Classical element - Revision history

Odyssee: /* Plato and Aristotle */

2021-05-06T15:05:03Z

Plato and Aristotle

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	{{Quote\|Let an element therefore be to us that among the bodies into which the other bodies are divided as into one potentially or actually contained in them (namely, in which of these two ways is still in dispute), and which itself can no longer be divided into others different in kind; for something of this kind all and in all things want to call the element.\|[[w:Aristotle\|Aristotle]]: ''[[w:On the Heavens\|On the Heavens]]'' III,3 302a\|ref=<ref>Aristoteles: ''Vier Bücher über das Himmelsgebäude. Zwei Bücher über Entstehen und Vergehen'', Verlag von Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig 1857, S. 209 [http://www.odysseetheater.org/jump.php?url=http://www.odysseetheater.org/ftp/bibliothek/Philosophie/Aristoteles/Aristoteles_Werke_Vier_B%FCcher_%FCber_das_Himmelsgebaude.pdf#page=214&view=Fit pdf]</ref>}}		{{Quote\|Let an element therefore be to us that among the bodies into which the other bodies are divided as into one potentially or actually contained in them (namely, in which of these two ways is still in dispute), and which itself can no longer be divided into others different in kind; for something of this kind all and in all things want to call the element.\|[[w:Aristotle\|Aristotle]]: ''[[w:On the Heavens\|On the Heavens]]'' III,3 302a\|ref=<ref>Aristoteles: ''Vier Bücher über das Himmelsgebäude. Zwei Bücher über Entstehen und Vergehen'', Verlag von Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig 1857, S. 209 [http://www.odysseetheater.org/jump.php?url=http://www.odysseetheater.org/ftp/bibliothek/Philosophie/Aristoteles/Aristoteles_Werke_Vier_B%FCcher_%FCber_das_Himmelsgebaude.pdf#page=214&view=Fit pdf]</ref>}}

	Aristotle derived the four elements dynamically from the properties '''warm'''/'''cold''' ({{lang\|grc\|θερμὸν}} / {lang\|grc\|ψυχρὸν}} thermòn/psychròn) and dry/humid ({lang\|grc\|ὑγρὼν}} / {lang\|grc\|ξηρὸν}} hygròn/xeròn): Fire = warm + dry, Air = warm + moist, Water = cold + moist and Earth = cold + dry. These pairs of opposites, which Aristotle understands not merely as subjective impressions but as objective realities that can also cause or experience changes, are, in his view, grasped through contact with the [[sense of touch]], which appears to him to be more suitable for perceiving the physical-bodily world, to which he reckons the elements, than the sense of sight, which is higher in itself. The term "sense of touch" is very broad; one should actually speak of a kind of "[[sense of feeling]]", because fire and air cannot be touched in the actual sense, but they can be felt:		Aristotle derived the four elements dynamically from the properties '''warm'''/'''cold''' ({{lang\|grc\|θερμὸν}} / {{lang\|grc\|ψυχρὸν}} thermòn/psychròn) and dry/humid ({{lang\|grc\|ὑγρὼν}} / {{lang\|grc\|ξηρὸν}} hygròn/xeròn): Fire = warm + dry, Air = warm + moist, Water = cold + moist and Earth = cold + dry. These pairs of opposites, which Aristotle understands not merely as subjective impressions but as objective realities that can also cause or experience changes, are, in his view, grasped through contact with the [[sense of touch]], which appears to him to be more suitable for perceiving the physical-bodily world, to which he reckons the elements, than the sense of sight, which is higher in itself. The term "sense of touch" is very broad; one should actually speak of a kind of "[[sense of feeling]]", because fire and air cannot be touched in the actual sense, but they can be felt:

	{{Quote\|But opposites according to touch are the following: warm - cold, dry - wet, heavy - light, hard - soft, gluey - brittle, rough - smooth, thick - thin. But of these, heavy and light are not capable of effect and suffering; for they are not comprehended by causing something else or suffering from something else. But it must be so that the elements are able to act and suffer together. For they mix and change into one another.		{{Quote\|But opposites according to touch are the following: warm - cold, dry - wet, heavy - light, hard - soft, gluey - brittle, rough - smooth, thick - thin. But of these, heavy and light are not capable of effect and suffering; for they are not comprehended by causing something else or suffering from something else. But it must be so that the elements are able to act and suffer together. For they mix and change into one another.

