From the book
Empedocles’ The Testimonia, Volume II
Empedocles of Acragas · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordAlienatio mentis denotes a departure from ordinary mental functioning or derangement of mind.
- In this workThe phrase describes the second kind distinguished by those following Empedocles in Caelius Aurelianus's report.
- In this editionThe Latin contrast uses animi for the purgative phrase and mentis for derangement.
- A place to readNames mental derangement from bodily causes as the second and medically selected condition.
Meaning
Alienatio mentis denotes a departure from ordinary mental functioning or derangement of mind. “Alienation” here is a Latin medical expression, not the modern social or philosophical concept of estrangement, and not a precise present-day psychiatric diagnosis.
Use in the book
The phrase describes the second kind distinguished by those following Empedocles in Caelius Aurelianus's report. It arises from a bodily cause or disorder, and it is the condition the medical author says he is about to discuss. When it produces great distress, the Greek name mania is applied.
This wording separates the affected domain, mind, from the assigned bodily source. It need not imply that mind is an immaterial substance external to the body; the sentence supplies no such theory. Nor does it establish that Empedocles personally gave the same classification in these words. The report is later and explicitly mediated through followers. Its interest lies in a causal distinction among disturbed conditions, alongside the other kind associated with purgation of soul.
Places to read
- A 98 (testimony)Caelius Aurelianus, On Chronic Diseases. Names mental derangement from bodily causes as the second and medically selected condition.
Translation in this edition
The Latin contrast uses animi for the purgative phrase and mentis for derangement. Their coexistence should be preserved, without inferring that they translate two systematically distinct Empedoclean Greek faculties.