Status Updates From A Brief History of Western ...

Stoicism: "The divinely designed system is called Nature, and our aim in life should be to live in accordance with Nature. Since all things are determined, nothing can escape Nature's laws. But human beings are free and responsible, despite the determinism of fate. The will must be directed to live in accordance with human nature by obeying reason.”

“Since the Renaissance it has been traditional to regard the Academy [Plato] and the Lyceum [Aristotle] as two opposite poles of philosophy. Plato, according to this tradition, was idealistic, Utopian, other-worldly; Aristotle was realistic, utilitarian, commonsensical … In fact … Aristotle took a large part of his philosophical agenda from Plato, and his teaching is more often a modification than a refutation …”

The interweaving and intermingling of the elements, in Empedocles' system, is caused by two forces: Love and Strife. Love combines the elements together, making one thing out of many things, and Strife forces them apart, making many things out of one. History is a cycle in which sometimes Love is dominant, and sometimes Strife ... only the elements are everlasting, and only the cosmic cycle goes on forever.