A Critical Evaluation of Hegel's Reading of the Origin of Heraclitu's Doctrines

At the beginning of the modern period, German philosophy turned its eyes, more than to any other philosophical traditions, to Greek philosophy and borrowed its most fundamental principles from this school. This Hellenistic tradition in German philosophy, on the one hand, granted a new depth to these teachings and, on the other hand, resulted in some misunderstandings about Greek philosophy. This paper is intended to formulate one of the most well-known of such misunderstandings. This misunderstanding is rooted in the bases of Heraclitus’ teachings. Some ancient philosophers, such as Plato and Aristotle, who studied Heraclitus’ book, believed that the doctrine of motion was the basis of all his other doctrines. This was the case while Hegel, at a time when German modern philosophy was at its height of development, tried to bring his philosophy into harmony with Heraclitus’ doctrines. However, since it was impossible, he brought Heraclitus’ doctrines into harmony with the fundamental principles of his own philosophy. For example, he considered the basis of this early philosopher’s philosophy to be, not the doctrine of motion, but the identity of opposites. This reading of Hegel was soon accepted by some of researchers of Greek philosophy. In this paper, the writer has tried to demonstrate that a return to an ancient reading of the basis of Heraclitus’ philosophy is much more justified than accepting a Hegelian reading of the nature of its fundamental principles.