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	[[w:Aristotle\|Aristotle]] gave the classical definition of the element, which was ultimately adopted much later in [[w:chemistry\|chemistry]], although there it was no longer related to the four classical elements, but to the far greater number of [[w:chemical elements\|chemical elements]]:		[[w:Aristotle\|Aristotle]] gave the classical definition of the element, which was ultimately adopted much later in [[w:chemistry\|chemistry]], although there it was no longer related to the four classical elements, but to the far greater number of [[w:chemical elements\|chemical elements]]:

	{{Quote\|Let an element therefore be to us that among the bodies into which the other bodies are divided as into one potentially or actually contained in them (namely, in which of these two ways is still in dispute), and which itself can no longer be divided into others different in kind; for something of this kind all and in all things want to call the element.\|[[w:Aristotle\|Aristotle]]: ''[[On the Heavens\|On the Heavens]]'' III,3 302a\|ref=<ref>Aristoteles: ''Vier Bücher über das Himmelsgebäude. Zwei Bücher über Entstehen und Vergehen'', Verlag von Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig 1857, S. 209 [http://www.odysseetheater.org/jump.php?url=http://www.odysseetheater.org/ftp/bibliothek/Philosophie/Aristoteles/Aristoteles_Werke_Vier_B%FCcher_%FCber_das_Himmelsgebaude.pdf#page=214&view=Fit pdf]</ref> }}		{{Quote\|Let an element therefore be to us that among the bodies into which the other bodies are divided as into one potentially or actually contained in them (namely, in which of these two ways is still in dispute), and which itself can no longer be divided into others different in kind; for something of this kind all and in all things want to call the element.\|[[w:Aristotle\|Aristotle]]: ''[[w:On the Heavens\|On the Heavens]]'' III,3 302a\|ref=<ref>Aristoteles: ''Vier Bücher über das Himmelsgebäude. Zwei Bücher über Entstehen und Vergehen'', Verlag von Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig 1857, S. 209 [http://www.odysseetheater.org/jump.php?url=http://www.odysseetheater.org/ftp/bibliothek/Philosophie/Aristoteles/Aristoteles_Werke_Vier_B%FCcher_%FCber_das_Himmelsgebaude.pdf#page=214&view=Fit pdf]</ref>}}

			Aristotle derived the four elements dynamically from the properties '''warm'''/'''cold''' ({{lang\|grc\|θερμὸν}} / {lang\|grc\|ψυχρὸν}} thermòn/psychròn) and dry/humid ({lang\|grc\|ὑγρὼν}} / {lang\|grc\|ξηρὸν}} hygròn/xeròn): Fire = warm + dry, Air = warm + moist, Water = cold + moist and Earth = cold + dry. These pairs of opposites, which Aristotle understands not merely as subjective impressions but as objective realities that can also cause or experience changes, are, in his view, grasped through contact with the [[sense of touch]], which appears to him to be more suitable for perceiving the physical-bodily world, to which he reckons the elements, than the sense of sight, which is higher in itself. The term "sense of touch" is very broad; one should actually speak of a kind of "[[sense of feeling]]", because fire and air cannot be touched in the actual sense, but they can be felt:

			{{Quote\|But opposites according to touch are the following: warm - cold, dry - wet, heavy - light, hard - soft, gluey - brittle, rough - smooth, thick - thin. But of these, heavy and light are not capable of effect and suffering; for they are not comprehended by causing something else or suffering from something else. But it must be so that the elements are able to act and suffer together. For they mix and change into one another.

