Introduction: In this proem, Parmenides articulates the origin of all Western reason and theology. Namely, he discovers the concept of objectivity and truth as the fundamental organizing axiom of existence. And it turns out that his notion of objectivity and truth is not at all a static, frozen object, although it is changeless and eternal, but is much more than that at the same time. His notion of Being is very much what I would consider a “science of complements.” Parmenides here articulates a fundamental dynamic modality of balancing and harmonizing complements. He articulates a modality in which dualities always interchange and balance with one another in qualitative and proportional perfection. The whole theme of the poem encapsulates the perfect balance of opposites with Being, Truth, and Goodness ultimately prevailing over their opposites and harmonizing the whole. The Western mentality is distinct from the Eastern in that there is a conquering of good over evil, there is a victory of beauty over ugliness. It’s not that such a conception is foreign to eastern thought, but it happens to be the optimistic, if not tragic, legacy of Western thought that ultimate good prevails. That the perpetual balance and harmony of forces tends to converge towards the ultimate Perfection. Here Parmenides demonstrates this dynamic modality in the science of complements.
Commentary on Parmenides’s On Nature
Commentary on Parmenides’s On Nature
Commentary on Parmenides’s On Nature
Introduction: In this proem, Parmenides articulates the origin of all Western reason and theology. Namely, he discovers the concept of objectivity and truth as the fundamental organizing axiom of existence. And it turns out that his notion of objectivity and truth is not at all a static, frozen object, although it is changeless and eternal, but is much more than that at the same time. His notion of Being is very much what I would consider a “science of complements.” Parmenides here articulates a fundamental dynamic modality of balancing and harmonizing complements. He articulates a modality in which dualities always interchange and balance with one another in qualitative and proportional perfection. The whole theme of the poem encapsulates the perfect balance of opposites with Being, Truth, and Goodness ultimately prevailing over their opposites and harmonizing the whole. The Western mentality is distinct from the Eastern in that there is a conquering of good over evil, there is a victory of beauty over ugliness. It’s not that such a conception is foreign to eastern thought, but it happens to be the optimistic, if not tragic, legacy of Western thought that ultimate good prevails. That the perpetual balance and harmony of forces tends to converge towards the ultimate Perfection. Here Parmenides demonstrates this dynamic modality in the science of complements.