The concept of “nature” in the natural law doctrine of Heraclitus of Ephesus

Abstract

The article substantiates the hypothesis of the historian of philosophy Charles Kahn and philosopher A. V. Lebedev about the presence of ontological doctrine of natural law encoded in the form of cognitive metaphors in the fragments of the treatise “On Nature” by Heraclitus of Ephesus. It is concluded that this doctrine is fundamental to the further development of the ancient natural-law tradition. The genesis of one of the central concepts of this doctrine, “nature” (Greek φύσις), which Heraclitus recites from Miletian fusiologists, but gives it an innovative meaning of absolute being, which is the basis of the reality of human legal orders, is considered. Semantically close to the metaphor φύσις are the metaphors “logos” (Greek λόγος) and “cosmos” (Greek κόσμος). Heraclitus also formulates the epistemological principle “according to nature” (Greek κατά φύσιν), which means the procedure of correct “deduction” in reality of the triadic in structure law of struggle and identity of opposites. Practical embodiments of this law in political and legal life are shown according to the principles of “art imitates nature” (Greek ή τέχνη μιμείται την φύσιν) and the microcosm of the human soul. Finally, Heraclitus’ doctrine of natural law consciousness, which relies on the “common” (Greek το ξυνόν) as an expression of the monistic nature of all things, is examined.

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