From the book
Empedocles’ The Testimonia, Volume II
Empedocles of Acragas · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordPhora is travel or locomotion; kyathoi are ladles or small vessels.
- In this workAristotle places Empedocles among thinkers who generate a heaven and explain the earth's gathering at the centre.
- In this editionThe edition firmly calls the analogy Empedocles' own and identifies the phenomenon as centrifugal.
- A place to readReports rotation as the cause of terrestrial stability and develops the rotating-ladle analogy; apparatus cites 295a22.
Meaning
Phora is travel or locomotion; kyathoi are ladles or small vessels. Aristotle's report connects the heaven's circular movement with the familiar retention of water in a vessel that is swung around.
Use in the book
Aristotle places Empedocles among thinkers who generate a heaven and explain the earth's gathering at the centre. The further problem is why the earth remains there. Unlike those who appeal to its breadth and size, Empedocles is said to invoke the heaven's rapid circular motion, which prevents the earth's movement as a rotating ladle retains water even when the water would otherwise fall. The passage supplies an intelligible mechanical analogy and distinguishes the origin of a central position from its continued maintenance. It does not give a quantitative dynamical law. Furthermore, Aristotle narrates the analogy within his own conceptual vocabulary, including the claim that water is naturally carried downward. Whether every part of that exposition derives directly from Empedocles cannot be determined from the excerpt alone.
Places to read
- A 67 (testimony)Aristotle, On the Heavens. Reports rotation as the cause of terrestrial stability and develops the rotating-ladle analogy; apparatus cites 295a22.
Translation in this edition
The edition firmly calls the analogy Empedocles' own and identifies the phenomenon as centrifugal. The attribution to his explanation is supported; the exact authorship of the elaboration and a modern mechanical interpretation should remain qualified.