Philosophy, Ancient

Easily the most interesting and important of the pre-Socratic philosophers, and among the greatest Greeks, Heraclitus was everything from pre-Nietzsche to pre-Einstein. His poetic declarations that energy in flux is the essence of the world was unique and largely ignored in favour of Plato and Aristotle, as was his inclination to highlight the importance of perspective and relativity, the strength and harmony that results from strife and conflict, the sleepwalking idiocy of most men, the illusory nature of progress and the oneness of the Earth. Whilst much of his work has been lost, historians believe Heraclitus was the first man to form a coherent philosophical treatise, and the fragments which remain are more than enough to justifiably place Heraclitus among the greatest of thinkers. ( )