Heraclitus and the Pre-Socratics - Collected Philosophical Works (13 books)

* Heraclitus and the Pre-Socratics - Collected Philosophical Works (13 books)

HERACLITUS OF EPHESUS (or Hērákleitos; fl. c. 500 BCE) was one of the most enigmatic and influential figures of early Greek philosophy.  His thought is marked by a radical challenge to ordinary ways of understanding permanence, identity, and knowledge, and exerted a wide influence on Western philosophy, both ancient and modern, through the works of such authors as Plato, Aristotle, Hegel, Nietzsche, and Heidegger.

Little is known of his life.  Unlike later philosophers who produced systematic treatises, Heraclitus’ work survives only in fragments, preserved indirectly through quotations by later authors such as Plato, Aristotle, and the Stoics.  Even in ancient times, his paradoxical philosophy, appreciation for wordplay, and cryptic, oracular epigrams earned him the epithets "the dark" and "the obscure".  Considered arrogant and depressed, a misanthrope who was subject to melancholia, he became known as "the weeping philosopher" in contrast to the ancient atomist philosopher Democritus, who was known as "the laughing philosopher".

The fragments that have survived suggest that Heraclitus addressed cosmology, epistemology, ethics, and theology in a unified way, presenting the cosmos as an ever-living fire kindling and extinguishing in measured cycles.  His thought centers on the idea that reality is characterized by constant change.  His most famous claim—that one cannot step into the same river twice—captures his conviction that all things are in flux, continuously coming into being and passing away.  At the same time, Heraclitus insists that change is governed by an underlying rational principle, the logos (lit. word, discourse, or reason), which orders and structures the world even as it transforms.

Within the broader context of Pre-Socratic philosophy, Heraclitus occupies a distinctive and often oppositional position.  While earlier Milesian thinkers such as Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes sought a single underlying substance to explain the cosmos, Heraclitus emphasized process rather than material stability.  His thought is frequently contrasted with that of Parmenides, who argued for the unchanging and eternal nature of being; this tension between flux and permanence would shape Greek metaphysics for centuries.  At the same time, Heraclitus shares with other Pre-Socratics a commitment to rational inquiry and a rejection of mythological explanation, helping to lay the groundwork for later philosophical debates about change, unity, and knowledge.


The following books are in ePUB and/or PDF format as noted:

== HERACLITUS ==

* Art and Thought of Heraclitus [tr. Kahn] (Cambridge, 1979) – ePUB / PDF
* Complete Fragments [tr. Harris] (n.p., 1995) – PDF
* Cosmic Fragments [tr. Kirk] (Cambridge, 1954) – PDF^
* Fragments [tr. Haxton] (Penguin, 2003) – PDF
* Fragments [tr. Haxton] (Viking, 2001) – ePUB
* Fragments [tr. Robinson] (Toronto, 1987) – ePUB / PDF
* Heraclitus: Translation and Analysis [tr. Sweet] (UPA, 1995) – PDF
* Herakleitos and Diogenes [tr. Davenport] (Grey Fox, 1979) – PDF^

== THE PRE-SOCRATICS (Anthologies) ==

* 7 Greeks [tr. Davenport] (New Directions, 1995) – ePUB
* A Presocratics Reader [ed. Curd, 2e] (Hackett, 2011) – PDF
* Early Greek Philosophy [ed. Barnes] (Penguin, 1987) – PDF*
* The First Philosophers [ed. Waterfield] (Oxford, 2000) – ePUB / PDF
* Philosophy Before Socrates [ed. McKirahan, 2e] (Hackett, 2010) – ePUB
* Presocratic Philosophers [ed. Kirk et al., 2e] (Cambridge, 1983) – PDF


PDF^ courtesy of @Mohamed5438
PDF* courtesy of @pharmakate


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