Editing Impermanence (section)

==Western philosophy==
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Impermanence first appears in [[Greek philosophy]] in the writings of [[Heraclitus]] and his doctrine of ''[[Panta rhei (Heraclitus)|panta rhei]]'' (everything flows). Heraclitus was famous for his insistence on ever-present change as being the fundamental essence of the universe, as stated in the famous saying, "No man ever steps in the same river twice".<ref>This is how Plato puts Heraclitus' doctrine. See ''Cratylus'', 402a.</ref> This is commonly considered to be a key contribution in the development of the philosophical concept of [[Becoming (philosophy)|becoming]], as contrasted with "being", and has sometimes been seen in a dialectical relationship with [[Parmenides]]' statement that "whatever is, is, and what is not cannot be", the latter being understood as a key contribution in the development of the philosophical concept of [[being]]. For this reason, Parmenides and Heraclitus are commonly considered to be two of the founders of [[ontology]]. Scholars have generally believed that either Parmenides was responding to Heraclitus, or Heraclitus to Parmenides, though opinion on who was responding to whom has varied over the course of the 20th and 21st centuries.<ref name="Palmer">{{cite book|url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/parmenides|title=Parmenides|others=[[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]|author=John Palmer|publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University|year=2016}}</ref> Heraclitus' position was complemented by his stark commitment to a [[unity of opposites]] in the world, stating that "the path up and down are one and the same". Through these doctrines Heraclitus characterized all existing entities by pairs of contrary properties, whereby no entity may ever occupy a single state at a single time. This, along with his cryptic utterance that "all entities come to be in accordance with this ''[[Logos]]''" (literally, "word", "reason", or "account") has been the subject of numerous interpretations.

Impermanence was widely but not universally accepted among subsequent Greek philosophers. [[Democritus]]' theory of atoms entailed that assemblages of atoms were impermanent.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/democritus/#2|title=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|chapter=Democritus|year=2016|publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University}}</ref> [[Pyrrho]] declared that everything was ''astathmēta'' (unstable), and ''anepikrita'' (unfixed).<ref name="auto">{{cite book |last=Beckwith |first=Christopher I. |title=Greek Buddha: Pyrrho's Encounter with Early Buddhism in Central Asia |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |year=2015 |pages=22–23 |url=http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/s10500.pdf |isbn=9781400866328}}</ref> [[Plutarch]] commented on impermanence saying "And if the nature which is measured is subject to the same conditions as the time which measures it, this nature itself has no permanence, nor "being," but is becoming and perishing according to its relation to time.<ref>Plutarch, ''On the “E” at Delphi''</ref> The [[Stoicism|Stoic]] philosopher, [[Marcus Aurelius]]' ''[[Meditations]]'' contains many comments about impermanence, such as “Bear in mind that everything that exists is already fraying at the edges, and in transition, subject to fragmentation and to rot.” (10.18)<ref>[https://www.phillipwells.com/2015/04/marcus-aurelius-on-impermanence.html Marcus Aurelius on impermanence]phillipwells.com April 2015 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190531120317/https://www.phillipwells.com/2015/04/marcus-aurelius-on-impermanence.html |date=31 May 2019 }}</ref>

[[Plato]] rejected impermanence, arguing against Heraclitus:<ref>[[Cratylus (dialogue)|Cratylus]] Paragraph 440 sections c-d.</ref><blockquote>How can that be a real thing which is never in the same state? ... for at the moment that the observer approaches, then they become other ... so that you cannot get any further in knowing their nature or state .... but if that which knows and that which is known exist ever ... then I do not think they can resemble a process or flux ....</blockquote>

Several famous Roman Latin sayings are about impermanence, including ''[[Omnia mutantur, nihil interit|Omnia mutantur]]'', ''[[Sic transit gloria mundi]]'', and ''[[Tempora mutantur]]''.