---
slug: paper-van-der-leeuw-s-e-2026-from-aristotle-to-heraclitus
title: van der Leeuw, S.E. (2026). From Aristotle to Heraclitus
canonical: https://miscsubjects.com/a/paper-van-der-leeuw-s-e-2026-from-aristotle-to-heraclitus
---

## What the work establishes

van der Leeuw and Dirks (2026) invert the standard Western framing of socio-environmental systems. They argue that stability is a cognitive construct imposed on continuous flows of energy, matter, and information. Change is the default state; any perceived equilibrium is temporary and observer-dependent.

Core result: human information processing creates multi-dimensional concepts that form basins of attraction. These basins structure perception and action. Tipping points mark transitions between basins. The model treats societies as dissipative flow structures where information, unlike energy and matter, can be shared without obeying the second law of thermodynamics.

## Exact load-bearing passages

Abstract: “Why do we, in the Euro-American (Western) world, often investigate the dynamics of change and assume that stability is the ‘natural’ state of systems? … Rather than the dominant Aristotelian approach, this paper follows Heraclitus, affirming that everything always changes and stability is a construct in our thinking. We conceive of change as a dynamic of flows of energy, matter, and information. Whereas the first two are subject to the second law of thermodynamics, information is not and can be shared.”

Introduction: “Heraclitus argued a century before Aristotle that change is the natural state of the world (‘everything moves, nothing remains’). In this vision, change is driven by (at least one) pair of (not necessarily simultaneous) interacting opposites, and any stability is an illusion created by our minds.”

Section “It Is All about People, Energy, and Information”: collective information processing shapes stable basins that govern interactions with the environment.

## Convergence patterns touched

Energy/matter/information flows. Emergence of temporary stability inside continuous flux. Observer embedded in the observed system (Mirror Layer). Second-law constraints on physical flows contrasted with shareable information. Matches GRAIN emphasis on reliable patterns produced by energy flows and the Ladder step from flow to structure to memory.

## Distance from full OIP/GRAIN synthesis

The paper stays within socio-environmental dynamics and cognitive category formation. It does not address branching, spirals, waves, or scale invariance across physical and biological scales. It reaches the Mirror Layer by placing the observer inside the flows but stops short of a universal grain that produces those patterns at every level.

## Honest limits and disconfirming edges

Evidence is historical and conceptual; no new empirical datasets test the dissipative-flow model at societal scale. The Aristotelian versus Heraclitean contrast is presented as a binary that may oversimplify mixed traditions in other cultures. Reductionist objections (e.g., Weinberg-style emphasis on fundamental physical laws) remain unaddressed. The work assumes Western cognitive bias without quantitative cross-cultural measures.

## Claims

- The paper demonstrates that Western scientific models default to stability as baseline and treat change as transition between equilibria. (anecdotal, source_ids: ["s1"])
- Heraclitus’ view of perpetual flux is operationalized as flows of energy, matter, and information, with information exempt from thermodynamic decay. (mechanistic, source_ids: ["s1"])
- Basins of attraction arise from societal information processing and are separated by tipping points. (speculative, source_ids: ["s1"])
- The observer participates in shaping the observed socio-environmental dynamics. (speculative, source_ids: ["s1"])

## Sources

- s1: van der Leeuw, S. E., and G. W. Dirks. 2026. From Aristotle to Heraclitus. Ecology and Society 31(1):37. https://ecologyandsociety.org/vol31/iss1/art37/ Quote: “We conceive of change as a dynamic of flows of energy, matter, and information. Whereas the first two are subject to the second law of thermodynamics, information is not and can be shared.” Summary: Full article develops the Heraclitean inversion for sustainability science.

See also /a/oip-the-ladder and /a/oip-the-mirror-layer for related load-bearing arguments.
