Earth, water, air, fire, and (later) aether
Leibniz
representation of universe resulting by combination of Aristotle four elements
Rococo
set of
personification
figurines of the
Four Elements
, 1760s,
Chelsea porcelain
The
classical elements
typically refer to
earth
,
water
,
air
,
fire
, and (later)
aether
which were proposed to explain the nature and complexity of all
matter
in terms of simpler
substances
.
[1]
[2]
Ancient cultures in
Greece
,
Angola
,
Tibet
,
India
, and
Mali
had similar lists which sometimes referred, in local languages, to "air" as "wind", and the fifth element as "space".
The concept of five classical elements in the
traditional Meitei religion
(
Sanamahism
)
These different cultures and even individual philosophers had widely varying explanations concerning their attributes and how they related to observable phenomena as well as
cosmology
. Sometimes these theories overlapped with
mythology
and were
personified in deities
. Some of these interpretations included
atomism
(the idea of very small, indivisible portions of matter), but other interpretations considered the elements to be divisible into infinitely small pieces without changing their nature.
While the classification of the material world in ancient
India
,
Hellenistic Egypt
, and
ancient Greece
into air, earth, fire, and water was more philosophical, during the
Middle Ages
medieval
scientists
used practical, experimental observation to classify materials.
[3]
In
Europe
, the ancient Greek concept, devised by
Empedocles
, evolved into the systematic classifications of
Aristotle
and
Hippocrates
. This evolved slightly into the medieval system, and eventually became the object of experimental verification in the 17th century, at the start of the
Scientific Revolution
.
[4]
Modern science
does not support the classical elements to classify types of substances.
Atomic theory
classifies atoms into more than a hundred
chemical elements
such as
oxygen
,
iron
, and
mercury
, which may form
chemical compounds
and
mixtures
. The modern categories roughly corresponding to the classical elements are the
states of matter
produced under different temperatures and pressures.
Solid
,
liquid
,
gas
, and
plasma
share many attributes with the corresponding classical elements of earth, water, air, and fire, but these states describe the similar behavior of different types of atoms at similar energy levels, not the characteristic behavior of certain atoms or substances.
Hellenistic philosophy
[
edit
]
Aristotelian elements and qualities
|
Four classical elements
Empedoclean elements
fire
·
air
water
·
earth
|
The
ancient Greek
concept of four basic elements, these being earth (
γ?
ge
), water (
?δωρ
hyd?r
), air (
??ρ
a?r
), and fire (
π?ρ
p?r
), dates from
pre-Socratic
times and persisted throughout the
Middle Ages
and into the
Early modern period
, deeply influencing
European
thought and culture.
Pre-Socratic elements
[
edit
]
Water, air, or fire?
[
edit
]
The four classical elements of
Empedocles
and
Aristotle
illustrated with a burning log. The log releases all four elements as it is destroyed.
The classical elements were first proposed independently by several early Pre-Socratic philosophers.
Greek philosophers had debated which substance was the
arche
("first principle"), or primordial element from which everything else was made.
Thales
(
c.
626/623
? c.
548/545 BC
) believed that water was this principle.
Anaximander
(
c.
610
? c.
546 BC
) argued that the primordial substance was not any of the known substances, but could be transformed into them, and they into each other.
Anaximenes
(
c.
586
? c.
526 BC
) favored air, and
Heraclitus
(
fl.
c.
500 BC
) championed fire.
Fire, earth, air, and water
[
edit
]
The
Greek
philosopher
Empedocles
(
c.
450 BC
) was the first to propose the four classical elements as a set: fire, earth, air, and water.
He called them the four "roots" (
?ιζ?ματα
,
rhiz?mata
). Empedocles also proved (at least to his own satisfaction) that air was a separate substance by observing that a bucket inverted in water did not become filled with water, a pocket of air remaining trapped inside.
Fire, earth, air, and water have become the most popular set of classical elements in modern interpretations. One such version was provided by
Robert Boyle
in
The Sceptical Chymist
, which was published in 1661 in the form of a dialogue between five characters.
