Heraclitus is a formidable, presocratic philosopher who lived in Ephesus, an important Greek city in what is today's western Turkey.
The road that goes up is also the road that goes down; it is the same road. Facts such as these are what Heraclitus teaches, teaching people in quotable lines and paradoxes.
LOGOS: one of the terms that's central to interpretation of Heraclitus is that of LOGOS. Logos is a big, polysemous word, one that has a wide range of meaning and doesn't signify just one thing. Keep it in your back pocket that Logos means the word that's true and logical.
The word Logos is also found in the Bible:
In the beginning was the Word [Logos], and the Word [Logos] was with God, and the Word [Logos] was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. (John 1:1-4)
"You can't step into the same river twice," Heraclitus asserted. This statement of his, is interpreted in both literal and metaphorical sense.
Change itself is what makes the world what it is... That's the logos we, according to Heraclitus, failed to understand.
Heraclitus teaches that the world constantly changes; and that no two situations are exactly the same; and that change is the only constant.
Previous Posts
Absolutism Vs. Relativism, Which Side Are You On?
Mimetic Theory: Is This The Best Way To Understand The World?