The Origins of Metaphysics - How Parmenides was the First and Last Prophet of the One Being
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- Опубліковано 20 лип 2023
- The earliest metaphysical speculation was concerned with what was it that persisted through time and change. Perhaps the most radical answer ever given to to this question was to reject the very concept of change itself. Parmenides would argue that Being alone exists and that Truth was to think the One and only the One. In his a poem revealed to him by a Goddess in the House of Night, he would effectively would effectively invent Western Metaphysics and Logic. In that now fragmentary text his revelation would detail how Being alone is real with change, time and the world of sensation being mere illusions. Indeed, Parmenides may have been the first and last philosopher of pure being with all hitherto western metaphysics being a betrayal of Thinking Being, a willing amnesia of Truth itself.
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#metaphysics #philosophy #parmenides
Recommended Readings:
Austin, Scott. Parmenides: Being, Bounds, and Logic. New Haven: Yale, 1986.
Kirk, G.S., Raven, J.E., Schofield, M. The Presocratic Philosophers. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge, 2011.
Sider, David, and Henry W. Johnstone, Jr. The Fragments of Parmenides. Bryn Mawr Commentaries. Bryn Mawr: Bryn Mawr College, 1986.
Tarán, Leonardo. Parmenides. New Jersey: Princeton, 1965.
Curd, Patricia. The Legacy of Parmenides. New Jersey: Princeton, 1998.
Kingsley, Peter. Reality. Inverness: Golden Sufi Center, 2003.
Lewis, Frank A. “Parmenides’ Modal Fallacy,” Phronesis 54 (2009): 1-8.
McKirahan, Richard D. Philosophy Before Socrates: An Introduction with Texts and Commentaries. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1994.
Mourelatos, Alexander P. D. The Route of Parmenides: Revised and Expanded Edition. Las Vegas: Parmenides, 2008.
Nehamas, Alexander. “On Parmenides’ Three Ways of Inquiry.” Deucalion 33/34 (1981): 97-111.
Owen, G. E. L. “Eleatic Questions.” The Classics Quarterly 10.1 (1960): 84-102.
Reeve, C.D.C, and Patrick Lee Miller, eds. Introductory Readings in Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2006.
Of course, anything by Heidegger on Parmenides. Good luck, though.
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10:45 Just like Descartes and his mystical dreams that gave birth to "la raison". Also, the whole ascent/descent and a chariot, does not remind you of Mer................?
Again, cogito ergo sum 13:49, Descartes......so odd, Thinking IS being.
in philosophy grad school i convinced a professor to do a one-on-one reading course with him on Heidegger's Parmenides. im a Heidegger nerd and also a Parmenides and Heraclitus nerd
Nice TIL to consider with PBS Space Time shows like
Is The Wave Function The Building Block of Reality? or The One-Electron Universe | Space Time
Hey, your merch link is broken and has been for as long as I've been following the channel - you might have missed out on quite a sizeable sum because of this. Is the creator-spring Esoterica store yours? Because I'd absolutely be willing to get some of those badass metal looking shirts.
This is definitely one of your more difficult episodes, if not the most difficult one I've watched. I appreciate the effort you put into translating the argument into formal modal logic. I also appreciate the discussion of the issues surrounding existential predication, which definitely requires multiple rewatches. Your channel is on esoteric topics but I don't think anyone on UA-cam is really doing philosophy like you do. Thank you!
It's tough but I think the formalization of the argument helps to see it's strengths and weaknesses. FWIW, I don't think it's sound but is valid.
Everything is difficult at first. Russell's 'History of Western Philosophy'' is imperfect in many ways - the chapter on Nietzsche is scandalously bad - BUT it is really useful for getting a sense of ''the big picture''. Even for post-docs its worth re-visiting if you want a quick, fairly clear and (usually) accurate rap-sheet. After dipping into that, the Stanford online Encyclopedia of Philosophy is the next port of call.
@@markdpricemusic1574 Stanford's Encyclopedia is great resource! Philosophy should be proud to have it!
@zacharycurrie3708 Just wait till the Encyclopedia Hermetica comes out.... in 20 to 30 years....
Ever read Plato's Parmenides? It's unusual for having the character Socrates as a learner, & Parmenides in the role Socrates usually plays. I think it's the densest, hardest to read of all Plato's dialogues.
