School of thought

Eleaticism

School

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Classification

Period
c. 515-430 BCE
Regions
europe
Domains
Logic , Metaphysics

Overview

The Eleatic school, founded by Parmenides in southern Italy, made the radical argument that reality is one, unchanging, and indivisible. Change and plurality are illusions of the senses; only reason reveals the truth. Zeno's famous paradoxes (Achilles and the Tortoise, the Arrow) were designed to defend this view by showing that motion and plurality lead to logical contradictions.

Key ideas

  • The Way of Truth: Parmenides argued that 'what is' must be eternal, unchanging, and one — for nothing can come from nothing, and being cannot become non-being.
  • Zeno's Paradoxes: Zeno crafted ingenious arguments showing that our common-sense notions of motion, space, and plurality lead to contradictions, defending Parmenides' monism.
  • Reason vs. Senses: The Eleatics established a fundamental distinction between the deliverances of reason (truth) and the appearances given by the senses (opinion).

Key figures

Parmenides · Zeno of Elea · Melissus

Methods used

Positions held

Influenced by

Later connections

  • Atomism Influenced by this tradition
  • Pluralists Influenced by this tradition
  • Sophism Reacted to this tradition

    Gorgias' On Not-Being turned rigorous Eleatic argument against Parmenides' conclusions — that nothing is, that if it is it cannot be known, and that if known it cannot be communicated.

  • Platonism Incorporated this tradition into a synthesis

References