Parmenides · Philosophy

The Two Ways and the Void

Parmenides’ doctrine of the two ways of inquiry - the Way of Truth (‘It is’) and the forbidden Way of Not-Being (‘It is not’) - and his momentous denial of the void, the empty space that the Atomists would later resurrect to rescue motion and plurality.

What you'll be able to recall

You learned that Parmenides distinguished two ways of inquiry - the true ‘It is’ and the impossible ‘It is not’ - and denied that the void (empty space, ‘nothing’) could exist, which (since motion seems to need empty space to move into) led him to deny motion, and forced the Atomist…

Leads to Gorgias.

epoché — a humanities education that remembers you.