			Warm and cold and dry and wet, on the other hand, are understood by the fact that they are partly capable of action and partly capable of suffering: For 'warm' is that which unites homogeneous things (for the separation which, as they say, brings about fire, is a uniting of the homogeneous - for it goes hand in hand with this that it separates out the foreign), 'cold', on the other hand, is that which unites and closes equally for the related and the dissimilar; 'wet', on the other hand, is that which is indeterminate by its own boundary, yet supple for it; 'dry' that which, though sharply delineated by its own boundary, is nevertheless inflexible. Thin and thick and glutinous and brittle and hard and soft and the other differences, however, are from these.\|[[w:Aristotle\|Aristotle]]: ''[[w:On Generation and Corruption\|On Generation and Corruption]]'' II,2 329 b\|ref=<ref>According to the translation by [[WikipediaDE:Thomas Buchheim\|Thomas Buchheim]] (2011), p. 97ff; see also the translation by [[w:Karl von Prantl\|Carl Prantl]] (1857) p. 439ff [http://www.odysseetheater.org/jump.php?url=http://www.odysseetheater.org/ftp/bibliothek/Philosophie/Aristoteles/Aristoteles_Werke_Vier_B%FCcher_%FCber_das_Himmelsgebaude.pdf#page=444&viewe=Fit pdf]</ref>}}

	== Literature ==		== Literature ==

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 The '''classical elements''' are the basic substances ({{Greek|στοιχεῖον}} ''stoicheion''), which - according to the occult tradition - were thought to build up the [[physical world]]. Most common in ancient cultures were the '''four elements''' [[fire (element)|fire]], [[air (element)|air]], [[water (element)|water]] and [[earth (element)|earth]]. Later they were supplemented by a '''fifth element''', from which the classical four elements were said to have emerged. [[w:Aristotle|Aristotle]] thereby derived the existence of the four elements from four basic properties (dry, moist, warm and cold), with the changes of which the elements also change into each other. The [[aether]] (from {{Greek|αιτηρ}} ''aither'') or [[ether]] as the fifth essence, the so-called [[quintessence]] (from {{Latin|quinta essentia}}) permeates the four elements as an unchanging and eternal essence, of which the [[heavenly sphere]]s are also made. According to the Indian [[w:Vaisheshika|Vaisheshika]], the ether corresponds to [[akasha]].
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 Through the assignment of the elements to [[deity|deities]], the four elements were given further qualities that extend not only into the medical field (cf. [[humoral pathology]]) but also into psychology. From the afterglow of ancient [[clairvoyance]], each element was seen to be associated with certain psychic qualities. Fire was associated with determination, ambition and commitment. Water is the gentle element, the yielding and soft one, the air element is lively, flexible and change-oriented and finally earth stands for the solid, rigid and stable. All things thus possess a characteristic share of the four elements. Feathers are predominantly air, stones have a high proportion of earth element. [[w:Pumice|Pumice]] in turn has a high proportion of the air element, [[w:quartz|quartz]] the water element and [[w:pyrite|pyrite]] a proportion of the fire element<ref name="Böhme">Gernot und Hartmut Böhme: ''Feuer, Wasser, Luft, Erde. Eine Kulturgeschichte der Elemente.'' Beck, München 1996, ISBN 3-406-41292-0.</ref>. According to this, an individual mixture of these four elements also applies to humans. Diseases are therefore an imbalance of the elements. In earlier times, physicians treated illnesses by supplying a missing element through food or medicinal plants, or they deduced that there was too much. Drainage procedures, which are used by alternative practitioners today, were originally based on this idea.<ref name="Böhme" /><ref name="Bingen">Hildegard von Bingen: ''Heilkraft der Natur. „Physika“.'' 2. Aufl. Christiana-Verlag, Stein am Rhein 2005, ISBN 978-3-7171-1129-0.</ref>
 == Literature ==

