Jesse Weissman 4/14/95
495-435 B.C.
Look at the comments on this paper.
Although Empedocles developed radically new ideas about the nature of the universe, most of his work is an extension of Parmenidean and Pythagorean philosophy. How does one account for the kaleidoscopic nature of the world if we maintain Parmenides' belief in a permanent, singular, and eternal universe? In the process of answering this question, Empedocles introduces new physical, chemical, and biological insights that influence later philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle.
Empedocles explains the nature of the universe through the interaction of two governing principles, Love and Strife, on four primary elements. Unlike his predecessors, Empedocles claims that there are four elements in the universe; air, fire, earth, and water. Particular and indestructible, these elements foreshadow later developments in atomic theory by philosophers such as Leucippus and Democritus. Earlier philosophers believed that the quality of matter depends on the quantity of a particular element. For example, Anaximenes asserts that air is the primary element in the universe, condensing to form heavier matter such as water, and rarefying into fire. However, Empedocles argues that the quality of matter depends exclusively on the ratio of its elements. A stone, for example, is stone because of a unique ratio of air, fire, earth, and water. Empedocles explains differences in living matter using the same argument; muscle is formed by a different combination of elements than, say, bone or fat. His preoccupation with ratio illustrates the strong influence of Pythagorean philosophers, creating a philosophy that closely resembles modern atomic theory.
Having defined matter as the ratio of elements, Empedocles' next challenge was to account for change. According to Aristotle, he was the first to suggest that motion is the result of two antagonistic principles, Love and Strife. Empedocles adds a moral dimension to his argument by associating Love with good and Strife with evil. The influence of each principle waxes and wanes in a cycle of opposition that Empedocles calls "The Vortex." At the beginning of time, Love completely dominated the universe. As a consequence, the four elements were unified into a sphere and segregated according to their type--a quarter of the sphere was water, a quarter was air, and the remaining half was divided equally by earth and fire. However, with the introduction of Strife "The Sphere" was gradually dissolved, slowly scattering the elements throughout the universe. The complete dissolution of The Sphere was achieved by the eventual predominance of Strife. However, Love began to gather strength again, causing the elements to congregate in clusters, and thereby creating life. Eventually, the elements will form a second unity, a second "Sphere," and the cycle will reset. Empedocles argues that this cycle will continue eternally, and two major conclusions follow from his argument: First, the cyclical nature of the universe introduces the possibility of reincarnation. Second, Empedocles asserts that life--as we know it--is the consequence of an evolutionary process. Empedocles believed that Love agglomerated the four elements into the various bodily parts--such as arms, legs, feet and fingers. These stray limbs roamed free until Love further unified them into bodily masses. Empedocles argues that some of these bodily forms were better suited for survival than others, resulting in the disappearance of monstrous beings and the evolution of modern life.