Themistius,
the
Aristotelian
of the party, says:
[11]
If You but consider a piece of green-Wood burning in a Chimney, You will readily discern in the disbanded parts of it the four Elements, of which we teach It and other mixt bodies to be compos’d. The fire discovers it self in the flame ... the smoke by ascending to the top of the chimney, and there readily vanishing into air ... manifests to what Element it belongs and gladly returnes. The water ... boyling and hissing at the ends of the burning Wood betrayes it self ... and the ashes by their weight, their firiness, and their dryness, put it past doubt that they belong to the Element of Earth.
Humorism (Hippocrates)
[
edit
]
Hippocrates
According to
Galen
, these elements were used by
Hippocrates
(
c.
460
? c.
370 BC
) in describing the
human body
with an association with the
four humours
: yellow
bile
(fire),
black bile
(earth),
blood
(air), and
phlegm
(water). Medical care was primarily about helping the patient stay in or return to their own personal natural balanced state.
[12]
Plato
[
edit
]
Plato
Plato
(428/423 ? 348/347 BC) seems to have been the first to use the term "element (
στοιχε?ον
,
stoicheion
)" in reference to air, fire, earth, and water.
[13]
The ancient Greek word for element,
stoicheion
(from
stoicheo
, "to line up") meant "smallest division (of a sun-dial), a syllable", as the composing unit of an alphabet it could denote a letter and the smallest unit from which a word is formed.
Aristotle
[
edit
]
Aristotle
In
On the Heavens
(350 BC), Aristotle defines "element" in general:
[14]
[15]
An element, we take it, is a body into which other bodies may be analysed, present in them potentially or in actuality (which of these, is still disputable), and not itself divisible into bodies different in form. That, or something like it, is what all men in every case mean by element.
[16]
?
Aristotle, On the Heavens, Book III, Chapter III
In his
On Generation and Corruption
,
[17]
Aristotle related each of the four elements to two of the four sensible '
qualities'
:
- Fire
is both hot and dry.
- Air
is both hot and wet (for air is like vapor,
?τμ??
).
- Water
is both cold and wet.
- Earth
is both cold and dry.
A classic diagram has one square
inscribed
in the other, with the corners of one being the classical elements, and the corners of the other being the properties. The opposite corner is the opposite of these properties, "hot???cold" and "dry???wet".
Aether
[
edit
]
Aristotle
added a fifth element,
aether
(
α?θ?ρ
aither
), as the quintessence, reasoning that whereas fire, earth, air, and water were earthly and corruptible, since no changes had been perceived in the heavenly regions, the
stars
cannot be made out of any of the four elements but must be made of a different, unchangeable, heavenly substance.
It had previously been believed by pre-Socratics such as Empedocles and
Anaxagoras
that aether, the name applied to the material of heavenly bodies, was a form of fire. Aristotle himself did not use the term
aether
for the fifth element, and strongly criticised the pre-Socratics for associating the term with fire. He preferred a number of other terms indicating eternal movement, thus emphasising the evidence for his discovery of a new element.
[20]
These five elements have been associated since Plato's
Timaeus
with the five
platonic solids
.
Neo-Platonism
[
edit
]
The
Neoplatonic
philosopher
Proclus
rejected Aristotle's theory relating the elements to the sensible qualities hot, cold, wet, and dry. He maintained that each of the elements has three properties. Fire is sharp (
?ξυτητα
), subtle (
λεπτομερειαν
), and mobile (
ε?κινησιαν
) while its opposite, earth, is blunt (
αμβλυτητα
), dense (
παχυμερειαν
), and immobile (
ακινησιαν
[21]
); they are joined by the intermediate elements, air and water, in the following fashion:
[22]
Fire
|
Sharp
|
Subtle
|
Mobile
|
Air
|
Blunt
|
Subtle
|
Mobile
|
Water
|
Blunt
|
Dense
|
Mobile
|
Earth
|
Blunt
|
Dense
|
Immobile
|
Hermeticism
[
edit
]
A text written in Egypt in
Hellenistic
or
Roman
times called the
Kore Kosmou
("Virgin of the World") ascribed to
Hermes Trismegistus
(associated with the Egyptian god
Thoth
), names the four elements fire, water, air, and earth. As described in this book:
And Isis answer made: Of living things, my son, some are made friends with
fire
, and some with
water
, some with
air
, and some with
earth
, and some with two or three of these, and some with all. And, on the contrary, again some are made enemies of fire, and some of water, some of earth, and some of air, and some of two of them, and some of three, and some of all. For instance, son, the locust and all flies flee fire; the eagle and the hawk and all high-flying birds flee water; fish, air and earth; the snake avoids the open air. Whereas snakes and all creeping things love earth; all swimming things love water; winged things, air, of which they are the citizens; while those that fly still higher love the fire and have the habitat near it. Not that some of the animals as well do not love fire; for instance salamanders, for they even have their homes in it. It is because one or another of the elements doth form their bodies' outer envelope. Each
soul
, accordingly, while it is in its body is weighted and constricted by these four.
