Thought and Being. On Some Problems of Interpretation of Fragments of Parmenides (B 6, 1–2; B 8, 34–41)

The article examines two key fragments of Parmenides’ poem from Elea, the meaning and significance of which remain a subject of debate in scholarly literature. Analyzing the main interpretations (Burnet, Coxon, Tarán, Kahn), the author argues that in the case of B 6, 1–2, the most natural and faithful reading – both to Parmenides' Greek text and its philosophical intent – is the on­tological one. According to this reading, the passage speaks of being that is, rather than a possible subject of speech and thought or Parmenides’ development of specialized philosophical terminology. It is shown that alternative interpreta­tions lead to logical or grammatical inconsistencies. As for B 8, 34–41, the arti­cle demonstrates that the fragment does not assert the identity of being and thinking. Instead, its central concern is the relationship between true cognition (thought) and conventional naming. Additionally, a new interpretation is pro­posed for the well-known difficulty in 8, 35

Fragment (logic) · Identity (music) · Interpretation (philosophy) · Meaning (existential) · Natural (archaeology) · Poetry · Reading (process) · Subject (documents) · Biblical Studies and Interpretation · Classical Philosophy and Thought · Medieval and Classical Philosophy