SOURCE: Jean Beaufret, "Heraclitus and Parmenides," in Heidegger on Heraclitus: A New Reading, edited by Kenneth Maly and Parvis Emad, The Edwin Mellen Press, 1986, pp. 69-88.

In the following essay, originally written in French and published in 1973, Beaufret argues that both the philosophy of Heraclitus and that of Parmenides are concerned with change and permanence and are not as opposed to each other as is commonly believed.

If the world is of the opinion that the pre-Socratics are rich in original figures, then Heraclitus and Parmenides are radiantly central figures in that world. For it is with Heraclitus and Parmenides that the foundations of Western thinking are laid. It is to them that our own thinking returns, as if to a mysterious source which is still alive and always at the foundation of our thoughts. One can say that it is through them that we think, even if...