Empedocles (Empedokles)

Empedocles; Empedokles, from Akragi (sovr. Agrigento), ca. 495-435 years. BC. e., Greek philosopher. Conducted nomadic life (mostly in Sicily), speaking as a philosopher and poet, and sometimes as a magician, healer, preacher of the secret teachings. Given an almost divine honors. Also lived in the Panhellenic colony Turii (Southern Italy) soon after its foundation (after 444). At the end of life, exiled from Akragi, died, probably in the Peloponnese. Even in the IV. BC. e. were constructed narrative of his life. Outgoing from hostile e. History circles about his suicidal leap into the crater of Etna was widespread in ancient literature. E. reputation of being a pupil of the Pythagoreans (cm. Pythagoras) and Parmenides, and he was a teacher of Gorgias. - E. wrote two poems: On the Nature (Peri physeos) in 2 books is a synthesis of Ionian cosmology and ontology of Parmenides. This poem E. dedicated to his disciple Pausanias. To purify (Katharmoi) told a soul, banished from the world of the gods on earth and there exists in various incarnations.

Blameless life, refraining from killing and consumption of meat people should open their way to the supreme embodiment, and eventually to unite with the gods (an obvious influence of Orphic-Pythagorean doctrine). Of these two poems E. of 5000 verses, remained approximately. 450 hexameters. Separation of fragments between the two poems distinctly. The works of these were killed, probably on the slope of antiquity. E. attributed addition authorship unpreserved tragedies and medical treatise. E. reconcile the teachings of Heraclitus with the views of Parmenides and Zeno of Elea. He taught that in nature nothing is created out of nothing and does not vanish into nothingness, there is only eternal confusion and division four of the eternal and immutable "root [rizomata] of all things - fire, air, water and land. (E. became the creator of the classic doctrine of the four elements.) called "roots" or elements that are connected to each other or separated under the influence of two opposing forces: Love (Philia) and Strife (Neikos).

E. took the concept of cyclic development of the world, . differences in its four periods: the first victorious Love connects all the elements in a perfect spherical divine being (Parmenides), in the second - in the realm of love invades hostile to her Discord, . and thus creates a mutable world of phenomena, in the third - Discord prevails, . breaking things all over the world into four elements, in the fourth Discord struggling with fledgling love, . and this struggle, . as in the second period, . creates volatile world of phenomena,
. E. highly of perceptual knowledge, but admitted that it is misleading. It is based on the fact that the "impact", separated from the things that enter through the pores in the body of people (generally: like to know something similar) E. also examines in detail the plant, . animals and people (rudiments of the theory of evolution and natural selection), . studied the structure of the human body (the spine and sense organs) and thought processes (a repository of thoughts about a throbbing heart blood),
. E. influenced the views of Anaxagoras, Gorgias, Leucippus, Democritus, Plato, Aristotle, the Epicureans, Posidonius and Lucretius.