EMPED'OCLES (Lat., from Gk. 'Epre50KX;29, Empedokles) (c.429 u.c.-?). A Greek philoso pher. He was born of a distinguished family at grigentmu in Sicily, and was held in high esteem by his fellow citizens for his skill in medi cine and rhetoric, as well as for his ability as a philosopher. He used his influence to help establish a democracy in his native city. After his death marvelous tales were current of his powers as a magician which enabled him to turn away pestilential winds, to recall to life a girl thought to have been long dead, and to perform similar miracles. Indeed, it would seem from his own verses, preserved by Diogenes Laertius S, 62, that he claimed to be immortal and accepted as his right all the honors shown him by his con temporaries. Of his death various traditions were current in later antiquity. The most famil iar of these said that he leaped into the crater of Etna; another that he was translated while his companions slept; but a. third said that he (lied a natural death in the Peloponnesus. Empedocles was possessed of considerable poetic gifts and left behind him two poems, one on Na ture (11ept 145(leas), which set forth his theory of the universe; the other, entitled KaGappoi, of ethical import. in which he exhorted his fellow citizens to lives of purity. In this latter poem lie seems to have adopted the Pythagorean doc trine that some souls at least must migrate through many bodies to be purified. Of these poems large fragments have been preserved.
In philosophy Empedocles was an eclectic, at tempting a combination of the teachings of the Eleatic School (q.v.) as to 'being' with Hera clitus's doctrine of 'becoming.' Following the teaching of the Eleatics that 'being' is eternal and imperishable, he assumed four elements, earth, air, fire, and water. mutually inderivatire, inde pendent principles, which, however, are capable of being divided. That these four elements differ qualitatively, and therefore cannot consist of pure being, was a difficulty which did not occur to him. To account for the changing phenomena of the visible world. he employed the principle of `becoming' enunciated by Heraelitus, but postu lated as the two primal dynamic causes of change. 'Friendship' ( q5LX61-nsland 'Strife' ( PEFKOS), of which the first is the uniting, the second the separating. principle. In the beginning, accord
ing to Empedocles. the four elements existed to gether immovable in the Sphere (tribaipos), the perfect primitive world, where they were main tained by Friendship, until Strife, which orig inally was outside, gradually made its way into the Sphere and separated the elements and gave rise to individual and contrary phenomena. ''The two principles, Friendship and Strife, by action and interaction produce constant change, and ultimately the world must again return to its original unity, only to give birth to a new sys tem, and so on indefinitely. By attributing to his four elements immutable being, so that they can not arise out of each other or be changed one into another. Empedocles made an advance over the early Physicists, and by recognizing in contrast to the Eleaties that change actually exists, and by adopting primal causes, he places in a new light the distinction between matter and its in forming principles. On many points Empedocles's views are not clear: but his theory of knowledge is of especial interest, for he was the first to state clearly the doctrine that like is known by like, i.e. that the mind perceives only that which is by nature cognate or analogous to it. that we our selves are composed of the same elements which make up all things of which we can have any knowledge.
Ernpedoeles was greatly admired in antiquity, especially by Aristotle and Lucretius. The latter chose him as his model, although lie criticised his philosophy. The fragments of his work have been published by Peyron (Leipzig, 1310) ; Karsten (Amsterdam. 1838) Stein (Bonn, 1832) ; licrgk Leipzig. 1866) ; Frog. Phil. Grwc., vol. i. (Paris, 1860); !titter and l'reller, /fist. Phil. Grac. (Gotha, 1888). Consult also: “ladisch, Empedokles and die Argypter I Leipzig. 1858); Lommatzseh. Die Weisheit des Enipedoklcs etc. (Berlin, 1330) ; Ritter, Lieber dic phihmophische Lehre En, prdok/es (Iierl in, 1820 )Banner, Enipcdokles ( Leipzig, I 879) ; Zel ler. Philosophic tier Grief-hem i. (Leipzig, 188] ) ; Ueberweg, History of Philosophy, i., trans. (New Work. 1872) ; Erdman'', History of Philosophy, i., trans. (London. 1889).