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<p>
	The Presocratics:  Workshop II - The Eleatics and Heraclitus<p>
By Don Finkel<p>
<p>
Divide up into groups of four.  Work with people you don't know.  Place your
chairs so you form a little circle.  Discuss each of the following questions
and try to agree on an answer.  Appoint a scribe to be responsible for writing
down the group's answer to each question.  Everyone should take some notes of
what is going on; you can draw on the scribe's records afterwards to complete
your notes.  In addition, have one person keep an eye on the time so your group
moves the questions according to schedule.<p>
<p>
I.  <u>Eleatics</u> (50 mins.)<p>
<p>
Though the text treats Heraclitus before Parmenides and the Eleatics, in some
ways it makes better sense to consider him after the Eleatics.  That is what we
shall do.<p>
<p>
1.  According to Wheelwright, the Eleatic position can be summarized in two
somewhat staggering general propositions:  (1)  Being is one, and (2) Being is
unchanging.  Or as Parmenides puts it:  "Indeed, there is not anything at all
apart from being, because Fate has bound it together so as to be whole and
immovable.  Accordingly, all the usual notions that mortals accept and rely on
as if true--coming-to-be and perishing, being and not-being, change of place
and variegated shades of color--these are nothing more than names."  (F7(D)-p.
98)<p>
<p>
In a way, this position is not so far removed from Thales' claim that the first
principle of all things is water.  Explain the connection between Thales' claim
and Parmenides'.  In what way are they saying the same thing?  In what way are
they saying different things?  (10 mins.)<p>
<p>
2.  Now let us try to appreciate the kinds of argument that the Eleatics used
to support their conclusions.  Read Melissus F1 (p. 113); one person should
read it aloud while the others follow in their texts.  Paraphrase this argument
in your own words; see if you can make it convincing to each other.  (10
mins.)<p>
<p>
3.  Repeat the steps in question 2 above for section (D) of Melissus F7 on <p>
p. 115.  (10 mins.)<p>
<p>
4.  Can you take the Eleatic position and "make it good"?  This is a
challenging task, but try it.  (10 mins.)<p>
<p>
	(OVER)<p>
5.  (10 mins.)  Both the Milesians (Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes) and
the Eleatics force us to create a distinction between "appearance" and
"reality."  Ever since, this distinction has taken an unshakable grip on the
minds of Western thinkers.<p>
<p>
	(a) Is the distinction an important one in the world of the <u>Iliad</u>, the
world Homer created for us in that work?  <p>
<p>
	(b) If so, is it the same distinction, that the Presocratics are obsessed
with?  If not, why not?<p>
<p>
	(c) Try to imagine what it would be like living in world without the
presocratic version of this distinction.  Discuss what this might feel like.<p>
<p>
<p>
II.  <u>Heraclitus and the Problem of Change</u>  (55 mins.)<p>
<p>
1.  (15 mins.)<p>
<p>
	a.  The Eleatics are left with a problem:  How are they going to describe what
is going on when the candle is burning?  Discuss what you think they would say.
<p>
<p>
	b.  Read Melissus F8 (115-116), and see if that helps you.  Now what do you
think the Eleatics would say is going on when the candle is burning?<p>
<p>
2.  Heraclitus' thought is not easy to grasp.  Plato summarizes it by saying it
is Heraclitus' opinion "that all things move and nothing abides."  (p. 79)
Consider the following fragments listed below.  Read them all first and then
discuss them.  As best you can, try to summarize them as one coherent position.
(20 mins.)<p>
<p>
Fragments 20, 21, 23, 26, 33, 43, 45, 98, 110.  (pp. 70-78)<p>
<p>
3.  How would Heraclitus describe what is going on as the candle burns down to
"nothing"?  (5 mins.)<p>
<p>
4.  Consider Heraclitus as someone who appreciates the appeal of the Eleatic
position, but who wishes to pose an insurmountable problem for it to solve.
Formulate a statement of this problem.  Write it down in clear sentences which
you can present to the class.  Your written formulation should express both
sides: both his appreciation of the appeal of the Eleatic position and the
insurmountable problem it must confront.  We will discuss these as a whole
class. (15 mins.)<p>
<p>
<p>
III.  (15 mins.)<p>
<p>
	The whole class will reconvene to examine the formulations you came up with in
answer to the last question.  
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