18. Empedocles: Elements, Love, Hate, and Order

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

The Four Elements and Rejection of Monism #

• Empedocles abandons the search for a single first matter, introducing instead four fundamental elements: earth, air, fire, and water
• Each element has distinct qualities and cannot be reduced to a single underlying substance
• The elements persist eternally; apparent generation and corruption are merely mixing and separation
• All compounds (bone, flesh, blood) are composed of these four elements in different numerical ratios (following Pythagorean thinking)

Change of Place as the Only Real Change #

• Early Greeks and early modern scientists understood change primarily as change of place (locomotion)
• Without understanding potency or ability (δύναμις), one cannot conceive how inward change is possible
• If there is no potency, everything is just mixing and separating of eternal things—nothing truly comes into being or passes away
• This understanding is more known to us than potency itself

The Problem of the Empty #

• Empedocles denies that the empty (void) exists, arguing that “nothing” cannot exist
• To say the empty exists is to say that nothing is something—a contradiction
• If the empty did exist and had length, width, and depth, then something (not nothing) would exist there
• This contrasts with Democritus, who affirms both atoms and the empty to account for motion
• Aristotle agrees with Empedocles that the empty does not exist, but explains motion through circular displacement rather than void

Love and Hate as Cosmic Causes #

• Empedocles introduces a third kind of cause: the mover (ἀρχή of motion)
• The principle: contrary effects require contrary causes
• Since earth, air, fire, and water come together and then separate (contrary effects), there must be contrary causes
• Love (Aphrodite) brings the elements together; Hate (Strife) separates them
• This creates a cyclical process: all things come together under love, then separate under hate, eternally
• These are not rational causes but mindless cosmic forces

Three Kinds of Causes in Empedocles #

1. Matter: the four elements
2. Form: the numerical ratios of mixture (Pythagorean influence)
3. Mover: love and hate (echoing Heraclitus’ emphasis on motion)

The Problem of Order Without Mind #

• Empedocles must explain the good arrangement of animal and plant parts (eyes in the head, teeth arranged properly) without invoking mind
• His solution: mindless love produces random combinations—many grotesque and unviable
• Examples of failed combinations: foreheads without necks, bare arms without shoulders, eyes without foreheads, mermaids, centaurs, offspring of cattle with human faces and men with oxen heads
• These monstrous forms cannot survive because they lack the parts necessary for survival
• By chance, love eventually combined the elements in a viable way; all non-viable combinations perished
• This is an early form of natural selection through survival of the fittest

Contrast with Anaxagoras #

• Anaxagoras observes that order in natural things (animals, plants) resembles order in artificial things (chairs, buildings)
• The cause of order in artificial things is the human mind
• By the principle “like effects have like causes,” there must be a greater mind causing order in natural things
• This is far more reasonable than explaining order by chance alone
• Aristotle praised Anaxagoras for this insight: “Anaxagoras seemed like a sober man among drunk men”
• Socrates was impressed by Anaxagoras but thought he did not develop the consequences of his position sufficiently

Epistemology: The Thing Known in the Knower #

• Empedocles asserts: “By earth we see earth, by water water, godlike air by air, destroying fire by fire, love by love, and hate by hate”
• The principle: the thing known must be in the knower before it can be known
• Example: we remember people because we have their shape and color somehow within us
• Empedocles conceives this reception materially—as if the shape literally enters the knower

The Problem with Material Reception #

• If material reception were true, a wooden or marble statue would know the person it represents (since it has received their shape)
• Yet a statue does not know the person
• Therefore, knowledge cannot involve material reception of form in the way matter receives form
• Later thinkers (Aristotle, Anaxagoras) recognize an immaterial reception of form
• The form is received as other, retaining its nature as the form of another, not becoming the knower’s own form
• Knowledge involves receiving the form without losing one’s own form—an immaterial reception
• The higher one goes in knowing (from sensation to intellection), the more immaterial the reception becomes
• When intellection reaches the self, it becomes completely immaterial

Thought as Blood #

• If thought is material, what material substance could it be? Bone, flesh, or blood?
• Blood is the best candidate because:
  1. Thought seems to be a kind of motion (discourse = running); blood circulates
  2. Thought is subtle and penetrating; blood is more penetrating than bone or flesh (as demonstrated by a handkerchief experiment—bone and flesh don’t penetrate, but blood would)
• Empedocles identifies thought with blood, which must exist in the region of the heart
• This same thinking appears in modern biologists who identify thought with the finest material substance available (electrons, brain waves, etc.)

Key Arguments #

The Principle of Contrary Causes #

1. Contrary effects (coming together, separating) are observed in nature
2. Contrary effects require contrary causes (not a single cause)
3. In human society, love brings people together and hate separates them
4. By analogy (like effects have like causes), cosmic forces of love and hate must exist in nature
5. Therefore, love and hate are the moving causes that govern all natural change

The Problem of Order and Causation #

Empedocles’ approach:

1. Order in animal and plant parts exists
2. This order must be explained by mindless causes (the four elements plus love and hate)
3. Mindless causes produce random combinations
4. Only viable combinations survive; non-viable ones perish
5. Therefore, present order results from survival of the luckiest combinations

Anaxagoras’ critique (implicit):

1. Order in artificial things is caused by human mind
2. Order in natural things resembles order in artificial things
3. Like effects have like causes
4. Therefore, a greater mind causes order in natural things (far more reasonable than chance)

The Problem of Material Knowledge Reception #

1. Empedocles claims the thing known must be in the knower
2. If reception is material, then a statue (having received the person’s shape) would know that person
3. But the statue does not know the person
4. Therefore, reception cannot be material in the way matter receives form
5. Knowledge must involve immaterial reception of form

