Empedocles: Neurophilosophy and Neurosciences- Prophecy and Reality
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Journal of Neurology & Stroke Empedocles: Neurophilosophy and Neurosciences- Prophecy and Reality Keywords Editorial Volume 1 Issue 6 - 2014 Empedocles; Neurosciences; Neurophilosophy; Mitochondria; Limbic system; Amygdala Stavros J. Baloyannis* Editorial Aristotelian University, Greece *Corresponding author: Neurosciences are extended into a broad field, where the Stavros J. Baloyannis, Department scientific observation and research join harmoniously the of Emeritus, Aristotelian University, Thessaloniki, Angelaki 5, Greece,Received: Tel: +302310270434; Email:| Published: imagination, the intuition, the philosophy, the critic analysis, 2014 the enthusiasm and the skepticism, opening new horizons in the October 01, 2014 October 06, Fromtheoretic the perspectivesEra of Pre-Socratic and offering philosophers, new motivations soul and for mind research, have on the bases of an advanced multi-dimensional intellectuality. meditation [1]. Questions that the human being posed to himself, emotions, the feelings and the social behavior of the human being. been the subject of continuous speculation, study, research and soul in order to discover the interior power which motivates the concerning the existence, the soul, the psychosomatic entity, the regulatesHe tried to and identify controls the mainall the pivots spectrum of the of emotional the human interactions. emotions. cognition, the knowledge of the world, and the perception of time He insisted that Love and Strife are the ends of an axis, which and space used to exercise always an existential anxiety. According to Empedocles there is not birth or coming into Very frequently, human emotions have been the foci of existence and death. There is only a connection or mixture and insisting endeavors for right interpretation and detailed analysis. separation of four pure fundamental elements or “roots”, which Reasonably, the importance of the mental activities and interior are “the earth”, “the air”, “the fire” and “the water”. According feelings on the psychosomatic homeostasis are subjects of to Aristotle these four elements, which have been traditional inquiry from the Greek antiquity up to our Era [2]. Among the concepts in Greek physical theory [12], were mentioned first pre-Socratic philosophers Empedocles may be considered as by Empedocles. The theory of the four fundamental elements or 2 the most proximate to Neurosciences. He was younger that roots is not far from the scientific reality, since earth symbolizes 2 Heraclitus [3] and older than Socrates, born in the city of Acragas the carbon (C), the basis of any organic substance, the water (H O) (Agrigento, Sicily) one of the most prosperous and beautiful cities and the air (O ) are also essential elements of the life and the fire of the “Grecia Magna”, in 492 BC. We don’t know any detail of created from the union of carbon with oxygen is the source of Empedocles’ life. Diogenes Laeertius’ records on Empedocles energy for any activity in life (circle of Krebs). are intermixed with myths, stories and legends of contradictory These four essential ingredients are simple, unalterable, prophet,character poet [4,5]. of aFrom high talent,all the brilliant records, orator, we canman concludeof exceptional that Empedocles was philosopher, physician and priest, mystic and eternal and well balanced. The main forces of universal value which provoke the mixture and the separations of the four knowledge, characterized by generosity and magnanimity, who fundamental elements are Love and Strife. These are the eternal attempted to associate philosophy with science. powers which control mixing and unmixing of all elements. Empedocles writings are mainly summarized in two poems, Love is the connecting power. The elements are united, blended and harmoniously intermixed under the beneficial haswritten an obviousin hexameter cosmologic verse character,[6]. One of introducing them was entitledat the same “On Nature” and the other “Purifications”. [7,8] The poem on Nature agency of Love. Which pervades the universe and acts as the moving power of the human life. There is no transition from the time the main principles of evolutional ontology. The other existence in to nothingness, but only a ceaseless interchange of poems entitle “Purifications” has a strong religious character. successive existences, controlled by the alternating domination From the two poems only 450 lines, in fragments, have been of Love and Strife. All the creation is based on the Love and any survived, which are strong enough for revieling the philosophical tendency for development of a harmonious [13], rational society, principles, the clarity of the mind, the enthusiastic character of the characterized