Heraclitus

Heraclitus was born in the town of Ephesus and is said to have forfeited his rights to the social position which he bestowed on him (probably royalty) in place of his brother. The available evidence for his health is so small that a clear picture can be produced. He is a solitary figure who claims to have sought the truth within himself, and although his work shows some familiarity with the writings of other philosophers, especially those of Anaximander, both his unique ideas and his unique writing style have set him apart. Heraclitus instructs men to learn the state of the universe by understanding their own souls and is regarded as the first philosopher of psychology. Language and precise thought are very important to him, because he remembers logs as both a universal context and a soul's expression upon it. Since the truth is complex and difficult to understand, he uses Delphi's fantastic style and simply hopes to "show" the truth. He is important as one of the first Greek philosophers to take up the problem of knowledge, and is undoubtedly the first to emphasize the importance of the understanding of the soul as a step towards understanding the order of the outer world. His writing provided many reasons for the Stoic foundation.