Logos
λόγος
Word · Reason · Order
“What does Logos mean?”
A Greek word meaning word, account, ratio and reason at once — and one of the most consequential ambiguities in Western thought.
Overview
Logos covers speech, the account given of something, the underlying ratio of things, and reason itself. English needs several words for it and loses the connection between them.
Historical context
Heraclitus uses logos for the ordering principle of the cosmos, which people live alongside without noticing.
The Stoics develop it into a rational structure pervading nature, which human reason participates in.
The opening of the Gospel of John places logos at the beginning of everything; the standard English 'Word' preserves one sense and drops the others.
Perspectives
There is no single answer here. Each reading comes from a different tradition and should be judged in its own terms.
Philosophical
The claim that the world has an intelligible structure, and that thought can track it.
Theological
That structure is personal, and can be encountered rather than merely known.
Claims
1 of 1 carry a source · 100%
Each statement is held separately, with what supports it and how firmly.
The Gospel of John binds a Greek philosophical term to a religious claim in its first line.
Attested in a primary textJohn 1:1.
- Gospel of John — c. 90–110 CE
Related ideas
Cited sources
Gospel of John — c. 90–110 CE
Opens 'In the beginning was the logos', binding a Greek philosophical term to a religious claim.
Sources
This entry still needs sources. It is marked as needing evidence rather than presented as settled.
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