8/18/2019 Parmenides Poem on Nature (the Way of Truth)

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PARMENIDES OF ELEA 515?-450? BCE.

PARMENIDES seems to speak with somewhat more insight [than Xenophanes andMelissus] in arguing that what-isnot is nothing –– that there is nothing apart from what-is; he

necessarily thinks, then, that being is single and that nothing else exists. The “One” exists fromthe viewpoint of reason, but that a plurality exists from the viewpoint of the senses, andtherefore, in a volte-face, posits two causes and two first principles, hot and cold, by which he

means, for example, fire and earth. Of these he ranks the hot with what-is and the other with

what-is-not. (Aristotle, Metaphysics 986b27 – 987a2 Ross)

The way of truth (ἀλήθεια /alêtheia) 

‘Come then, I will tell you†–– and do you for your part listen to my tale

And pass it on –– of those ways of seeking which alone can bethought of.

There is the way that it is and it cannot not be:This is the path of Trust, for Truth attends it.† Then there is the way that it is not and that it must not be: 5

This, as I show you, is an altogether misguided route.

For you may not know what-is-not –– there is no end to it ––Nor may you tell of it.’ (F3 pieced together from: Proclus, Commentary on Plato’s ‘Timaeus’ 1.345 Diehl; andSimplicius, Commentary on Aristotle’s ‘Physics’ , CAG IX, 116.28 – 117.1 Diels) 

‘For the same thing both can be thought and can be.’ (F4 Clement, Miscell anies 6.23.3 Stählin/Früchtel)

‘It must be that what can be spoken and thought is, for it is there for  beingAnd there is no such thing as nothing. These are the guidelines I suggest for you.For I shall start my exposition to you first with this way of seeking,† 

And then go on to the one on which mortals, knowing nothing,

Stray† two-headed; for confusion in their breasts 5

Leads astray their thinking. On this way they journeyDeaf and blind, bewildered, indecisive herds,

In whose thinking being and not being are the same

And yet not the same. For all of them the path turns back on itself.’ (F5 pieced together from Simplicius, Commentary on Aristotle’s ‘Physics’ , CAG IX, 86.27 – 8

and 117.4 – 13 Diels)

‘Now only the one tale remains Of the way that it is. On this way† there are very many signs 

Indicating that what-is is unborn and imperishable,

Entire, alone of its kind,† unshaken, and complete.† 

It was not once nor will it be, since it is now, all together, 5Single, and continuous. For what birth could you seek for it?

How and from what did it grow? Neither† will I allow you to say 

8/18/2019 Parmenides Poem on Nature (the Way of Truth)

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Or to think that it grew from what-is-not, for that it is not

Cannot be spoken or thought. Also, what need could have impelled it

To arise later or sooner, if it sprang from an origin in nothing? 10And so it should either entirely be, or not be at all.

 Nor ever will the power of trust allow that from what-is† 

It becomes something other than itself. That is why Justice has not freed it,Relaxing the grip of her fetters, either to be born or to perish; No, she holds it fast. The decision on these matters depends on this: 15

 It is or it is not . And it has been decided, as was necessary,

To leave the one way unthought and nameless, as no real way,And that the other truly is a way and is truth-bearing.

And how could what-is be hereafter?† How could it have been? 

If it came to be, it is not, and likewise if it will be some time in the future. 20

Thus birth has been extinguished and perishing made inconceivable. Nor can it be divided, since all alike it is.† Nor is there 

More of it here and an inferior amount of it elsewhere,

Which would restrain it from cohering, but it is all full of what-is.And so it is all coherent, for what-is is in contact with what-is.* 25

 Now, changeless within the limits of great bonds,

It is without beginning and without end, since birth and perishing

Have been driven far off, and true trust has cast them away.It stays in the same state and in the same place, lying by itself,

And so it stays firmly as it is, for mighty Necessity 30

Holds it in the bonds of a limit which restrains it all about,Because it is not lawful for what-is to be incomplete.

For there is no lack in it; if there were, it would lack everything.

The same thing both can be thought and is that which enables thinking.

For you will not find thinking apart from what-is, on which it depends 35For its expression. For apart from what-is nothing else

Either is or will be, since what-is is what Fate bound

To be entire and changeless. Therefore all those things which mortal men,Trusting in their true reality, have proposed, are no more than names -

Both birth and perishing, both being and not being, 40

Change of place, and alteration of bright colouring. Now, since there is a last limit, what-is is complete,

From every side like the body of a well-rounded sphere,

Everywhere of equal intensity from the centre. For it must not be

Somewhat greater in one part and somewhat smaller in another. 45For, first, there is no such thing as what-is-not, to stop what-is

From joining up with itself; and, second, it is impossible for what-is

To be more here and less there than what-is, since it all inviolably is.

For from every direction it is equal to itself, and meets with limits.(Parmenides, Frg. 8 pieced together from Simplicius, Commentary on Aristotle’s‘Physics’ ,CAG IX, 145.1 – 146.25 and 38.30 – 39.9 Diels)