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Work #508 · Early

On Nature and Purifications (Fragments)

Empedocles of Acragas
c. 450 BCE · Ancient Greek
Philosophical poems (fragments) · Pre-Socratic philosophy

Empedocles's c. 450 BCE fragments — four roots (earth, air, fire, water), love and strife, transmigration

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute On Nature and Purifications (Fragments) (Early)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Cyclical
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Plural
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Both
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency Cosmic-ordering
Observer · Moral Authority Tradition
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

On Nature and Purifications (Fragments)

Cyclical cosmic time of Love-Strife alternation.

Space

On Nature and Purifications (Fragments)

The cosmos as battlefield of Love and Strife.

Matter

On Nature and Purifications (Fragments)

The four roots (earth, air, fire, water).

Observer

On Nature and Purifications (Fragments)

The transmigrating soul.

Energy

On Nature and Purifications (Fragments)

Love (Philotēs) and Strife (Neikos) as cosmic forces.

Information

On Nature and Purifications (Fragments)

Cosmological-eschatological poetic framework.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

On Nature and Purifications (Fragments)

Empedocles's four-elements tradition foundational for Aristotelian and medieval natural philosophy.