Theophrastus Transmitting Empedocles

Theophrastus speaks of the kinship between living beings in connection with Empedocles in several of his works. In De Causis Plantarum 1.7.1, 1.13.2, and 1.21.5, he quotes and assesses Empedocles’ observations concerning plants and animals and their functional and structural similarities. In De Sensibus 12 and 23, he discusses and criticizes Empedocles’ explanation of perception and cognition, which does not differentiate between animate and inanimate beings. Finally, in the sec­tion of Porphyry’s De Abstinentia, which borrows from Theophrastus’ treatise De Pietate (2.11–21), both Empedocles and Theophrastus are mentioned as advocates of abstinence from animal sacrifices. The article discusses these and related passages and motivations behind Empedocles’ and Theophrastus’ observations of kinship. It argues that, whatever their motivations, the observed similarities between living beings may have served to support their ethical and religious views – Empedocles’ belief in reincarnation and Theophrastus’ advocacy of abstaining from animal sacrifices.