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 The '''classical elements''' are the basic substances ({{Greek|στοιχεῖον}} ''stoicheion''), which - according to the occult tradition - were thought to build up the [[physical world]]. Most common in ancient cultures were the '''four elements''' [[fire (element)|fire]], [[air (element)|air]], [[water (element)|water]] and [[earth (element)|earth]]. Later they were supplemented by a '''fifth element''', from which the classical four elements were said to have emerged. [[w:Aristotle|Aristotle]] thereby derived the existence of the four elements from four basic properties (dry, moist, warm and cold), with the changes of which the elements also change into each other. The [[aether]] (from {{Greek|αιτηρ}} ''aither'') or [[ether]] as the fifth essence, the so-called [[quintessence]] (from {{Latin|quinta essentia}}) permeates the four elements as an unchanging and eternal essence, of which the [[heavenly sphere]]s are also made. According to the Indian [[w:Vaisheshika|Vaisheshika]], the ether corresponds to [[akasha]].
 [[Category:Classical elements]]
 [[de:Vier-Elemente-Lehre]]

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	~~According to the occult tradition, the~~ '''classical elements''' build up the [[physical world]]. Most common in ancient cultures were the '''four elements''' [[fire (element)\|fire]], [[air (element)\|air]], [[water (element)\|water]] and [[earth (element)\|earth]]. Later they were supplemented by a '''fifth element''', from which the classical four elements were said to have emerged. [[w:Aristotle\|Aristotle]] thereby derived the existence of the four elements from four basic properties (dry, moist, warm and cold), with the changes of which the elements also change into each other. The [[aether]] (from {{Greek\|αιτηρ}} ''aither'') or [[ether]] as the fifth essence, the so-called [[quintessence]] (from {{Latin\|quinta essentia}}) permeates the four elements as an unchanging and eternal essence, of which the [[heavenly sphere]]s are also made. According to the Indian [[w:Vaisheshika\|Vaisheshika]], the ether corresponds to [[akasha]].		The '''classical elements''' are the basic substances ({{Greek\|στοιχεῖον}} ''stoicheion''), which - according to the occult tradition - were thought to build up the [[physical world]]. Most common in ancient cultures were the '''four elements''' [[fire (element)\|fire]], [[air (element)\|air]], [[water (element)\|water]] and [[earth (element)\|earth]]. Later they were supplemented by a '''fifth element''', from which the classical four elements were said to have emerged. [[w:Aristotle\|Aristotle]] thereby derived the existence of the four elements from four basic properties (dry, moist, warm and cold), with the changes of which the elements also change into each other. The [[aether]] (from {{Greek\|αιτηρ}} ''aither'') or [[ether]] as the fifth essence, the so-called [[quintessence]] (from {{Latin\|quinta essentia}}) permeates the four elements as an unchanging and eternal essence, of which the [[heavenly sphere]]s are also made. According to the Indian [[w:Vaisheshika\|Vaisheshika]], the ether corresponds to [[akasha]].

	[[Category:Classical elements]]		[[Category:Classical elements]]
	[[de:Vier-Elemente-Lehre]]		[[de:Vier-Elemente-Lehre]]

Odyssee at 12:34, 5 May 2021

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	According to the occult tradition, the '''classical elements''' build up the [[physical world]]. Most common in ancient cultures were the '''four elements''' [[fire (element)\|fire]], [[air (element)\|air]], [[water (element)\|water]] and [[earth (element)\|earth]]. Later they were supplemented by a '''fifth element''', from which the classical four elements were said to have emerged. [[w:Aristotle\|Aristotle]] thereby derived the existence of the four elements from four basic properties (dry, moist, warm and cold), with the changes of which the elements also change into each other. The [[aether]] (from {{Greek\|αιτηρ}} ''aither'') or [[ether]] as the fifth essence, the so-called [[quintessence]] (from {{Latin\|quinta essentia}} permeates the four elements as an unchanging and eternal essence, of which the [[heavenly sphere]]s are also made. According to the Indian [[w:Vaisheshika\|Vaisheshika]], the ether corresponds to [[akasha]].		According to the occult tradition, the '''classical elements''' build up the [[physical world]]. Most common in ancient cultures were the '''four elements''' [[fire (element)\|fire]], [[air (element)\|air]], [[water (element)\|water]] and [[earth (element)\|earth]]. Later they were supplemented by a '''fifth element''', from which the classical four elements were said to have emerged. [[w:Aristotle\|Aristotle]] thereby derived the existence of the four elements from four basic properties (dry, moist, warm and cold), with the changes of which the elements also change into each other. The [[aether]] (from {{Greek\|αιτηρ}} ''aither'') or [[ether]] as the fifth essence, the so-called [[quintessence]] (from {{Latin\|quinta essentia}}) permeates the four elements as an unchanging and eternal essence, of which the [[heavenly sphere]]s are also made. According to the Indian [[w:Vaisheshika\|Vaisheshika]], the ether corresponds to [[akasha]].

