From the book
Empedocles’ The Testimonia, Volume II
Empedocles of Acragas · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordAmblyōpein means to see dimly; amaurousthai means to become dimmed or obscured.
- In this workIn Theophrastus's exposition dim sight follows excess as well as deficiency.
- In this editionThe translation “spreads over” and “takes possession” preserves a mechanical image.
- A place to readMakes excess fire or water produce dim vision through obstruction.
Meaning
Amblyōpein means to see dimly; amaurousthai means to become dimmed or obscured. Here the terms designate impaired vision arising within a proposed elemental mechanism, not a diagnosis equivalent to a present-day ophthalmic category.
Use in the book
In Theophrastus's exposition dim sight follows excess as well as deficiency. Excess fire, further increased by daylight, spreads over and occupies water-passages; excessive water produces the converse obstruction at night. Opposites provide a cure by separating away what interferes. The model treats an organ's internal relation of constituents as decisive for its performance.
Theophrastus then uses the account against itself. If an unlike body can fit and block a passage, physical fit cannot alone guarantee perception. When perception does occur, the theory must explain both the displaced material's destination and the relevant change. The question turns an ordinary visual impairment into a test of the distinction between occupancy and perception. It is the critic's dilemma, not a recovered Empedoclean concession that there must be void.
Places to read
- A 86 §§ 7–8 (testimony)2Theophrastus, On the Senses 8. Makes excess fire or water produce dim vision through obstruction.
- A 86 §§ 14–15 (polemical)Theophrastus, On the Senses 14. Uses blocked passages to challenge the relation between fitting and perceiving.
Translation in this edition
The translation “spreads over” and “takes possession” preserves a mechanical image. It does not warrant identifying a particular disease, fluid, or modern visual defect.