Lenin's evaluation of this thought "is a wonderful interpretation of the principle of dialectical materialism". Heraclitus also put forward the concept of change that everything flows and everything is immortal, emphasizing the absoluteness and eternity of the development and change of things. His greatest contribution to dialectics is that he put forward the idea of interdependence, struggle and transformation between contradictory parties, that is, the idea of unity of opposites. He emphasized the contradictory struggle and thought that the struggle was universal and absolute. Heraclitus also suggested that everything follows the idea of logos, that is, everything follows the law. He believes that logos is owned by everyone, and it is not only the law of the objective world, but also dominates people's subjective world. So wisdom lies in controlling logos, that is, understanding and grasping the laws of things. Heraclitus' thought has far-reaching influence in the history of philosophy. It is the source of all dialectical thoughts in later generations.
People can't step into the same river twice, and different water will always flow to you. What Heraclitus, an ancient Greek philosopher, said thousands of years ago is still quoted by us. He is Heraclitus, the most famous philosopher of Ionian school, the earliest materialistic philosophy in the west, and an outstanding representative of the combination of simple materialism and spontaneous dialectics in early ancient Greece.
In ancient Greek philosophy, a proposition that people often argue about is "the origin of the world". Heraclitus attributed it to fire. He believes that the world is neither created by God nor by human beings, but an eternal fire. When he said "fire", he meant the burning flame. Because of the change of fire, everything in the world came into being. This is an eternal process of "burning, extinguishing, re-burning and re-extinguishing". The whole universe is constantly passing and moving, and there is always a new world, and the old world dies. Heraclitus' thought does not use supernatural gods, but uses the material of nature itself to seek the origin of all things in the world, and explains the ever-changing and colorful world in a material form, which also reflects his thought of trying to seek unity from diversity. This is a great leap in the history of human cognition, which tells the profound philosophical truth that "the unity of the world lies in its materiality" in simple terms. It seems fallacious to attribute the origin of the world to fire today, but its dialectical materialism has influenced the whole world history.
Starting from this simple materialistic view of nature, he profoundly expounded dialectical thought. In his view, everything is constantly moving and changing. According to our mechanical thought today, motion is absolute and stillness is relative. The movement and change of things are carried out according to certain laws, whether it is the burning and extinguishing of fire or the generation and mutual transformation of everything, it is carried out according to certain "logos" (that is, logic). The thought of "logos" is the expression of spontaneous dialectics in ancient Greek philosophy, reaching a new peak.
The core of Heraclitus' dialectics is the thought of unity of opposites. He demonstrated that the reason for the movement and change of things lies in the contradiction of internal unity of opposites. This view is still enlightening today. He pointed out that the two sides of the contradiction are interdependent, struggling and transforming each other. He said: "Opposing things are combined, and different tones create the most beautiful harmony." Secondly, he put forward the view that everything has duality, and it is necessary to make a concrete analysis of things, and the evaluation of one thing should be based on its relationship with other things. For example, he said: "The sea is the cleanest and dirtiest;" Fish can be drunk and rich in nutrition; People can't drink it, it's poisonous. " Thirdly, he put forward the idea of mutual transformation of opposites, thinking that the other party is not only the premise of each other, but also can be transformed into each other. He said, "Cold becomes hot, hot becomes cold, wet becomes dry, and dry becomes wet." Finally, based on the observation of the fierce class struggle in the slave society at that time, he discussed the role of the opposing struggle. He said: "War is the father and king of all things. It makes some people become gods, some people become people, some people become slaves, and some people become free people. " All arguments emphasize the absoluteness and eternity of the development and change of things. Heraclitus also suggested that everything follows the idea of logos, that is, everything follows the law. He believes that logos is owned by everyone, and it is not only the law of the objective world, but also dominates people's subjective world. So wisdom lies in controlling logos, that is, understanding and grasping the laws of things.
Heraclitus' thought had a far-reaching influence in the history of philosophy. It is the source of all dialectical thoughts in later generations. Lenin once praised the idea of Nature as "a wonderful explanation of the principle of dialectical materialism" and called him one of the founders of dialectics.