Parmenides (515 BC-450 BC) was a Presocratic Greek philosopher from Elea in Magna Graecia. He founded the Eleatic school of philosophy, and he was the father of metaphysics (the study of fundamental questions) and ontology (the study of existence).
Biography[]
Parmenides was born in Elea, Magna Graecia in 515 BC, a scion of a wealthy and illustrious Greek family. He founded the School of Elea, which also included Zeno of Elea and Melissus of Samos. Parmenides wrote the laws of his city, and he also became a renowned philosopher. He argued that "being is, and cannot not be," saying that being aware and to be were the same and that thinking and thought were the same. He also claimed that there was no truth in the opinions of the mortals, and he claimed that genesis and destruction was a false opinion, as he believed that being was indestructible and permanent (it transcended math and was abstract).