Heraclitus and heroic Nihilism

Authors

  • Aldo Masullo Università degli Studi di Napoli - "Federico II"

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6093/1593-7178/3693

Keywords:

Heraclitus, Nihilism, Time, Glory, Heroic Nihilism

Abstract

According to Heraclitus (fragment 91 DK): «It is not possible to step twice into the same river, nor is it possible to touch a mortal substance twice in so far as its state is concerned». If the change has neither beginning nor end, nothing ever starts to change and nothing ever starts to end, because endless beginnings would precede the first one, and since this one never entering game, the change would be impossible. According to Heraclitus, only the change is absolute, and therefore every interval is impossible. The wise man, giving form to the immense energy of desire, opens himself to  change, and in this way he makes sense of human “glory without time”. This is the first heroic nihilism.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Downloads

Published

2015-11-12

How to Cite

Masullo, A. (2015). Heraclitus and heroic Nihilism. Bollettino Filosofico, 30, 116–137. https://doi.org/10.6093/1593-7178/3693

Issue

Vol. 30 (2015): Nihilism and Modernity. Rethinking the Modern Tragicalness

Section

Focus

License

The author retains the copyright of his work whilst granting anyone the possibility “to reproduce, distribute, publicly communicate, publicly exhibit, display, perform and recite the work”, provided that the author and the title of the journal are cited correctly. When submitting the text for publication the author is furthermore required to declare that the contents and the structure of the work are original and that it does not by any means compromise the rights of third parties nor the obligations connected to the safeguard of the moral and economic rights of other authors or other right holders, both for texts, images, photographs, tables, as well as for other parts which compose the contribution. The author furthermore declares that he/she is conscious of the  sanctions prescribed by the penal code and by the Italian Criminal and Special Laws for false documents and the use false documents, and that therefore Bollettino Filosofico is not liable to responsibilities of any nature, civil, administrative or penal, and that the author agrees to indemnify and hold Bollettino Filosofico harmless from all requests and claims by third parties.