"The Goddess in the House of Night" would be an excellent title for a prog-rock album, and it would go well with the right kind and quantity of drugs to make Parmenides' revelation make sense.
That was great fun.
Definitely getting prog vibes !
I'm gonna have to review the lyrics of Blue Oyster Cult's "Spy in the House of the Night" to see if Sandy Perlman was referencing Parmenides... I wouldn't put it past him.
@@lavnlvas Haha, i thought just the same.
You don’t need drugs look up Theoria Apophasis metaphysics he explains everything with simplex hyper rationality which is the way it’s supposed to be understood it’s the opposite of complex
As a rock music title it sounds like a reference to a brothel experience.
You had me from “deep introverted meditation.”
Definitely, that hit me hard..
Parminides is BY FAR the most penetrating person of the ancient world. I become almost giddy every time someone discusses him. Because it seems as if no one does. And he embodies, paradoxically, the treatment which the goddess herself endures: Ignorance by “being” ignored. God and Goddess are one. Night and Day are one. The one defines the other, without the other there is nothing to define. As Lao Tzu has said, “Naming is the origin of all particular things.” Excellent, Dr. Sledge. Excellent.
Absolutely ❤
What a beautiful comment. I thank you for writing it so that I shouldn’t have to repeat it in a less eloquent manner.
@@ruthbennett7563
Strictly speaking, if he hadn't written it, you wouldn't be repeating.
I totally don’t get it and very much want to. Is Parmenides right ? Can that be demonstrated?
@@charlesedwards5333 Your desire whether to probe and ask if he was right will carry you a long way. I will try to find an excellent video that may help you.
First time I'm proud of understanding 10% of a video
Same. I really enjoyed not understanding it.
that means progress!
I will have to rewatch this
i can not stop rewatching, this was really cool !
Sometimes I dream of works being discovered in places like Herculaneum and we can read lost works of Heraclitus or Parmenades
I just can’t keep up with how good this channel is. Kudos to you Justin
What a great episode, food for thoughts galore, thanks Justin
Many thanks, friend!
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.
Based
Well thank you Dr. Justin for bending my mind into a pretzel with this one. I've come to expect nothing less from your presentations. That's why I love them so. But this one takes the cake, and it may take weeks to work the kinks out. Or maybe I will just think this is the being and ruminate on the truth of that.
I always love your videos, but this is by far my new favourite.
"the thinking of Being had become a scandal, an ontological horror" !
I've felt that horror contemplating being and I loved hearing it in your words.
Your prose are unparalleled.
It’s as if consciousness became aware of its own consciousness, or the like 😊
(Please excuse my humor. The impulse couldn’t be helped.)
This is truly one of his best lectures… which is certainly an accomplishment ❤
an Awesome discourse Dr. Sledge. Thank you very much for the food for (additional) Thought. Unti next time, Have a Great day
This is by far my favorite episode. I absolutely love the topic of Parmenides' thought. You did such an excellent job covering this topic.
I just got done reading a book about Plotinus and the Presocratics and wanted to share a related take: Plotinus read Parmenides' Being as the Plotinian Nous.
are you asserting that Plotinus did indeed read Parmenides' Being as the Plotinian Nous? or just suggesting that possible interpretation of Parmenides?
@Robb3348
I've taken the concept as described in the book "Plotinus and the Presocratics" by Giannis Stamatellos. Here's an excerpt from which I derived my comment.
"In particular, Parmenides’ ontology and terminology are in the background of Plotinus’ metaphysics of Intellect, the Second Hypostasis of Being, and Plotinus acknowledges Parmenides as the Presocratic philosopher who introduced the intelligibility, oneness, unity, indestructibility, uniqueness, impassability, and eternal timelessness of Being. Plotinus is not only aware of and uses Parmenides’ terminology and concepts but also interprets, systematizes, and develops his Eleatic philosophy within the context of his own Neoplatonic system. It is significant that Plotinus de-parts from the traditional philosophical line of Parmenides and the post-Parmenidean thinkers on the priority of Being and the denial of its creation from non-Being. Within Plotinus’ system of the three Hypostases, Being is secondarily produced from the One, which is frequently expressed as non-Being in terms of its supra-transcendence beyond Being and Intelligence"
My wife and I love your videos, but this one in particular was our jam!