[23]
Ancient Indian philosophy
[
edit
]
Hinduism
[
edit
]
The system of five elements are found in
Vedas
, especially
Ayurveda
, the
pancha mahabhuta
, or "five great elements", of
Hinduism
are:
- bh?mi
or
p?thv?
(
earth
),
[24]
- ?pas
or
jala
(
water
),
- agni
or
tejas
(
fire
),
- v?yu
,
vy?na
, or
v?ta
(
air
or
wind
)
- ?k??a
,
vyom
, or
??nya
(space or zero) or (
aether
or
void
).
[25]
They further suggest that all of creation, including the human body, is made of these five essential elements and that upon death, the human body dissolves into these five elements of nature, thereby balancing the cycle of nature.
[26]
The five elements are associated with the five senses, and act as the gross medium for the experience of sensations. The basest element, earth, created using all the other elements, can be perceived by all five senses???(i) hearing, (ii) touch, (iii) sight, (iv) taste, and (v) smell. The next higher element, water, has no odor but can be heard, felt, seen and tasted. Next comes fire, which can be heard, felt and seen. Air can be heard and felt. "Akasha" (aether) is beyond the senses of smell, taste, sight, and touch; it being accessible to the sense of hearing alone.
[27]
[28]
[29]
Buddhism
[
edit
]
Buddhism has had a variety of thought about the five elements and their existence and relevance, some of which continue to this day.
In the
Pali literature
, the
mahabhuta
("great elements") or
catudhatu
("four elements") are earth, water, fire and air. In
early Buddhism
, the four elements are a basis for understanding suffering and for liberating oneself from suffering. The earliest
Buddhist texts
explain that the four primary material elements are solidity, fluidity, temperature, and mobility, characterized as earth, water, fire, and air, respectively.
[30]
The
Buddha
's teaching regarding the four elements is to be understood as the base of all observation of real sensations rather than as a philosophy. The four properties are cohesion (water), solidity or inertia (earth), expansion or vibration (air) and heat or energy content (fire). He promulgated a categorization of mind and matter as composed of eight types of "
kalapas
" of which the four elements are primary and a secondary group of four are colour, smell, taste, and nutriment which are derivative from the four primaries.
[31]
[a]
[32]
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
(1997) renders an extract of
Shakyamuni Buddha
's from Pali into English thus:
Just as a skilled butcher or his apprentice, having killed a cow, would sit at a crossroads cutting it up into pieces, the monk contemplates this very body???however it stands, however it is disposed???in terms of properties: 'In this body there is the earth property, the liquid property, the fire property, & the wind property.'
[33]
Tibetan Buddhist
medical literature speaks of the
panca mah?bh?ta
(five elements) or "elemental properties":
[34]
earth, water, fire, wind, and space.
[34]
The concept was extensively used in
traditional Tibetan medicine
.
[35]
[36]
[34]
Tibetan Buddhist
theology
,
tantra
traditions, and "astrological texts" also spoke of them making up the "environment, [human] bodies," and at the smallest or "subtlest" level of existence, parts of thought and the mind.
[34]
Also at the subtlest level of existence, the elements exist as "pure natures represented by the five female buddhas", ?k??adh?tvi?var?, Buddhalocan?, Mamak?, P???ar?vasin?, and Samayat?r?, and these pure natures "manifest as the physical properties of earth (solidity), water (fluidity), fire (heat and light), wind (movement and energy), and" the expanse of space.
