Parmenides of Elea belongs to the group of pre-Socratic philosophers. There are not many details of the life of this philosopher. It is estimated that he was born in Elea, a Greek city located in southern Italy; in the year 540 BC. One of the most important philosophical schools of Ancient Greece will emerge: the Eleatic School. Traditionally, the creation is attributed to Xenophanes de Colophon, but some suggest that Parmenides may have been its founder.
An important aspect of Parmenides' theory is that it comes from the analysis of the meaning and significance of certain logically related concepts. Since his theory is the consequence of rational thought, it can be proved by anyone who applies such reasoning. This is relevant because although the previous pre-Socratics (Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, Pythagoras, Heraclitus…) followed a rational procedure, their conclusions were based on experience. Parmenides, on the other hand, establishes that the sensible world is "pure illusion", that the senses deceive us, and that only through (logical) reasoning and not experience, is it possible to arrive at the truth of things.
For Parmenides, there is an identity between being and thought, because there is no autonomous knowledge apart from being. Being is and it is not possible that it ceases to be. Being is defined as the opposition to "not being"
His teachings have transcended according to some surviving fragments of his only work, an epic poem in verses entitled "On Nature", which were rescued and compiled from the writings that were found from the works of some philosophers of the time.
In this poem, after a proemio religious, in which the author makes a series of invocations to obtain the favor of an unidentified goddess in order to be able to access true knowledge, Parmenides explains his doctrine: the affirmation of being and the rejection of becoming, of change. Being is one, and the affirmation of multiplicity that implies becoming and becoming oneself is nothing more than mere illusions.
The poem exposes his doctrine of the recognition of two ways of accessing knowledge: the way of truth and the way of opinion. Only the first one will be a passable road, the second being the object of continuous contradictions and the appearance of knowledge.
It is believed that Parmenides belonged to a noble family of good repute and that he participated in the organization and government of their city, also acting as a jurist.
