Aristotle, Heraclitus and the irresistible force of thumos

Abstract

This paper presents a framework of the issues raised by Heraclitus’ fragment B85DK and its ancient and modern interpretations. In particular, it examines Aristotle’s testimony, the most ancient and also the most profound and articulated of these interpretations. An overview of the meaning of thumos, the central theme of the fragment, shows that for Aristotle this concept is not exhausted by the pathos of anger. Thumos is, above all, a dunamis, that is, a faculty of the soul which makes it possible not just the pathos, the temporary affection of anger, but also courage, impulsivity, affect, the sense of liberty and authority. This Aristotelian notion, so rich and polymorphic as not to be exhausted by a single translation, results from the systematization of an ancient material, Homeric and Presocratic material related to the proverbs. Heraclitus himself offers a formulation of it which summarizes two aspects that Aristotle accepts and emphasizes: the irresistible and unstoppable force that characterizes the natural impulse once it has been triggered and the extreme consequence to which it can lead, namely, the loss of life itself.