Parmenides
Parmenides was a philosopher who also dabbled in politics, and was born between 515 and 540 BC. It is unclear whether he chose to follow other philosophers schools of thought, thus making his writing completely his own. He only has one surviving work, a very long poem called On Nature, which has two parts: The Way of Truth and The Way of Opinion.
Parmenides is often credited as the “Father of Metaphysics”, because he was the earliest known philosopher to contemplate existence itself. His work signified a turning point in Greek philosophy; up until that point, all philosophy had been based in the physical realities of the world, whereas Parmenides took these theories a step further and used them to explain the nature of existence that humans can’t see.
He discussed paradoxes, reality, thought, perception, belief, nature, and opinion in his poem. He actually made many accurate arguments (one was that the moon only reflected the light of the sun, rather than casting its own light) but he wrote them in a way that made them seem unreliable. He also argued that change was impossible, that nothing really changed fundamentally, but instead only appeared to change.
Barnes, J., 1982, The Presocratic Philosophers, revised ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Parmenides is often credited as the “Father of Metaphysics”, because he was the earliest known philosopher to contemplate existence itself. His work signified a turning point in Greek philosophy; up until that point, all philosophy had been based in the physical realities of the world, whereas Parmenides took these theories a step further and used them to explain the nature of existence that humans can’t see.
He discussed paradoxes, reality, thought, perception, belief, nature, and opinion in his poem. He actually made many accurate arguments (one was that the moon only reflected the light of the sun, rather than casting its own light) but he wrote them in a way that made them seem unreliable. He also argued that change was impossible, that nothing really changed fundamentally, but instead only appeared to change.
Barnes, J., 1982, The Presocratic Philosophers, revised ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.