“Their senses are dull, and they are the prey of their own hearts.”
— EmpedoclesCommonly cited paraphrase of Empedocles' reflections on human perception; approximate, source not verified
Commentary
This paraphrase expresses the poem's view that human understanding is limited by the senses and the passions, a claim consistent with the fragments on error and folly. Empedocles often contrasts the limits of mortal perception with the knowledge available to a purified mind, and this sentence gives that contrast a moral tone. Kirk, Raven, and Schofield discuss the epistemological side of the poem, in which the senses provide partial and misleading evidence that reason must correct. Daniel Graham argues that the theory of effluences and pores shows how sensation depends on the proportions of the body, so that bodily dispositions affect perception. Richard Wright notes the poem's frequent appeal to the hearts of its audience. Jean Bollack's edition discusses the vocabulary of sense and error. The sentence is a paraphrase and should be labelled as such, and the Greek consulted before quotation.
Commentary
This paraphrase expresses the poem's view that human understanding is limited by the senses and the passions, a claim consistent with the fragments on error and folly. Empedocles often contrasts the limits of mortal perception with the knowledge available to a purified mind, and this sentence gives that contrast a moral tone. Kirk, Raven, and Schofield discuss the epistemological side of the poem, in which the senses provide partial and misleading evidence that reason must correct. Daniel Graham argues that the theory of effluences and pores shows how sensation depends on the proportions of the body, so that bodily dispositions affect perception. Richard Wright notes the poem's frequent appeal to the hearts of its audience. Jean Bollack's edition discusses the vocabulary of sense and error. The sentence is a paraphrase and should be labelled as such, and the Greek consulted before quotation.