Introduction to Becoming

I first heard about the concept of Becoming during my Intro to Greek Philosophy class nearly two years ago. Becoming was provided in contrast to the concept of Being, which has largely pervaded Western culture for the last 2500 years. Two of the famous Pre-Socratic Greek philosophers represented these two separate ideas- Parmenides (Being) and Heraclitus (Becoming).

Parmenides' view of Being posited that everything is static; a single, permanent, unchanging, fundamental reality. Being was favored by Socrates, followed by Plato and then Aristotle, through whom it was disseminated throughout the ages. It has been pondered, debated, challenged, and reaffirmed in its various forms by scientists, philosophers, linguists, and religious thinkers alike. Ultimately Being is the most common Western (and for a substantial portion, Eastern) view of reality. For example, the statement "The world IS" is a statement of the world as a being or thing. "I AM." "The chair IS." And so on.

Heraclitus championed an entirely opposite view, Becoming- or what has become more commonly referred to as Process Philosophy. As he saw it, everything in the universe was in an indeterminate state of flux - always changing - and that this change was inevitable and the only real constant. While Being saw reality as a series of objects and substances, goals and destinations, Becoming saw reality as dynamic, impermanent, chaotic, and ceaseless.

Becoming weaved its way throughout the ages, in parallel to Being in Western culture, but always in the shadows. It eventually became the favored philosophy of such figures as Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger, William James, Henri Bergson, John Dewey, and Alfred North Whitehead. Many of them referred back to Heraclitus as their primary influence for this idea, especially Nietzsche.

Over the last two years, having come across this philosophy again and again in the various classes I've taken, or books I've delved into, I've been able to recognize my own process of Becoming. To ask the question "Becoming WHAT?" is to miss the point, and simply exposes our cultural, psychological, possibly even religious marriage to the concept of Being. Nietzsche built upon Heraclitus's assertion of Becoming, saying that we should view this inherent change throughout our lives, not as a difficulty to struggle against, or something set out to weaken us, but something we should embrace and use as a means to become more powerful individuals. Each change is not a detriment, but a meaningful progression of who we are.

So here I will recount for you, in several installments over the next month or so, what has become my great philosophical, scientific, and spiritual journey of the last two years. A question of how to better explain my day-to-day human experiences in more meaningful terms launched a series of encounters that have completely changed the way that I look at the world and my life.

I hope you enjoy!