[34]
These natures exist as all "qualities" that are in the physical world and take forms in it.
[34]
Ancient African philosophy
[
edit
]
Angola
[
edit
]
The Bakongo Cosmogram
In traditional
Bakongo religion
, the five elements are incorporated into the
Kongo cosmogram
. This sacred symbol also depicts the physical world (
Nseke
), the spiritual world of the ancestors (
Mpemba
), the
Kalunga line
that runs between the two worlds, the circular void that originally formed the two worlds (
mbungi
), and
the path of the sun
. Each element correlates to a period in the life cycle, which the Bakongo people also equate to the four
cardinal directions
. According to their cosmology, all living things go through this cycle.
[37]
- Aether
represents
mbungi
, the circular void that begot the universe.
- Air
(South) represents
musoni
, the period of conception that takes place during spring.
- Fire
(East) represent
kala
, the period of birth that takes place during summer.
- Earth
(North) represents
tukula
, the period of maturity that takes place during fall.
- Water
(West) represents
luvemba
, the period of death that takes place during winter
Mali
[
edit
]
In traditional
Bambara
spirituality, the
Supreme God
created four additional essences of himself during creation. Together, these five essences of the deity correlate with the five classical elements.
[38]
[39]
- Koni is the thought and void (
aether
).
- Bemba (also called Pemba) is the god of the sky and
air
.
- Nyale (also called Koroni Koundye) is the goddess of
fire
.
- Faro is the androgynous god of
water
.
- Ndomadyiri is the god and master of the
earth
.
Post-classical history
[
edit
]
Alchemy
[
edit
]
Seventeenth century alchemical emblem showing the four Classical elements in the corners of the image, alongside the tria prima on the central triangle
The elemental system used in medieval
alchemy
was developed primarily by the anonymous authors of the Arabic works attributed to Pseudo
Apollonius of Tyana
.
This system consisted of the four classical elements of air, earth, fire, and water, in addition to a new theory called the
sulphur-mercury theory of metals
, which was based on two elements:
sulphur
, characterizing the principle of combustibility, "the stone which burns"; and
mercury
, characterizing the principle of metallic properties. They were seen by early alchemists as idealized expressions of irreducible components of the
universe
[41]
and are of larger consideration within philosophical alchemy.
The three metallic principles?sulphur to flammability or combustion, mercury to volatility and stability, and
salt
to solidity?became the
tria prima
of the Swiss alchemist
Paracelsus
. He reasoned that Aristotle's four element theory appeared in bodies as three principles. Paracelsus saw these principles as fundamental and justified them by recourse to the description of how wood burns in fire. Mercury included the cohesive principle, so that when it left in smoke the wood fell apart. Smoke described the volatility (the mercurial principle), the heat-giving flames described flammability (sulphur), and the remnant ash described solidity (salt).
Japan
[
edit
]
Japanese
traditions use a set of elements called the
五大
(
godai
, literally "five great"). These five are
earth
,
water
,
fire
,
wind
/air, and
void
. These came from Indian
Vastu shastra
philosophy and Buddhist beliefs; in addition, the
classical Chinese elements
(
五行
,
wu xing
) are also prominent in Japanese culture, especially to the influential Neo-Confucianists during the medieval
Edo period
.
[43]
- Earth
represented rocks and stability.
- Water
represented fluidity and adaptability.
- Fire
represented life and energy.
- Wind
represented movement and expansion.
- Void
or
Sky/Heaven
represented spirit and creative energy.
Medieval Aristotelian philosophy
[
edit
]
The
Islamic philosophers
al-Kindi
,
Avicenna
and
Fakhr al-Din al-Razi
followed
Aristotle
in connecting the four elements with the four natures heat and cold (the active force), and dryness and moisture (the recipients).
[44]
Medicine Wheel
[
edit
]
The medicine wheel symbol is a modern invention attributed to
Native American
peoples dating to approximately 1972, with the following descriptions and associations being a later addition. The associations with the classical elements are not grounded in traditional Indigenous teachings and the symbol has not been adopted by all Indigenous American nations.
