In fragment 39 of Heraclitus’ collected sayings, he proclaims that “Nature loves to hide.” A recurring theme for Heraclitus is that the majority of people do not attain to wisdom and true understanding, but rather think they have because of “much learning” (14). The best things are the most hidden for Heraclitus, and the hardest to find are the most rewarding. Yet “the mob” are deceived into thinking they have found the best because they teach each other, not realizing that “most people are bad” (11). If we take Heraclitus to mean by “nature” all that which exists, then the unified logos whose true nature is hidden to the many can only be understood by those who are faithful to apply all of their mind (28, 31), concentration (21), and senses (32, 34) to the task. Just as in the readily perceptible world, where gold is striven for but little is found (37), so do men who seek to understand nature-the logos itself-little gems of wisdom, each worth their labor, are recovered for much work. Since nature is not in plain view nor hopelessly concealed, it is shut off from fools but not from all but utter divinity (40, 52, 112). Furthermore, unity of apparent opposites as exemplified by fire-for instance, in that a flame is always changing by its nature, but seems the same (62, 75, 82)-is for Heraclitus the way in which nature “hides” from the immature inquirer. There is a constant flux to the logos, so that if one were to attempt to understand nature as it is, as soon as he could, it would have changed and become something different, even if it seemed the same. Those who seek to know the logos and do not foolishly think that they know all that there is when they are well-versed in what seems to be are, for Heraclitus, “the best” (108) and these are the only people who will be able to penetrate the secret of nature and enjoy in it the unity of opposites it contains. Ultimately, those who are among the best are the only ones who truly understand this word of Heraclitus: to understand that “nature loves to hide,” one must be wise enough to love to seek in it the logos it contains.

[I have set this to post to the site just as I’m stepping into the philosophy class for which this short defended exegesis was written. The numbers in this text are fragments in A Presocratics Reader: Selected Fragments and Testemonia, by McKirahan & Curd. If I haven’t corrected the numbering scheme to reflect the more uniform translations (catalogued by Diels & Kranz) by the time you see this, I’ll do that shortly.]

In fragment 39 of Heraclitus’ collected sayings, he proclaims that “Nature loves to hide.” A recurring theme for Heraclitus is that the majority of people do not attain to wisdom and true understanding, but rather think they have because of “much learning” (14). The best things are the most hidden for Heraclitus, and the hardest to find are the most rewarding. Yet “the mob” are deceived into thinking they have found the best because they teach each other, not realizing that “most people are bad” (11). If we take Heraclitus to mean by “nature” all that which exists, then the unified logos whose true nature is hidden to the many can only be understood by those who are faithful to apply all of their mind (28, 31), concentration (21), and senses (32, 34) to the task. Just as in the readily perceptible world, where gold is striven for but little is found (37), so do men who seek to understand nature-the logos itself-little gems of wisdom, each worth their labor, are recovered for much work. Since nature is not in plain view nor hopelessly concealed, it is shut off from fools but not from all but utter divinity (40, 52, 112). Furthermore, unity of apparent opposites as exemplified by fire-for instance, in that a flame is always changing by its nature, but seems the same (62, 75, 82)-is for Heraclitus the way in which nature “hides” from the immature inquirer. There is a constant flux to the logos, so that if one were to attempt to understand nature as it is, as soon as he could, it would have changed and become something different, even if it seemed the same. Those who seek to know the logos and do not foolishly think that they know all that there is when they are well-versed in what seems to be are, for Heraclitus, “the best” (108) and these are the only people who will be able to penetrate the secret of nature and enjoy in it the unity of opposites it contains. Ultimately, those who are among the best are the only ones who truly understand this word of Heraclitus: to understand that “nature loves to hide,” one must be wise enough to love to seek in it the logos it contains.

[I have set this to post to the site just as I’m stepping into the philosophy class for which this short defended exegesis was written. The numbers in this text are fragments in A Presocratics Reader: Selected Fragments and Testemonia, by McKirahan & Curd. If I haven’t corrected the numbering scheme to reflect the more uniform translations (catalogued by Diels & Kranz) by the time you see this, I’ll do that shortly.]