Page:Ferrier Works vol 2 1888 LECTURES IN GREEK PHILOSOPHY.pdf/177

122, or more difficult to arrest at any one stage, than it now is, when it occupies a thousand years. As is the growth of the oak tree, so, according to Heraclitus, is the growth of the universe. It is a process which is for ever ending, and for ever being renewed.

15. These considerations lead me to call your attention to some points of contrast between the philosophy of Heraclitus and that of the Eleatic school. In the opinion of the Eleatics, the truth of the universe, in so far as it is true, is Being, fixed and abiding Being. This they say it is in the estimation of reason. To the senses, indeed, it is ever changing. But the report of the senses is not to be trusted. They do not reveal to us the real truth, that is, truth for all, but only the apparent truth, that is, the truth for some intellect. So say the Eleatics.

16. The position of Heraclitus is diametrically the opposite of this. In his opinion, the truth of the universe is not Being but Becoming. It is not a fixed and abiding existence, but a fluxional and ever-changing process. This it is in the estimation of reason. To the senses, indeed, it appears, or much of it appears, to be permanent and at rest. The process of Becoming seems frequently to the senses to have made a pause, and to have subsided into Being. But the report of the senses is not to be trusted, they are bad evidence of the truth. They mistake for Being what