[45]
[46]
[47]
[48]
[49]
- Earth
(South) represents the youth cycle,
summer
, the Indigenous race, and
cedar
medicine.
- Fire
(East) represents the birth cycle,
spring
, the Asian race, and
tobacco
medicine.
- Wind/Air
(North) represents the elder cycle,
winter
, the European race, and
sweetgrass
medicine.
- Water
(West) represents the adulthood cycle,
autumn
, the African race, and
sage
medicine.
Modern history
[
edit
]
Artus Wolffort
,
The Four Elements
, before 1641
Chemical element
[
edit
]
The
Aristotelian tradition
and medieval
alchemy
eventually gave rise to modern
chemistry
, scientific theories and new taxonomies. By the time of
Antoine Lavoisier
, for example, a
list of elements
would no longer refer to classical elements.
[50]
Some modern scientists see a parallel between the classical elements and the four
states of matter
:
solid
,
liquid
,
gas
and weakly ionized
plasma
.
[51]
Modern science recognizes classes of
elementary particles
which have no substructure (or rather, particles that are not made of other particles) and
composite particles
having substructure (particles made of other particles).
Western astrology
[
edit
]
The four elements and commonly associated colours
Western
astrology
uses the four
classical elements
in connection with
astrological charts
and
horoscopes
. The twelve
signs
of the
zodiac
are divided into the four elements:
Fire signs
are Aries, Leo and Sagittarius,
Earth signs
are Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn,
Air signs
are Gemini, Libra and Aquarius, and
Water signs
are Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces.
Criticism
[
edit
]
The Dutch historian of science
Eduard Jan Dijksterhuis
writes that the theory of the classical elements "was bound to exercise a really harmful influence. As is now clear, Aristotle, by adopting this theory as the basis of his interpretation of nature and by never losing faith in it, took a course which promised few opportunities and many dangers for science."
Bertrand Russell
says that Aristotle's thinking became imbued with almost biblical authority in later centuries. So much so that "Ever since the beginning of the seventeenth century, almost every serious intellectual advance has had to begin with an attack on some Aristotelian doctrine".
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Thera (1956)
, pp. 318?320: "the atomic theory prevailed in India in the time of the Buddha. Paramaou was the ancient term for the modern atom. According to the ancient belief one rathareou consists of 16 tajjaris, one tajjari, 16 aous; one aou, 16 paramaous. The minute particles of dust seen dancing in the sunbeam are called rathareous. One para-maou is, therefore, 4096th part of a rathareou. This para-maou was considered indivisible. With His supernormal knowledge the Buddha analysed this so-called paramaou and declared that it consists of paramatthas?ultimate entities which cannot further be subdivided." "nhavi in earth, apo in water, tejo in fire, and vayo in air. They are also called Mahabhatas or Great Essentials because they are invariably found in all material substances ranging from the infinitesimally small cell to the most massive object. Dependent on them are the four subsidiary material qualities of colour (vaooa)., smell (gandha), taste (rasa), and nutritive essence (oja). These eight coexisting forces and qualities constitute one material group called 'Suddhannhaka Rupa kalapa?pure-octad material group'."
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Boyd, T.J.M.; Sanderson, J.J. (2003).
The Physics of Plasmas
. Cambridge University Press. p.
1
.
ISBN
9780521459129
.
LCCN
2002024654
.
- ^
Ball, P. (2004).
The Elements: A Very Short Introduction
. Very Short Introductions. OUP Oxford. p. 33.
ISBN
9780191578250
.
- ^
Al-Khalili, Jim
(2009).
Science and Islam
. BBC.
- ^
"Chemistry in the Ancient World"
.
Nature
.
140
(3554): 1006. 1 December 1937.
Bibcode
:
1937Natur.140Q1006.
.
doi
:
10.1038/1401006a0
.
ISSN
1476-4687
.
S2CID
44886438
.
- ^
Boyle, Robert (1661).
