From the book
Empedocles’ The Testimonia, Volume II
Empedocles of Acragas · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordApathēs means unaffected or not undergoing an affection; kōphoterai means duller or less acute.
- In this workTheophrastus says a sense must be brought to its object unaffected.
- In this editionThe commentary presents sensory neutrality as a principle governing all subsequent antiquity.
- A place to readStates the unaffected-sense requirement and adduces ringing, flavours, and odours.
Meaning
Apathēs means unaffected or not undergoing an affection; kōphoterai means duller or less acute. In §19 these terms belong to Theophrastus's requirements for successful sensing, not a definition openly quoted from Empedocles.
Use in the book
Theophrastus says a sense must be brought to its object unaffected. Ringing in the ears, flavours already in tasting, and odour already in smelling make the respective senses duller, especially as they fill with what is like. These examples challenge a simple quality-for-quality reading of likeness: more of the same sensible property in an organ can impede rather than enable discrimination.
The proposed neutrality is relative to the object to be perceived. It need not mean that the organ lacks all bodily constitution or every capacity for change. Theophrastus ends by allowing that some distinction might be drawn about these cases. That qualification is essential: he is exposing an underexplained appeal to likeness, not demonstrating that every interpretation of elemental affinity is refuted by sensory adaptation. The headword makes his counterprinciple retrievable while keeping its argumentative authorship clear.
Places to read
- A 86 §§ 18–19 (polemical)Theophrastus, On the Senses 19. States the unaffected-sense requirement and adduces ringing, flavours, and odours.
- A 86 §§ 20–21 (polemical)2Theophrastus, On the Senses 21. Adds health and openness of the organ as conditions not reducible to incoming air.
Translation in this edition
The commentary presents sensory neutrality as a principle governing all subsequent antiquity. That sweeping historical claim is unnecessary to the passage's interpretation and is not established by the dossier itself.