kitchen divinities were present, so we should venture on the study of every kind of animal without distaste; for each and all will reveal to us something natural and something beautiful."<ref>Gregoric, Pavel (2001). The Heraclitus Anecdote. Ancient Philosophy 21 (1):73–85.</ref>{{efn|{{harvnb| A9}}}}{{Notetag|The same story is told with variation in [[John Wilkins]]' [[Mathematical Magick]].<ref>Wilkins, J. (1680). Mathematical Magick. United Kingdom: E.Gellibrand.</ref>}}

The phrase ἦθος ἀνθρώπῳ δαίμων (''ethos anthropoi daimon'') is attributed to Heraclitus. It is variously translated as "a man's character is his fate", "character is destiny", or perhaps most literally as "a man's character is his guardian divinity."<ref>[https://dspace.ashoka.edu.in/bitstream/123456789/5182/1/9781472598394.pdf Plato's Symposium: A Reader's Guide] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230613060251/https://dspace.ashoka.edu.in/bitstream/123456789/5182/1/9781472598394.pdf |date=2023-06-13 }} by. Thomas L Cooksey, p. 69</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Geldard|first=Richard G.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5JyenUVsQC4C|title=Remembering Heraclitus|year=2000|publisher=Richard Geldard|isbn=9780940262980}}</ref><ref>Darcus, Shirley. "'Daimon' as a Force Shaping 'Ethos' in Heraclitus." Phoenix, vol. 28, no. 4, 1974, pp. 390–407. {{doi|10.2307/1087545}}. Accessed 12 June 2024.</ref>{{NoteTag|A quotation on [[karma]] from the ''[[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]'' seems to express a similar sentiment: "As your will is, so is your deed. As your deed is, so is your destiny."<ref>[[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]], 4.4.5</ref>}} The word ''[[ethos]]'' means "character", while ''[[daimon]]'' has various meanings, one of which being "the power controlling the destiny of individuals: hence, one's lot or fortune."<ref>{{cite web|title=Daimon|website=perseus.tufts.edu|via=A Greek–English Lexicon|url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=dai/mwn}}</ref>

=== The Soul ===
Heraclitus believed the [[soul]] (''[[Psyche (psychology)|psyche]]'') was complex, stating: "The limits of the soul you could not discover, though traversing every path."<ref>Betegh, Gabor. The Limits of the Soul: Heraclitus B45. Its text and interpretation E. Hülsz (ed.), Nuevos ensayos sobre Heráclito, Mexico City, 2009, 391–414.</ref>{{efn|{{harvnb|Diogenes Laërtius|loc= B45}}}} Heraclitus regarded the soul as a mixture of fire and water, and believed that fire was the noble part of the soul and water the ignoble part.{{efn|name=B36}} He considered mastery of one's worldly desires to be a noble pursuit that purified the soul's fire,{{sfn|Hussey|1999|p=111}} while [[Alcohol intoxication|drunkenness]] damages the soul by causing it to be moist.{{efn|{{harvnb|Stobaeus|loc= B117}}}}{{efn|name=B77}}{{efn|name=drysoul|{{harvnb|Stobaeus|loc= B118}}}} Heraclitus seems to advise against anger: "It is hard to fight with anger, for what it wants it buys at the price of the soul."<ref>Mansfeld, J. (1992). Heraclitus FR. B 85 DK. Mnemosyne, 45(1), 9–18. {{doi|10.1163/1568525X-90000002}}</ref>{{efn|{{harvnb|B85}}}}

Heraclitus associates being awake with comprehension;<ref name=robb /> as Sextus Empiricus explains "It is by drawing in this divine reason in [[Respiration (physiology)|respiration]] that we become endowed with [[mind]] and in sleep we become forgetful, but in waking we regain our [[sense]]s. For in sleep the passages of [[perception]] are shut, and hence the mind&nbsp;... the only thing preserved is the connection through [[breathing]]."<ref>Betegh, Gábor. "On the Physical Aspect of Heraclitus' Psychology." Phronesis, vol. 52, no. 1, 2007, pp. 3–32. {{JSTOR|4182822}}. Accessed 8 June 2024.</ref>{{efn|name=a16}} Heraclitus stated: "If all things should become [[smoke]], then perception would be by the nostrils".{{efn|{{harvnb|B7}}}}
[[File:A classic circular form spider's web.jpg|thumb|150px|Heraclitus compares the soul to a spider and the body to the web.]]
Heraclitus compares the soul to a [[spider]] and the body to the [[Spider web|web]].{{efn|{{harvnb|B67a}}}} Heraclitus believed the soul is what unifies the body and also what grants linguistic understanding, departing from Homer's conception of it as merely the [[Pneuma|breath of life]].<ref>Martha C. Nussbaum (1972). ΨΥΧΗ in Heraclitus, I. Phronesis, 17(1), 1–16.</ref><ref name="Nussbaum">Nussbaum, Martha C. "ΨΥΧΗ in Heraclitus, II." Phronesis, vol. 17, no. 2, 1972, pp. 153–170. {{JSTOR|4181882}}. Accessed 18 June 2023.</ref> Heraclitus ridicules Homer's conception of souls in the afterlife as [[Shade (mythology)|shades]] by saying "Souls smell in [[Greek underworld|Hades]]".{{efn|{{harvnb|B98}}}}{{NoteTag|As [[Martha Nussbaum]] explains, Heraclitus may be asking "How can breath itself sniff?"<ref name="Nussbaum" />}} His own views on the afterlife remain unclear,{{sfn|Stokes|1961|p=479}} but Heraclitus did state: "There await men after they are dead things which they do not expect or imagine."{{Efn|{{harvnb|Clement, ''Stromateis''|loc=B27}}}}

The Aristotelian tradition is responsible for a great part of the transmission of Heraclitus's physical conception of the soul.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sánchez Castro|first1=Liliana Carolina|url=https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004443358_014|title=The Aristotelian Reception of Heraclitus' Conception of the Soul|date=2021|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-44335-8|pages=377–403|doi=10.1163/9789004443358_014}}</ref> Aristotle wrote in ''[[On the Soul|De Anima]]'': "Heraclitus too says that the first principle—the 'warm exhalation' of which, according to him, everything else is composed—is soul; further, that this exhalation is most incorporeal and in ceaseless flux".{{efn|{{harvnb| A15}}}}