	[[Category:Classical elements]]		[[Category:Classical elements]]
	[[de:Vier-Elemente-Lehre]]		[[de:Vier-Elemente-Lehre]]

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	According to the occult tradition, the '''classical elements''' build up the [[physical world]]. Most common in ancient cultures were the '''four elements''' [[fire (element)\|fire]], [[air (element)\|air]], [[water (element)\|water]] and [[earth (element)\|earth]]. Later they were supplemented by a '''fifth element''', from which the classical four elements were said to have emerged. [[w:Aristotle\|Aristotle]] thereby derived the existence of the four elements from four basic properties (dry, moist, warm and cold), with the changes of which the elements also change into each other. The [[aether]] (from {{Greek\|αιτηρ}} ''aither'') or [[ether]] as the fifth essence, the so-called [[quintessence]] (from {{Latin\|quinta essentia}} permeates the four elements as an unchanging and eternal ~~being~~, of which the heavenly ~~spheres~~ are also made. According to the Indian [[w:Vaisheshika\|Vaisheshika]], the ether corresponds to [[akasha]].		According to the occult tradition, the '''classical elements''' build up the [[physical world]]. Most common in ancient cultures were the '''four elements''' [[fire (element)\|fire]], [[air (element)\|air]], [[water (element)\|water]] and [[earth (element)\|earth]]. Later they were supplemented by a '''fifth element''', from which the classical four elements were said to have emerged. [[w:Aristotle\|Aristotle]] thereby derived the existence of the four elements from four basic properties (dry, moist, warm and cold), with the changes of which the elements also change into each other. The [[aether]] (from {{Greek\|αιτηρ}} ''aither'') or [[ether]] as the fifth essence, the so-called [[quintessence]] (from {{Latin\|quinta essentia}} permeates the four elements as an unchanging and eternal essence, of which the [[heavenly sphere]]s are also made. According to the Indian [[w:Vaisheshika\|Vaisheshika]], the ether corresponds to [[akasha]].

	[[Category:Classical elements]]		[[Category:Classical elements]]
	[[de:Vier-Elemente-Lehre]]		[[de:Vier-Elemente-Lehre]]

Odyssee at 12:32, 5 May 2021

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	According to the occult tradition, the '''classical elements''' build up the [[physical world]]. Most common in ancient cultures were the '''four elements''' [[fire (element)\|fire]], [[air (element)\|air]], [[water (element)\|water]] and [[earth (element)\|earth]]. Later they were supplemented by a '''fifth element'''', from which the classical four elements were said to have emerged. [[w:Aristotle\|Aristotle]] thereby derived the existence of the four elements from four basic properties (dry, moist, warm and cold), with the changes of which the elements also change into each other. The [[aether]] (from {{Greek\|αιτηρ}} ''aither'') or [[ether]] as the fifth essence, the so-called [[quintessence]] (from {{Latin\|quinta essentia}} permeates the four elements as an unchanging and eternal being, of which the heavenly spheres are also made. According to the Indian [[w:Vaisheshika\|Vaisheshika]], the ether corresponds to [[akasha]].		According to the occult tradition, the '''classical elements''' build up the [[physical world]]. Most common in ancient cultures were the '''four elements''' [[fire (element)\|fire]], [[air (element)\|air]], [[water (element)\|water]] and [[earth (element)\|earth]]. Later they were supplemented by a '''fifth element''', from which the classical four elements were said to have emerged. [[w:Aristotle\|Aristotle]] thereby derived the existence of the four elements from four basic properties (dry, moist, warm and cold), with the changes of which the elements also change into each other. The [[aether]] (from {{Greek\|αιτηρ}} ''aither'') or [[ether]] as the fifth essence, the so-called [[quintessence]] (from {{Latin\|quinta essentia}} permeates the four elements as an unchanging and eternal being, of which the heavenly spheres are also made. According to the Indian [[w:Vaisheshika\|Vaisheshika]], the ether corresponds to [[akasha]].

