(Originally written July 2, 2006 in Book 2)
The History of Western Philosophy
Bertrand Russell
1974
Chapter 6 - Empedocles
Empedocles lived around 440 BC in Acragas (Southern Sicily). Legend calls Empedocles a miracle worker.
He discovered air as a separate substance, discovered a sense of centrifugal force, and knew that plants had a gender.
He believed in a theory of evolution and a fantastic version of the survival of the fittest.
He knew that the moon shined via reflection and that eclipses were caused by the interposition of the moon.
He founded the Italian school of medicine which influenced both Plato & Aristotle.
Fire, earth, water and air were everlasting elements and combined in differing proportions formed all substance in the world. Love combined them; strife separated them.
Love and strive were eternal like the four elements.
His religion was very Orphic and Pythagorean - sometimes he considered himself a god; sometimes a doomed sinner. To prove himself a god he jumped into a volcano. He obviously was not a god.
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