The Sceptical Chymist: or Chymico-Physical Doubts & Paradoxes, Touching the Spagyrist's Principles Commonly call'd Hypostatical; As they are wont to be Propos'd and Defended by the Generality of Alchymists. Whereunto is præmis'd Part of another Discourse relating to the same Subject
. Printed by J. Cadwell for J. Crooke. pp. 21?22.
- ^
Lindemann, Mary (2010).
Medicine and Society in early Modern Europe
. Cambridge University Press. p. 19.
ISBN
978-0-521-73256-7
.
- ^
Plato,
Timaeus
, 48b
- ^
Weisberg, M.; Needham, P.; Hendry, R. (2019),
"Philosophy of Chemistry"
, in Zalta, E. N. (ed.),
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
(Spring 2019 ed.), Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University
- ^
Aristotle (1922) [350 BCE].
On the Heavens
. Translated by Stocks, J. L. pp. 3.3, 302a17?19.
- ^
Aristotle
,
On the Heavens
, translated by Stocks, J.L., III.3.302a17?19
- ^
Aristotle.
el:Περ? Γεν?σεω? και Φθορ??/2#Κεφ?λαιο 3
(in Greek) – via
Wikisource
.
τ? μ?ν γ?ρ π?ρ θερμ?ν κα? ξηρ?ν, ? δ' ??ρ θερμ?ν κα? ?γρ?ν (ο?ον ?τμ?? γ?ρ ? ??ρ), τ? δ' ?δωρ ψυχρ?ν κα? ?γρ?ν, ? δ? γ? ψυχρ?ν κα? ξηρ?ν
- ^
Chung-Hwan, Chen
(1971). "Aristotle's analysis of change and Plato's theory of Transcendent Ideas". In Anton, John P.; Preus, Anthony (eds.).
Ancient Greek Philosophy
. Vol. 2. SUNY Press. pp. 406?407.
ISBN
0873956230
.
.
- ^
Siorvanes, Lucas (1986).
Proclus on the Elements and the Celestial Bodies: Physical Thought in Late Neoplatonism
(PDF)
(Thesis). p. 168.
- ^
Proclus,
Commentary on Plato's
Timaeus
, 3.38.1?3.39.28
- ^
Mead, G. R. S.
(1906).
Thrice-Greatest Hermes
. Vol. 3. London & Benares: The Theosophical Publishing Society. pp. 133?134.
OCLC
76743923
.
- ^
Gopal, Madan (1990). K.S. Gautam (ed.).
India through the ages
. Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. p.
78
.
- ^
Ranade, Subhash (December 2001).
Natural Healing Through Ayurveda
. Motilal Banarsidass Publisher. p. 32.
ISBN
9788120812437
.
- ^
Jagannathan, Maithily.
South Indian Hindu Festivals and Traditions
. Abhinav Publications. pp. 60?62.
- ^
Meyer-Dinkgrafe, Daniel (2005).
Theatre and Consciousness: Explanatory Scope and Future Potential
. Intellect Books.
ISBN
9781841501307
.
- ^
Nath, Samir (1998).
Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Buddhism
. Sarup & Sons. p. 653.
ISBN
9788176250191
.
- ^
Tirupati Raju, Poola.
Structural Depths of Indian Thought: Toward a Constructive Postmodern Ethics
. SUNY Press. p. 81.
- ^
Bodhi, ed. (1995). "28, Mah?hatthipadopamasutta".
The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: a New Translation of the Majjhima Nikaya
. Boston: Wisdom Publications in association with the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies.
ISBN
0-86171-072-X
.
OCLC
31331607
.
- ^
Thera, Narada (1956).
A Manual of Abhidhamma
. Buddhist Missionary Society. pp. 318?320.
- ^
Anuruddha (1993). Bodhi (ed.).
A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma: the Abhidhammattha Sangaha of ?cariya Anuruddha
. Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society. p. 260.
ISBN
955-24-0103-8
.
OCLC
33088951
.
Thus as fourfold the Tathagatas reveal the ultimate realities-consciousness, mental factors, matter, and Nibbana.
- ^
"Kayagata-sati Sutta"
.
Majjhima Nikaya
. p. 119
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External links
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edit
]