Logos (from the Greek λόγος) means a word, thought, meaning, concept, that is, this word and at the same time a statement, hidden and explicit, form and content, or, more precisely, to say what connects two opposite principles. This concept was first introduced by the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus, who was born in the city of Ephesus, in Asia Minor, in 540 BC. e.
He associated the Logos with the element of fire. According to him, fire is the primary, creative force, and other elements are only one of its manifestations. He believed that fire can turn into air, air into water, and water into earth. The earth itself was part of the fire, and then cooled down and turned into a planet. The changes and equilibrium between earth, fire and water are established by the etheric fire, which is the main component and plays the main role.
Logos in ancient Greek philosophy
Heraclitus argued that God is a kind of unity or a connecting link between two opposite principles and should not be worshiped. In ancient Greek philosophy, the Stoics considered the Logos to be the etheric-fiery soul of the cosmos, capable of creating various forms-potencies. They form things in the material world. Neoplatonists understood the Logos as a transformation of the intelligible world into a sensible tangible world.
For today, the concept of logos is interesting as something practical and conducive to our development of consciousness, and not just a means for beautiful conclusions, so let's see how this concept was viewed in Christianity.
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Religious view of the concept of Logos
- F. Alexandria about the Logos
- the concept of Logos in Christianity
He considers the Logos of God to be the highest mind, a kind of Deity, the idea of all ideas. He says that since man is created in the image and likeness of God, that is, a certain image of God, which is a type or model of everything that exists. The Logos is only a shadow from God, the outline of God, but not the blinding light of God itself. The Logos is a kind of being endowed with divine powers. Following the Logos through ecstasy, a person must become like God. You can enter a state of ecstasy through prayer addressed to God.
In Christianity, the Logos means the Son of God, who is born as the God-man Jesus Christ in order to save the world from sin. In the Gospel of John it is written that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God … Thus, before the appearance of the Word, that is, Jesus Christ, the Logos is merged with God himself, and after the birth of a rational being, the Word appears -logos, symbolizing some kind of Higher Reason.
Eastern concept of Logos
- similarity of the teachings of Lao Tzu with the philosophy of Heraclitus
- Tao Te Ching in Chinese Philosophy
The teachings of the ancient Chinese philosopher and thinker Lao Tzu are closely intertwined with the concept of Logos in Heraclitus. Heraclitus understood Logos as something connecting and creating opposite things and phenomena (struggle and unity of opposites), and Lao Tzu put forward the theory that Tao is a certain path or movement of two polarities Yin and Yang, which are born by Tao and follow in accordance with it. Thus, as soon as two opposite principles separate and move apart, they are ultimately subject to decay and dying, but as soon as they unite and begin to move along the path, they immediately come to harmony.
As a result of the separation, transition and movement of these principles, the world appears in its diversity. However, the emergence of the world does not have and did not have a beginning, as in the Bible or mythology. The world, like the entire universe, has always existed. It is necessary to be aware not of the time of origin itself, but the very principle of existence and movement, that is, the process of development of something from beginning to end.
In Chinese philosophy, Tao is the highest form of being, a cosmic void, which is not empty, but simply its content is invisible to our mind and therefore unrecognizable by it. It can be gravitational, electromagnetic, ultraviolet energy, which we do not see, but they constantly affect us and are the object of study by scientists.
According to the philosophy of Lao Tzu, Tao is zero, circle, emptiness, space, vacuum. Tao gives rise to a unit (limit). Hence the expression: "The Infinity of the Great Limit." Limit is the Chinese symbol for a circle with two energies, Yin and Yang. Moving in accordance with and through Tao, these energies give rise to many different forms in the Universe.
Lao Tzu, the founder of the philosophy of Taoism, in his treatise "Tao Te Ching" describes the concept of Tao as follows: "Tao does not attack, but achieves success," "Tao follows naturalness," "Tao is eternal and has no name." So, in the philosophy of Lao Tzu, Tao is the source from which everything starts, and Te is a method or a way by which one should strive to merge with the almighty Tao. The principle of Wu-wei is similar to Te, i.e., non-action.
The sage does not say much and does not prove anything. He shows the right path by his actions and does good according to the law of Tao. There is no struggle in his actions, but only a just action.
What does the word Logos mean in the philosophy of our time?
- Logos in the philosophy of Kant and Hegel
- Logos in practical philosophy
In modern society, the concept of logos loses its original global meaning and is replaced by logic and the desire to know all the processes of being in a logical, rational way. Thus, cognition of reality with the help of reason, mathematics and empirically is put in the first place. According to I. Kant, the nature of things, that is, the Logos or "things in themselves", is inadmissible to our knowledge. You can only know the phenomenon (way) through which things are revealed in our experience. Thus, we can only know the effect, and the deepest cause will be hidden from us all the time.
The crown of philosophical thought was F. Hegel's creation "The Phenomenology of Spirit", in which he combined the most important laws and categories of philosophical knowledge and experience, substantiated the thesis of the unity of logic and the theory of knowledge, and created a new doctrine of dialectics on the basis of this.
According to Hegel, the basis of all processes in nature and the Universe is the Absolute, the spiritual and rational principle, that is, the world spirit, mind, idea. The idea arises in the mind (thinking), then passes into the form of "otherness", ie, in nature, and eventually returns to the spirit (the development of the idea in thinking and history). Thus, the idea returns to itself, only enriched by the experience acquired in reality. So, according to Hegel, the Supreme Mind or Spirit appears before us as the Logos, from which ideas arise, passing through reality, and returning to it again.
In modern philosophy, the Roerichs in the treatise "Agni Yoga", which is based on the Indian Vedas, speaks of the Absolute, that is, the Logos, as a fire that generates everything and purifies all matter created by him. Fire is called AUM, that is, the Supreme Intelligence, which is found in the Vedas and is called OM.
Let's turn to the concept of modern scientists about the development and origin of the Universe. Our solar system formed around the sun about 4.5 billion years ago. The life of stars is approximately 9 billion years. Under the influence of universal gravity, gas and cosmic dust thickened and a gas-dust cloud was formed. The density of matter in the core of the Sun gradually increased, and when the temperature reached 15 billion degrees, hydrogen ignited and began to turn into helium. A thermonuclear reaction took place, the core caught fire and flared up and a star appeared - a luminous space body. From the remnants of matter, planets and other objects of the solar system appeared.
It turns out that the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus was right when he spoke of fire as the primary source and creation of all objects and everything in the Universe.
Author: MANSUROV VYACHESLAV MIKHAILOVICH