Important Definitions #

The Four Elements (Στοιχεῖα) #

• Fire (πῦρ): Hot and dry; associated with Zeus
• Air (ἀήρ): Hot and wet (as steam); intermediate between fire and water; associated with Hera
• Water (ὕδωρ): Cold and wet; associated with Nestus; moistens all things
• Earth (γῆ): Cold and dry; associated with Hades; the foundation

Love (Φιλότης) and Hate (Νεῖκος) #

• Not rational principles but cosmic forces
• Love: brings the four elements together, creating unity and mixture
• Hate: separates the elements, creating multiplicity and division
• Operate eternally in a cyclical process

Change of Place (Μεταβολὴ κατὰ τόπον) #

• Movement of things from one location to another
• The only kind of change understood by early Greeks and early modern scientists
• All apparent changes (alteration, growth, generation) reduce to disguised change of place

Potency/Ability (Δύναμις) #

• The capacity of something to become something else
• Essential for understanding inward change (alteration, growth, true generation)
• Without it, all apparent change reduces to mere mixing and separation of eternal things

The Empty/Void (Τὸ κενόν) #

• That which is nothing; empty space
• Empedocles denies its existence because “nothing” cannot exist or have properties
• If it had length, width, and depth, something (not nothing) would be there
• Democritus affirms the empty to account for motion and change
• Einstein’s field theory suggests a return to Empedocles’ and Aristotle’s position (no true void)

Immaterial Reception (Ἀνεύ ὕλης) #

• Reception of form without material transformation
• The knower receives the form as other, not as its own form
• Characteristic of knowing (both sensation and especially intellection)
• Contrasts with how matter receives form (materially, becoming the form)

Examples & Illustrations #

The Butter Example #

• Butter becomes hard when cold, soft when warm
• These are contrary effects requiring contrary causes (cold/hot)
• Demonstrates the principle that contrary effects arise from contrary causes, not a single cause

The Suitcase Packing Example #

• The more tightly objects are packed in a suitcase, the less they can move
• If nothing were empty (no void), the universe would be packed completely tight
• Therefore, nothing could move at all without some empty space
• (Democritus’ argument; Empedocles would reject the premise)

The Monstrous Combinations #

• Foreheads burst forth without necks
• Bare arms wandered without shoulders
• Eyes wandered without foreheads
• Offspring of cattle with human faces; men with oxen heads
• Mermaids: fish-like bodies with human lungs (cannot survive in ocean or on land)
• Centaurs: human and horse parts mixed
• All perished because they could not function or survive

The Handkerchief Experiment #

• A wet handkerchief allows blood to penetrate through
• A piece of bone or dry flesh does not penetrate
• Demonstrates that blood is the most subtle and penetrating material substance
• Therefore, if thought is material, it must be blood

The Statue Problem #

• A marble or wooden statue receives the shape of the person it represents
• Yet the statue does not know the person
• If knowledge required material reception of form (as matter receives form), the statue would know
• Since the statue does not know despite having the person’s shape, knowledge must involve immaterial reception

Notable Quotes #

“By earth we see earth, by water water, godlike air by air, destroying fire by fire, love by love, and hate by hate.” (Empedocles, DK109)

This fragment expresses Empedocles’ epistemological principle that the thing known must be in the knower—we know earth because we have earth in us, and so forth.

“At one time, it grew from the many to be one only. At another time, on the other hand, it grew apart from the one to be many.” (Empedocles, on the cyclical cosmos)

Expresses the eternal cycle of unity under love and multiplicity under hate.

“Many sides of foreheads without necks burst forth, and bare arms wandered bereft of shoulders, and eyes wandered in need of foreheads.” (Empedocles, describing monstrous combinations)

Illustrates the random, grotesque combinations produced by mindless love before survival selection eliminated non-viable forms.

“Anaxagoras seemed like a sober man among drunk men.” (Aristotle, on Anaxagoras)

Aristotle’s praise for Anaxagoras’ insight that mind causes order in nature, in contrast to Empedocles’ appeal to blind chance.

Questions Addressed #

How does Empedocles explain order in nature without mind? #

Through random combinations: mindless love brings elements together in all possible ways, creating monstrous forms. Only viable combinations survive; all others perish. This gives the illusion of order, but it results from chance and survival, not intelligent design.

Why does Anaxagoras’ position regarding order seem superior? #

Anaxagoras recognizes that order in natural things (animals, plants) resembles order in artificial things (chairs, buildings). Since human mind causes order in artificial things, and like effects have like causes, a greater mind must cause order in natural things. This is more reasonable than explaining order by mere chance.

Can the principle “the thing known must be in the knower” be understood materially? #

No, because material reception leads to absurdity: a statue receiving the person’s shape in matter would then know that person (since it has the person’s shape in it), but statues do not know. Reception of form in knowing must be immaterial—the knower receives the form as other, without becoming that form.

What is the best candidate for the material substance of thought? #

If thought is material, blood is the best candidate because: (1) thought appears to be a kind of motion, and blood circulates; (2) thought is subtle and penetrating, and blood penetrates more than bone or flesh. However, this entire materialist approach to thought is flawed.

Why does Empedocles deny the existence of the empty? #

Because the empty is nothing, and to say nothing exists is contradictory. If the empty had spatial dimensions (length, width, depth), it would not be empty—something would be there. Therefore, the empty cannot exist.

What is the relationship between contrary effects and contrary causes? #

Contrary effects must have contrary causes. Since elements come together (effect) and separate (contrary effect), there must be a cause of unity (love) and a cause of separation (hate). This principle is fundamental to natural explanation.