	[[Category:Classical elements]]		[[Category:Classical elements]]
	[[de:Vier-Elemente-Lehre]]		[[de:Vier-Elemente-Lehre]]

Odyssee at 12:21, 5 May 2021

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	According to the occult tradition, the '''classical elements''' build up the [[physical world]]. Most common in ancient cultures were the '''four elements''' [[fire (element)]], [[air (element)]], [[water (element)]] and [[earth (element)]]. Later they were supplemented by a '''fifth element'''', from which the classical four elements were said to have emerged. [[w:Aristotle\|Aristotle]] thereby derived the existence of the four elements from four basic properties (dry, moist, warm and cold), with the changes of which the elements also change into each other. The [[aether]] (from {{Greek\|αιτηρ}} ''aither'') or [[ether]] as the fifth essence, the so-called [[quintessence]] (from {{Latin\|quinta essentia}} permeates the four elements as an unchanging and eternal being, of which the heavenly spheres are also made. According to the Indian [[w:Vaisheshika\|Vaisheshika]], the ether corresponds to [[akasha]].		According to the occult tradition, the '''classical elements''' build up the [[physical world]]. Most common in ancient cultures were the '''four elements''' [[fire (element)\|fire]], [[air (element)\|air]], [[water (element)\|water]] and [[earth (element)\|earth]]. Later they were supplemented by a '''fifth element'''', from which the classical four elements were said to have emerged. [[w:Aristotle\|Aristotle]] thereby derived the existence of the four elements from four basic properties (dry, moist, warm and cold), with the changes of which the elements also change into each other. The [[aether]] (from {{Greek\|αιτηρ}} ''aither'') or [[ether]] as the fifth essence, the so-called [[quintessence]] (from {{Latin\|quinta essentia}} permeates the four elements as an unchanging and eternal being, of which the heavenly spheres are also made. According to the Indian [[w:Vaisheshika\|Vaisheshika]], the ether corresponds to [[akasha]].

	[[Category:Classical elements]]		[[Category:Classical elements]]
	[[de:Vier-Elemente-Lehre]]		[[de:Vier-Elemente-Lehre]]

Odyssee: Created page with "According to the occult tradition, the '''classical elements''' build up the physical world. Most common in ancient cultures were the '''four elements''' [[fire (element)]..."

2021-05-05T12:18:03Z

Created page with "According to the occult tradition, the '''classical elements''' build up the physical world. Most common in ancient cultures were the '''four elements''' [[fire (element)]..."

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According to the occult tradition, the '''classical elements''' build up the [[physical world]]. Most common in ancient cultures were the '''four elements''' [[fire (element)]], [[air (element)]], [[water (element)]] and [[earth (element)]]. Later they were supplemented by a '''fifth element'''', from which the classical four elements were said to have emerged. [[w:Aristotle|Aristotle]] thereby derived the existence of the four elements from four basic properties (dry, moist, warm and cold), with the changes of which the elements also change into each other. The [[aether]] (from {{Greek|αιτηρ}} ''aither'') or [[ether]] as the fifth essence, the so-called [[quintessence]] (from {{Latin|quinta essentia}} permeates the four elements as an unchanging and eternal being, of which the heavenly spheres are also made. According to the Indian [[w:Vaisheshika|Vaisheshika]], the ether corresponds to [[akasha]].