by friendship, kindness and perfect collaboration philosopher and the influences by Heraclitus [9] and Parmenides is also based on Love. the chaos. It causes alteration, transformation and separation [10,11]. Some of Empedocles’ concepts may also be attributed Strife induces the enmity, the hostility, the separation and to Anaximander and Pythagoras, while his methodology may be Empedocles endeavored to enter in the depths of the human to disintegration. Strife can separate even the members of the attributed to Anaxagoras. of the global unity into separated masses which are destined Submit Manuscript | http://medcraveonline.com J Neurol Stroke 2014, 1(6): 00037 Copyright: Empedocles: Neurophilosophy and Neurosciences- Prophecy and Reality 2/5 2014 Baloyannis body and the elements of the soul. The two “powers” exist and Empedocles described the Globe (Sphere or Sphaera) as a onwould the balanceexist for of ever the inuniverse a continuous and the opposition, homeostasis exchanging of the human and god-like entity, as a prototype stereoscopic image of the unity replacing each other in a round way, exercising a strong influence and harmony, of the completeness and self-sufficiency, according to Orphic concept of friendly collaboration of all ingredients soul. These two forces control the continuous interchange of [19], which are connected together with the strong links of Love, life and death. Everything suffers from the contradiction and composing the “One” [20]. The Globe is a symbol of unanimity, rivalry between Love and Strife, which control the cosmic cycle equality, equivalence and harmonious homeostatic state. On of continuous alterations. As long as the conflict between Love the other hand Globus may symbolize the generation of the soul and Strife would last, the human being shall remain prisoner and [14] and the eschatological restoration of everything within the captive of his own passions, unable to find the real way of his life, bounds of harmony, tranquility and reason. Empedocles claimed unable to establish in self the interior peace and harmony. He that there was a stage in which Love was dominant and all things soulwould never have cease, the feelings due to ofperpetual pleasure exchange and pain ofalternatively. preponderance The were unified and intermingled with one another into a Sphere in suffering of the universe and the anxiety and agony of the human a cosmic harmony. Unfortunately Strife separated the elements in a later time inducing mortality and decay. That, in fact, was the between Love and Strife, unless the connecting power of Love beginning of cosmogony [21,22]. succeeds to dominate eventually establishing the peace, the troubles and trials the human soul and disturbs thoughts and Empedocles underlined that the continuous controversy friendship, the unity and the concreteness and everything would come into “one” under love. emotions (Frag.114). It is true, that problematizing and disputing Without Love the man is enclosed in an unfamiliar tunic of are essential in scientific research especially in the field of flesh and an exile from the territory of harmony and serenity Neurosciences. Many years later, the skeptics, such as Sextus [16].[14]. He is far from the wealth of divine understanding, a servant Empiricus [23] claimed that controversy is the theoretical basis of passions, fear, instability, threat [15], succumbed to homicide of Science and Philosophy and they tried to deliberate the thinker encouragingfrom the dogmatism him to proceed and the to anxiety a continuous and depression, search for which the truth are derived from the fixation on inflexible doctrines and axioms, The happiness and the exhilaration are attributed to Love, [24]. which is the omnipotent force acting in balance and harmony, which penetrates deeply the members of the human body and the soul as a genuine purifying power. The unity and solidity of the Inbasic the elementsfield of the of biologicalthe creation sciences and the Empedocles’ life is of existential theory of the human existence is virtually based on the unifying power of importance.the four “roots” which have equal validity and importance, as Love (Frag. 19). Empedocles claimed that ontogenesis under the power of Love results in creation of perfect entities, bodies and faces, The earth, the fire, the air and the water are the essential biologist,whereas under Empedocles the influence described of Strife the chimeric it results creatures, in malformations such as elements of living creatures. They symbolize at the same time the and congenital defects in humans, animals and plants. As unity and the multiplicity. The lack or the separation of one of them is incompatible with the continuation of the life. man-faced bulls, the teratogenesis in many creatures with a face female nature combined the malformations