You have my vote and my gratitude.
Sincerely,
An appreciative scholar
I've been binging this channel and I love how these videos are so well thought out. Thank you for making content like this readily available and enjoyable!
I especially enjoy that you use the word "comprise" correctly. I will contribute to your weird channel.
Oh, this one is superb!
Thanks Doc! ❤
Excellent episode - very engaging, thank you!
The new visuals for the intro look so classy.
Great episode, as always. And quite a mind-boggler, too. Thank you for that!
When I was a teenager and after a profound reality shattering experience - hash oil assisted - I would swear I was channeling the same disorienting message on reality as Parmenides. Deeper and deeper down the proverbial rabbit hole and I couldn't shut up about it. It went on for weeks. My parents were so frightened by this they brought me to the hospital where the friendly psychiatrist sedated and drugged back into correct think. I pretended to cooperate and believe them but there was no going back. I wish I could repeat what I experienced/knew but it was somehow both terrifying and liberating. It also felt obvious. I am sure others know what I am talking about.
Yep. Had a simmilar experience with edibles. Threw me into a deep existential crisis for months.
I mentioned my experience (one of them anyway) in a separate comment. You might check it out. *No drugs involved in mine tho. Brain injury instead. And mine lasted on and off for over a year.
I've had some similar psychedelic assisted experiences. You really can't explain it sufficiently to most people who haven't felt it. At least I can't. Parmenides did a pretty good job. My life really has never been the same, for the better. Existence means something completely new to me now.
I've had a similar religious experience although it didn't last nearly as long since it was just a light meditative trance and not aided by medication or anything, but watching this video reminded me of that state of thinking and I'm considering learning how to meditate a little bit fuller until mind altering with assistance is more feasible with my situation as I might be prone to full blown psychosis lmao
We have a type of familial TLE epilepsy, and so I have had multiple experiences like this throughout my life - both in provoked and unprovoked trance states as a child, then later with psychoactive assistance during college, and several times after that during OBEs and finally now I can get there with deep meditation. It can absolutely lead to prolonged existential crisis, if one isn't careful or emotionally regulated, but I've learned to be thankful for my rather slippery conscious awareness. Paired with a sharp academic mind/focus and careful attention to maintaining mind/body balance, it can be a wonderful tool for accessing greater meta-physical awareness. People will still look at you crazy if you start trying to explain the toroidal universe, but who cares. 😂❤️
This is interesting philosophy. The Hindus and Taoists have similarly complicated thoughts about who is thinking the thought? What is feeling the feelings? Are the feelings just feeling and the thoughts just thinking? Wonderful episode! Thanks, Justin.
That's what I was thinking, a lot of these ideas are explored in Taoism, in fact it almost sounds like he is trying to explain the Tao in a sense. However he does mentions in the video that this was the first time these thoughts were explored in the West. Wonderful video though
@@Tolu349 That is because Parmenidean Ontology and Metaphysics is actually an expression of Dialectical Monism, just as Taoist philosophy and Advaita Vedanta are expressions of Dialectical Monism. The main and significant difference between Parmenides and all other philsophers, mystics, and spiritual teachers is that he used Logic and Pure Reason to demonstrate how his conclusions for Dialectical Monism are Logically Irrefutable.
@@thatchinaboi1Yes it is a perennial philosophy/religion found all across the world
Ask a neuroscientist instead sometime.
The Vedanta.
Bravo Dr.Sledge, excellent episode!
One of your best videos yet ... Thumbs UP !
Thanks for this episode. I read the Kingsley book you mentioned a few years back and was mostly lost - I will try it again after rewatching your video and reading other stuff on your reading list.
This just cracked my dome. 👍
One of your best episodes. The type of content I like. Thanks Justin.
Thanks for all your great work and dedication, I found your channel a couple of months ago and have seen at least 99 hours of your content since (I really did the math to be sure).
