en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Determinism
2 corrections found
during the 7th and 6th centuries BCE by the Pre-socratic philosophers Heraclitus and Leucippus
This chronology is off. Heraclitus is generally dated to the late 6th century BCE, while Leucippus lived in the 5th century BCE, so they were not both philosophers of the "7th and 6th centuries BCE."
Full reasoning
The dates given here do not match the standard dating of the two philosophers named.
- Heraclitus is typically placed in the late 6th century BCE (around 500 BCE), not the 7th century BCE.
- Leucippus is typically placed in the 5th century BCE, not the 6th century BCE.
So the phrase saying determinism was developed "during the 7th and 6th centuries BCE by ... Heraclitus and Leucippus" is chronologically inaccurate, especially for Leucippus, who is normally dated a full century later.
A more accurate formulation would place Heraclitus in the late 6th century BCE and Leucippus in the 5th century BCE.
2 sources
- Heraclitus | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Heraclitus (fl. c. 500 B.C.E.) ... A Greek philosopher of the late 6th century BCE ... suggesting a date for Heraclitus in the late 6th century.
- Leucippus (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy/Spring 2005 Edition)
His dates are unknown, other than that he lived during the fifth century BCE.
the historical Buddha is recorded as saying that "just as the word 'chariot' exists on the basis of the aggregation of parts, even so the concept of 'being' exists when the five aggregates are available."
This famous chariot simile in SN 5.10 is spoken by the nun Vajirā in reply to Māra, not by the Buddha.
Full reasoning
The article attributes this quotation to the historical Buddha, but the canonical source it points to does not.
In SN 5.10 (Vajira Sutta / Vajirā Sutta), the text explicitly says that the bhikkhunī Vajirā replies to Māra, and the chariot simile appears in her response:
"Then the bhikkhuni Vajira ... replied to him in verses: ... Just as, with an assemblage of parts, / The word 'chariot' is used ..."
That means the quotation is from Vajirā, not directly from the Buddha. An academic discussion of the same passage likewise identifies the simile as one where "the nun Vajirā states that a being is just a convention ..."
So the attribution to "the historical Buddha" is incorrect; the source attributes the line to Vajirā.
2 sources
- Vajira Sutta: Vajira (SN 5.10)
Then the bhikkhuni Vajira ... replied to him in verses: ... Just as, with an assemblage of parts, The word 'chariot' is used, So, when the aggregates are present, There's the convention 'a being.'
- Who Identifies with the Aggregates? Philosophical Implications of the Selected Khandha Passages in the Nikāyas
One of the earliest formulations of this important idea is found in the Vajirā-sutta (SN 5.10/1.296), where in response to Māra's question about the nature of being (satta) the nun Vajirā states that a being is just a convention (sammuti) used when the aggregates exist.