In his religious opinions Heracleitus was sceptical. But he
does not, like Xenophanes, direct his attacks against the
central ideas of religion, and the doctrine of the gods. He
attacks mostly the outward observances and forms in which
the religious spirit manifests itself. He inveighs against the
worship of images, and urges the uselessness of blood sac-
rifice.
With the Eleatics he distinguishes between sense and rea-
son, and places truth in rational cognition. The illusion of
permanence he ascribes to the senses. It is by reason that
we rise to the knowledge of the law of Becoming. In the
comprehension of this law lies the duty of man, and the
only road to happiness. Understanding this, man becomes
resigned and contented. He sees that evil is the necessary
counterpart of good, and pain the necessary counterpart
of pleasure, and that both together are necessary to form
the harmony of the world. Good and evil are principles
on the struggle {80} between which the very existence of
things depends. Evil, too, is necessary, has its place in the
world. To see this is to put oneself above pitiful and futile
struggles against the supreme law of the universe.