I have come to understand a lot of things both past and present thanks to you, I'm really grateful!
mind blowing. The way you narrated this was chilling. Thank you
@TheEsotericaChannel
I appreciate the time and effort you put into these videos, Justin. They are concise, academic, clear and interesting. In 2011, when I started studying the history of western esotericism out of the blue (I also went to the University of Amsterdam for that), it wasn't easy to find my way around, since there is so much 'background noice', if I may say so. Finding accessible and reliable information was somewhat of a challenge. In that regard, you are making a difference.
This is once again fascinating and thought provoking, many thanks. On the other hand, there goes the weekend again as you lead me down the path of research!
im a nerd for Heideggers Parmenides
Congratulations, this is one of your very best!
Thank you for all of your amazing, fascinating content.
Another phenomenal video, I like the ones where are you really push the boat out. This is one of them. Bravo.
Wonderful episode! Perhaps it's time for Heraclitus? 👀
hngggg though as a Heidegger guy i think both Herry and Parry both accept the unity of opposites. i read process metaphysics into it, to be frank
I'm so glad I found this channel
YAY so happy you're doing this
One of your best episodes!!
Dr. Sledge. Thank you so much for your learned and (at times) hilarious insight into the complexities of Parmenides' philosophy. The necessary verbal gymnastics alone made me chuckle. Even so, I was most impressed by your encapsulation of the arguments and issues involved.
The fascination in this kind of logos, that thought is being, and as you mentioned that translating of his work inherently establishes it in a different context. Our languages fundamentally effect how we think, not our thinking ability, but it organizs the way we think which can lead to very specific outcomes unique to different cultures. Like the many ways of translating and interpretting Wang Wei's 'Deer Park' poem.
Language contextualizes thought, but in that very process can limit how we can think. Or expand it.
Cultures with languages with many unique words for similar shades of what we call the same color, are inherently better at recognizing those various shades and hues compared to those of languages without that benefit.
And cultures which think in cardinal directionality rather than relative directionality like the Guuguu Yimithirr people of Australia, have a stronger innate sense of direction, we when indoors.
This kind of thing really makes me desperately want to learn all the languages. I need to UNDERSTAND lol
My dad used to say this about when he was learning Russian and how difficult it was to think in it.
What you are talking about is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which has been disproven imo
Man, I feel like I just jumped in the deep-end of the pool without understanding anything about swimming, water, or breathing.
This is an extraordinary video, probing grounds in philosophy which the discipline is only grasping around the edges at at the moment. Well done and thank you.
Thanks! love your stuff. this video is life changing for me. I hope youre doing well
Interesting lesson. Thanks, Justin. 🌞
All the things on your shelves look interesting. It would be cool if you did some kind of show and tell episode where you show us your cool stuff!! 🤩
I translated the fragments for an edition some years ago. It was mesmerising.
nice
Been a minute since I watched one of your videos. Amazing content, my friend.
Great work man.
Thank you for this insightful video.
Very interesting concepts and it was explained very clearly. Thank you.
I love these introductions to foundational individuals/schools of philosophy from the ancient world. Most folks do not realize how much they effect the ways we think and behave to this very day, as the threads run through our cultural and intellectual history. You did a great job with a difficult subject. I’ve read/listened to numerous lectures on Parmenides and I’m not sure I truly understand the argument he is putting forth, but you made it as clear as anyone could. You are truly doing Being’s work, Sir! I’d love to see more like this!
Oh, I forgot to mention-formalizing his arguments was a nice touch-above and beyond! Thanks Dr. Sledge!
What up brother thanks for all your work and hello from Saint Louis Mo.
Thanks for the lecture while I work today, doctor!
Intriguing. Now smack me on the nose if I'm totally off the beaten path but I smell some of Mishima's musing in this, namely his perception of words being corrosive and truth lying in that liminal space between the self and reality, with death, the only identifiable stasis and unity perceived by us, being the ultimate manifestation of it. I'm still chewing on Sun and Steel but for whatever reason, perhaps just my own misunderstanding, this gives me the same feelings as it does, it strikes the same chord. Really nutty stuff overall, a whole lot to digest and muse on.
Very useful, thank you.
Very engaging - good job!
I enjoyed this. Thank you
Super good! Thanks for the bibliography
Dr Justin - in this one, you were like the world's greatest Quarterback ever ever, doing his thing in front of all the spectators' eyes.