[[Category:Classical elements]]
[[de:Vier-Elemente-Lehre]]

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	{{Quote\|Let an element therefore be to us that among the bodies into which the other bodies are divided as into one potentially or actually contained in them (namely, in which of these two ways is still in dispute), and which itself can no longer be divided into others different in kind; for something of this kind all and in all things want to call the element.\|[[w:Aristotle\|Aristotle]]: ''[[w:On the Heavens\|On the Heavens]]'' III,3 302a\|ref=<ref>Aristoteles: ''Vier Bücher über das Himmelsgebäude. Zwei Bücher über Entstehen und Vergehen'', Verlag von Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig 1857, S. 209 [http://www.odysseetheater.org/jump.php?url=http://www.odysseetheater.org/ftp/bibliothek/Philosophie/Aristoteles/Aristoteles_Werke_Vier_B%FCcher_%FCber_das_Himmelsgebaude.pdf#page=214&view=Fit pdf]</ref>}}		{{Quote\|Let an element therefore be to us that among the bodies into which the other bodies are divided as into one potentially or actually contained in them (namely, in which of these two ways is still in dispute), and which itself can no longer be divided into others different in kind; for something of this kind all and in all things want to call the element.\|[[w:Aristotle\|Aristotle]]: ''[[w:On the Heavens\|On the Heavens]]'' III,3 302a\|ref=<ref>Aristoteles: ''Vier Bücher über das Himmelsgebäude. Zwei Bücher über Entstehen und Vergehen'', Verlag von Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig 1857, S. 209 [http://www.odysseetheater.org/jump.php?url=http://www.odysseetheater.org/ftp/bibliothek/Philosophie/Aristoteles/Aristoteles_Werke_Vier_B%FCcher_%FCber_das_Himmelsgebaude.pdf#page=214&view=Fit pdf]</ref>}}

	Aristotle derived the four elements dynamically from the properties '''warm'''/'''cold''' ({{lang\|grc\|θερμὸν}} / {lang\|grc\|ψυχρὸν}} thermòn/psychròn) and dry/humid ({lang\|grc\|ὑγρὼν}} / {lang\|grc\|ξηρὸν}} hygròn/xeròn): Fire = warm + dry, Air = warm + moist, Water = cold + moist and Earth = cold + dry. These pairs of opposites, which Aristotle understands not merely as subjective impressions but as objective realities that can also cause or experience changes, are, in his view, grasped through contact with the [[sense of touch]], which appears to him to be more suitable for perceiving the physical-bodily world, to which he reckons the elements, than the sense of sight, which is higher in itself. The term "sense of touch" is very broad; one should actually speak of a kind of "[[sense of feeling]]", because fire and air cannot be touched in the actual sense, but they can be felt:		Aristotle derived the four elements dynamically from the properties '''warm'''/'''cold''' ({{lang\|grc\|θερμὸν}} / {{lang\|grc\|ψυχρὸν}} thermòn/psychròn) and dry/humid ({{lang\|grc\|ὑγρὼν}} / {{lang\|grc\|ξηρὸν}} hygròn/xeròn): Fire = warm + dry, Air = warm + moist, Water = cold + moist and Earth = cold + dry. These pairs of opposites, which Aristotle understands not merely as subjective impressions but as objective realities that can also cause or experience changes, are, in his view, grasped through contact with the [[sense of touch]], which appears to him to be more suitable for perceiving the physical-bodily world, to which he reckons the elements, than the sense of sight, which is higher in itself. The term "sense of touch" is very broad; one should actually speak of a kind of "[[sense of feeling]]", because fire and air cannot be touched in the actual sense, but they can be felt:

	{{Quote\|But opposites according to touch are the following: warm - cold, dry - wet, heavy - light, hard - soft, gluey - brittle, rough - smooth, thick - thin. But of these, heavy and light are not capable of effect and suffering; for they are not comprehended by causing something else or suffering from something else. But it must be so that the elements are able to act and suffer together. For they mix and change into one another.		{{Quote\|But opposites according to touch are the following: warm - cold, dry - wet, heavy - light, hard - soft, gluey - brittle, rough - smooth, thick - thin. But of these, heavy and light are not capable of effect and suffering; for they are not comprehended by causing something else or suffering from something else. But it must be so that the elements are able to act and suffer together. For they mix and change into one another.

