beings, which we call love and hate, with the
universally operating forces of the material world. Human love and
{84} hate are but the manifestations in us of the mechanical forces of
attraction and repulsion at work in the world at large.

Empedocles taught the doctrine of periodic world-cycles. The
world-process is, therefore, properly speaking, circular, and has
neither beginning nor end. But in describing this process one must
begin somewhere. We will begin, then, with the sphairos (sphere). In
the primeval sphere the four elements are completely mixed, and
interpenetrate each other completely. Water is not separated off from
air, nor air from earth. All are chaotically mixed together. In any
portion of the sphere there must be an equal quantity of earth, air,
fire and water. The elements are thus in union, and the sole force
operative within the sphere is Love or Harmony. Hence the sphere is
called a "blessed god." Hate, however, exists all round the outside of
the sphere. Hate gradually penetrates from the circumference towards
the centre and introduces the process of separation and disunion of
the elements. This process continues till, like coming together with
like, the elements are wholly separated. All the water is together;
all the fire is together, and so on. When this process of
disintegration is complete, Hate is supreme and Love is entirely
driven out. But Love again begins to penetrate matter, to cause union
and mixture of the elements, and finally brings the world back to the
state of the original sphere. Then the same process begins again. At
what position in this circular movement is our present world to be
placed? The answer is that it is neither in the complete union of the
sphere, nor is it completely disintegrated. It is half-way between the
sphere and the stage of total {85} disintegration. It is proceeding
from the former towards the later, and Hate is gradually gaining the
upper hand. In the formation of the present world from the sphere the
first element to be separated off was air, next fire, then the earth.
Water is squeezed out of the earth by the rapidity of its rotation.
The sky is composed of two halves. One is of fire, and this is the
day. The other is dark matter with masses of fire scattered about in
it, and this is the night.

Empedocles believed in the transmigration of souls. He also put
forward a theory of sense-perception, the essential of which is that
like perceives like. The