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Empedocles

Background

Empedocles (c. 494 – c. 434 BCE) was a pre-Socratic philosopher from the Greek city of Acragas (modern-day Agrigento) in Sicily. He is renowned for his theory of the four classical elements (earth, water, air, and fire) which he proposed as the fundamental building blocks of the universe. Empedocles believed that these elements are eternally brought together and separated by two opposing forces: Love (which unites) and Strife (which divides).

Empedocles was also a poet, and his philosophical ideas were expressed in poetic form. His two major works, "On Nature" and "Purifications," have survived in fragments. In addition to his contributions to philosophy, Empedocles is noted for his work in medicine and biology, particularly his early ideas about the circulation of the blood and the development of living organisms.

A legendary and somewhat mysterious figure, Empedocles was said to possess magical powers and was associated with various myths and supernatural tales. One famous legend about his death suggests that he leaped into the crater of Mount Etna to prove his divinity, leaving only a bronze sandal behind as evidence of his demise.

Sources

M R Wright, Empedocles: The Extant Fragments, 1995.

Bertrand Russell, The History of Western Philosophy, 1945.

Anthony Gottlieb, The Dream of Reason: A History of Philosophy from the Greeks to the Renaissance, 2001.