From the book
Empedocles’ The Testimonia, Volume II
Empedocles of Acragas · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordThe superlatives mean most intelligent, most exact, and most senseless.
- In this workThe best-performing persons are said to have equal or nearly equal elements, neither far apart nor excessively small or large.
- In this edition“Nearly equal” and the proximity of others to the optimum matter.
- A place to readConnects gradations of intellectual and sensory excellence with balance, spacing, and size.
Meaning
The superlatives mean most intelligent, most exact, and most senseless. Theophrastus uses them to describe graded differences in cognitive and sensory performance, not different human species or fixed moral worth.
Use in the book
The best-performing persons are said to have equal or nearly equal elements, neither far apart nor excessively small or large. Those nearest this condition perform correspondingly well; the opposite condition produces the least intelligence. The report is consequently graded rather than a simple all-or-nothing division between thinkers and nonthinkers.
The link between intelligence and accuracy of sensation belongs to the broader account in which thought is identical with or close to perception. Yet the following examples of local skill complicate any claim that every ability improves uniformly: a favourable blend in one part may support eloquence or craftsmanship specifically. These distinctions should remain visible rather than being gathered under an anachronistic numerical measure of intelligence. Theophrastus eventually challenges the physical sufficiency of the explanation, so his detailed exposition is evidence of an attributed account, not his endorsement.
Places to read
- A 86 §§ 10–11 (testimony)Theophrastus, On the Senses 11. Connects gradations of intellectual and sensory excellence with balance, spacing, and size.
- A 86 § 24 (polemical)Theophrastus, On the Senses 24. Questions whether local blood-blending adequately causes skilled capacities.
Translation in this edition
“Nearly equal” and the proximity of others to the optimum matter. The report does not state a fixed recipe or numerical proportion, and the edition's comparison with later temperament theory should remain a historical suggestion rather than an established genealogy.