A century later, following the rise of philosophy, the question “what is the world made of” continued to be of major concern for philosophers. It was then, that Empedocles of Akragas reasoned with his theory of the four elements which was later unconditionally accepted by philosophers around the nation and laid the groundwork for Alchemy until the Renaissance.
Empedocles used the Milesian theory of elements as his inception and advanced its claims by suggesting that instead of one there are four distinct elements in the universe – earth, water, air, and fire. Moreover, he used Parmenides’ theory of monism to argue that these elements are, indeed, eternal and unchangeable in nature, but the change is possible if initiated by a force that could alter the mixture of these elements. He named two opposing forces as the cause of attraction and separation which could change the composition of elements – which he poetically called – Love and Strife.