Awesome, good job, never heard of this guy, thanks. This guy described meditation it seems. I have only been a practicing meditator for 3 years and he puts to words very well what deep trance appears to be, to me at least.
Thanks for the reading recommendations. I'm not smart enough to understand this stuff but it's good to think about it.
This summation was a Masterwork. Insert heartfelt applause.
A lot to think of. Wow. Thanks.
Finally, my time has come.....😈
Mr. Mysterion... Nice. I'll have to check out your work.
Wonderful!
Well, this is just delightful. Good to know that folks have been struggling with the "What am I? The is-ing is." for a long time.
Thanks for the perspective.
I love watching yr vids over & over 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
Best said :-
“Cancelling historical figures (philosophers) just because they don’t agree with our personal beliefs etc.
is
Self
Defeating.
🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
This channel is so good!
Thanks!
Definitely an episode worthy of hitting repeat. This one is mind bender. Well done! 🌐The spiral cyclical nature of the logic is there.☯️♾️
Fantastic, thank you.
This is one im going to need to keep coming back to. 🙃
This is a great video!
I'm afraid I'm too much a lover of process. I jokingly say that philosophy starts with Heraclitus and that Parmenides is when it went wrong
Superb treatment of a neglected zone, truly outstanding. Many thanks for this.
this might be one of the most important videos I have ever seen
Unspecific quantity, while implying a small percentage, could be playfully any number, and the undecisiveness adds to it.
Or in clearer terms, this might be one of the 1000 most important videos I have ever seen.
Or it might be one of the 5000 most important ones. Or it might not.
But at least you didn't use the cringy phrase "one of the only". 😉👍
And then in internet humor mode: This is definitely one of the videos of all time.
This is hard to grasp but I thank you an will have to read one or two of your recommendations.
Love the Hilma af Klint reference with the painting
Thank you 🌞
great video. would love to hear your thoughts on heraclitus too.
This is one I need to revisit. I'm reminded of how I barely got that philosophy minor, and probably shouldn't have. Education, like any training, requires you to work up to some things. I've skipped Metaphysics Day too often lately. I'm gonna go do some reps of Tao of Pooh.
❤ seeing that Thorndike set everytime I watch this chanel... man. the text is open source thanfully
I'd hate to have to read it on screens, though
@@TheEsotericaChannel it's such a great read, especially the works dedicated to the enlightenment and sciences. a general overview but also going into all these places that I benefit from studying the history of religion and magical thought.
If you haven't yet read it, Peter Kingsley's book Reality is one of, if not the very best books on Parmenides as well as Empedocles. The man's scholarship is just top notch!
He's a wizard, that's a great book. It will take you places
If I follow this properly, I actually find it quite comforting to know that I am caught into this web of being, and not alone after all.
Long time viewer first time commenter.😅 I just finished reading Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose, and a lot of the concepts expressed in this video are explored by the characters in that novel (who are otherwise solving a murder in a monetary in the 1300s). Specifically the idea that names and symbols shape our perception of reality, even though the origin of those symbols is arbitrary. There’s also an excellent adaptation starring Sean Connery (which is very difficult to stream legally in 2023, ironic given the story’s themes of lost media…)
What a treat, thank you so much for this delightful (albeit a little conceptually horrifying) journey today!
Dude when you said "cool black metal shirt" I was like ha sounded like he said black metal.... wait... WHAT THE FUCK dude that is so sick. Just made me love your channel 10x more
These words are amazing and hard to follow wow
Thank You
Id like a new "Church" named Unitary Beings
Always cool.
This reminds me of that meme "Source? I made it up." Also, this reminds me of when I watched the movie Inception while I was a little high. It also reminds me of reading about physics on a Wikipedia page when I was like 12.
Great video. I’ll have to watch again and do some reading but for whatever reason his thought rings true
You are so right by saying that out prejudices are the very hinderance to do the actual philosophical work.
The best channel to fall asleep to.
Sweet dreams! 😈 😅
Fantastic Justin...absolutely appreciate your analysis...really the best....and for the contextualization.
Parmenides was my hero from the first time I heard of his teaching. So wonderfully pure. And as Vedantin it was like finding a compatriot in practice of awareness.
Thanks
Experiencing such revelations without having to read these texts is very reassuring.