Eleatic

American  

[el-ee-at-ik] / ˌɛl iˈæt ɪk /

adjective

1. of or relating to Elea.

2. noting or pertaining to a school of philosophy, founded by Parmenides, that investigated the phenomenal world, especially with reference to the phenomena of change.

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noun

1. a philosopher of the Eleatic school.

Eleatic British  

/ ˌɛlɪˈætɪk, ˌɛlɪˈætɪˌsɪzəm /

adjective

1. denoting or relating to a school of philosophy founded in Elea in Greece in the 6th century _bc by Xenophanes, Parmenides, and Zeno. It held that one pure immutable Being is the only object of knowledge and that information obtained by the senses is illusory

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noun

1. a follower of this school

Other Word Forms

• Eleaticism
  noun

Etymology

Origin of Eleatic

1685–95; < Latin Eleāticus < Greek Eleātikós. See Elea, -tic

Example Sentences

He was a member of the Eleatic school of thought, whose founder, Parmenides, held that the underlying nature of the universe was changeless and immobile.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife

Zeno, the Eleatic, had shown that multiplicity and motion are not only unreal but even impossible, since they are self-contradictory.

From A Critical History of Greek Philosophy by Stace, W. T. (Walter Terence)

It is easy to see why the Eleatic philosophy broke down in this dualism.

From A Critical History of Greek Philosophy by Stace, W. T. (Walter Terence)

It is in this second period that the theory of Ideas is founded and developed, and its relationship to the Eleatic philosophy of Being discussed.

From A Critical History of Greek Philosophy by Stace, W. T. (Walter Terence)

The rise from the Ionic to the Eleatic philosophy is therefore essentially a rise from sensuous to pure thinking.

From A Critical History of Greek Philosophy by Stace, W. T. (Walter Terence)