PHI 2380 Lecture 7: 2015-02-04 - Empedocles
4 Feb 2015
School
Department
Course
Professor
2015-02-04
EMPEDOCLES
•A view of the world that is rational
•Offers a scientific and a religious account of how things come to be
•Calls himself a god
•[14.49] – all mortals are fools (except Empedocles, because he’s a god)
•What’s foolish is the thought that anything comes to be or perishes
•In reality, nothing comes to be and nothing is destroyed (perishes). Things are only a
mixture or a separation.
•Same claim as Anaxagoras and Parmenides
•People mistake mixture and separation as coming to be and ceasing to be
•Empedocles and Anaxagoras just disagree on what is being mixed and separated
•Empedocles says the four basic elements are what always exist and all the things that
we perceive as coming to and perishing are simply mixtures of those elements (air,
earth, fire, water).
•[14.46] – the roots out of which everything grows (the source)
•He calls the elements by the name of a god (Zeus-fire, Hera-air, Idonaios – earth,
Nestus – water)
•Greek painting metaphor – the mixing of paints and colors
•What distinguishes a tree from a frog is simply the ratio of elements within the mixture
•[14.75] – things being mixed according to a certain proportion
•Blood consists of equal parts of all 4 elements
Empedocles’ story of the cosmos
•2 stories of how mortal things come and 2 stories of how things cease to be
•The elements become 1 and the opposite process (starting as one and being separated)
•In Anaxagoras’ view, everything at the beginning was 1, so only 1 principle was needed
to separate things (Mind)
•In Empedocles’ view, Love brings the elements together, and Strife separates them
Document Summary
2015-02-04: a view of the world that is rational. Empedocles: offers a scientific and a religious account of how things come to be, calls himself a god. [14. 49] all mortals are fools (except empedocles, because he"s a god: what"s foolish is the thought that anything comes to be or perishes. In reality, nothing comes to be and nothing is destroyed (perishes). [14. 46] the roots out of which everything grows (the source: he calls the elements by the name of a god (zeus-fire, hera-air, idonaios earth, Nestus water: greek painting metaphor the mixing of paints and colors, what distinguishes a tree from a frog is simply the ratio of elements within the mixture. [14. 75] things being mixed according to a certain proportion: blood consists of equal parts of all 4 elements. 2 stories of how mortal things come and 2 stories of how things cease to be: the elements become 1 and the opposite process (starting as one and being separated)
