elements are brought together once more by Love, the mass of each is divided. In another place, he says that, while Strife is assumed as the cause of destruction, and does, in fact, destroy the Sphere, it really gives birth to everything else in so doing.[1] It follows that we must carefully distinguish between the Love of Empedokles and that "attraction of like for like" to which he also attributed an important part in the formation of the world. The latter is not an element distinct from the others; it depends on the proper nature of each element, and is only able to take effect when Strife divides the Sphere. Love, on the contrary, produces an attraction of unlikes.
109.Mixture and separation. But, when Strife has separated the elements, what determines the direction of their motion? Empedokles seems to have given no further explanation than that each was "running" in a certain direction (fr. 53)., Plato severely condemns this in the Laws,[2] on the ground that no room is thus left for design. Aristotle also blames him for giving no account of the Chance to which he ascribed so much importance. Nor is the Necessity, of which he also spoke, further explained.[3] Strife enters into the Sphere at a certain time in virtue of Necessity, or "the mighty oath" (fr. 30); but we are told no more about that.
The expression used by Empedokles to describe the movement of the elements is that they "run through each other" (fr. 17, 34.). Aristotle tells us[4] that he explained mixture in general by "the symmetry of pores." And this is the true explanation of the "attraction of like for like." The "pores" of like bodies are, of course, much the same size, and these bodies can therefore mingle easily. On the other hand, a finer body will "run through" a coarse one without becoming mixed, and a coarse body will not be
- ↑ Met. A, 4. 985 a 21; Γ, 4. 1000 a 24; b 9 (R. P. 166 i).
- ↑ Plato, Laws, x. 889 b. The reference is not to Empedokles exclusively, but the language shows that Plato is thinking mainly of him.
- ↑ Arist. De gen. corr. B, 6. 334 a 1; Phys. Θ, 1. 252 a 5 (R. P. 166 k).
- ↑ Arist. De gen. corr. A, 8. 324 b 34 (R. P. 166 h).
