1. Parmenides
By Troy and Ken

2. Background Exact date of birth unknown. Sometime early 5th Century BCE
Born in Elea, Greek Colony in Italy

3. Teacher Pupil of Xenophanes
Believed in one God, as opposed to two or more
Also didn’t believe in Gods in the form of humans
Argued for example that if cows could visualize Gods, they would visualize Gods in the image of a cow
Influenced Parmenides view on:
Opinion vs. Knowledge
Existence

4. Students Founded school of Elea Famous students of the school Zeno
Tried to prove there are inconsistencies with the world of appearance and reality
Melissus

5. Parmenides’s Works Wrote the poem “On Nature”
Only 160 of 800 verses survived (stanford.edu)
Describes a journey to the home of a goddess, where she reveals the Way of Belief and the Way of Truth
Way of Belief is false and the view of the majority
Way of Truth is the true way to perceive Being

6. Philosophy
Philosophy based on logic through reasoning and not based on the senses
Senses are deceitful and not trustworthy
Two worlds:
World of appearance that is an illusion cast by the senses
World of Reality that can be reached thru intellect

7. Way of Truth Change is impossible
Everything that exists has always existed and will exist for the rest of time
There are the ‘Being’ and ‘Not Being’
Nothing is produced
Nothing creates nothing.
A Being can not turn into a Not Being
Opinions are formed because of confusion between Being and Not Being

8. Way of Opinion Gives understanding of the opinions of Men
Not necessarily wrong, but it is only based on what the senses perceive which is what the majority of people understand
Opinions are formed because of confusion between Being and Not Being

9. Sense Perception
Parmenides
Believes that those who trust their senses are fools, and that change is illusory for nothing ever changes
Humans should judge reality by reason and not their senses
Heraclitus
Prefers things that can be experienced with senses to cold reason
Thinks the sense are vital for understanding what is true
"No man ever steps in the same river twice.”

10. Influenced Parmenides influenced Plato
Plato met Zeno and Parmenides on a visit to Athens
Plato created a dialogue named Parmenides after him

11. Bibliography
Italy Map. Web. 11 Feb <
PBS Probes The Brain. Web. 11 Feb <
Xenophanes. Web. 11 Feb <
lendering, jona. "Parmenides." Livious.org. Livious.org, Web. 11 Feb <
"Parmenides." Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Web. <
Palmer, John, "Parmenides", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2008 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <