Living in the 'As If': Heraclitus and the Suspension of Reality

ζώουσιν οἱ πολλοὶ ὡς ἰδίαν ἔχοντες φρόνησιν
Most people live as if they possess discernment of their own.
—Heraclitus (DK B2)

Yes, most people live in the ὡς — the "as if" — which is more indefinite and suspended than the Heideggerian Da ("there"), which provides a clear location or grounding in space. ὡς, by contrast, offers no such coordinates in either space or time.

This sheds light on another part of Heraclitus' thought in fragment DK B1:
"Men are unaware of what they do when awake, just as they forget what they do in sleep."

In this ὡς-structure, οἱ πολλοὶ (the many) live in a liminal state, between life and death, caught in the "as if." This suspended existence mirrors the typical condition of the masses, their lives unfolding in a vague, ungrounded "as if," lacking awareness of either their actions or the deeper reality around them.

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Fabrizio Ulivieri

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