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	[[w:Aristotle\|Aristotle]] gave the classical definition of the element, which was ultimately adopted much later in [[w:chemistry\|chemistry]], although there it was no longer related to the four classical elements, but to the far greater number of [[w:chemical elements\|chemical elements]]:		[[w:Aristotle\|Aristotle]] gave the classical definition of the element, which was ultimately adopted much later in [[w:chemistry\|chemistry]], although there it was no longer related to the four classical elements, but to the far greater number of [[w:chemical elements\|chemical elements]]:

	{{Quote\|Let an element therefore be to us that among the bodies into which the other bodies are divided as into one potentially or actually contained in them (namely, in which of these two ways is still in dispute), and which itself can no longer be divided into others different in kind; for something of this kind all and in all things want to call the element.\|[[w:Aristotle\|Aristotle]]: ''[[On the Heavens\|On the Heavens]]'' III,3 302a\|ref=<ref>Aristoteles: ''Vier Bücher über das Himmelsgebäude. Zwei Bücher über Entstehen und Vergehen'', Verlag von Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig 1857, S. 209 [http://www.odysseetheater.org/jump.php?url=http://www.odysseetheater.org/ftp/bibliothek/Philosophie/Aristoteles/Aristoteles_Werke_Vier_B%FCcher_%FCber_das_Himmelsgebaude.pdf#page=214&view=Fit pdf]</ref> }}		{{Quote\|Let an element therefore be to us that among the bodies into which the other bodies are divided as into one potentially or actually contained in them (namely, in which of these two ways is still in dispute), and which itself can no longer be divided into others different in kind; for something of this kind all and in all things want to call the element.\|[[w:Aristotle\|Aristotle]]: ''[[w:On the Heavens\|On the Heavens]]'' III,3 302a\|ref=<ref>Aristoteles: ''Vier Bücher über das Himmelsgebäude. Zwei Bücher über Entstehen und Vergehen'', Verlag von Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig 1857, S. 209 [http://www.odysseetheater.org/jump.php?url=http://www.odysseetheater.org/ftp/bibliothek/Philosophie/Aristoteles/Aristoteles_Werke_Vier_B%FCcher_%FCber_das_Himmelsgebaude.pdf#page=214&view=Fit pdf]</ref>}}

			Aristotle derived the four elements dynamically from the properties '''warm'''/'''cold''' ({{lang\|grc\|θερμὸν}} / {lang\|grc\|ψυχρὸν}} thermòn/psychròn) and dry/humid ({lang\|grc\|ὑγρὼν}} / {lang\|grc\|ξηρὸν}} hygròn/xeròn): Fire = warm + dry, Air = warm + moist, Water = cold + moist and Earth = cold + dry. These pairs of opposites, which Aristotle understands not merely as subjective impressions but as objective realities that can also cause or experience changes, are, in his view, grasped through contact with the [[sense of touch]], which appears to him to be more suitable for perceiving the physical-bodily world, to which he reckons the elements, than the sense of sight, which is higher in itself. The term "sense of touch" is very broad; one should actually speak of a kind of "[[sense of feeling]]", because fire and air cannot be touched in the actual sense, but they can be felt:

			{{Quote\|But opposites according to touch are the following: warm - cold, dry - wet, heavy - light, hard - soft, gluey - brittle, rough - smooth, thick - thin. But of these, heavy and light are not capable of effect and suffering; for they are not comprehended by causing something else or suffering from something else. But it must be so that the elements are able to act and suffer together. For they mix and change into one another.

			Warm and cold and dry and wet, on the other hand, are understood by the fact that they are partly capable of action and partly capable of suffering: For 'warm' is that which unites homogeneous things (for the separation which, as they say, brings about fire, is a uniting of the homogeneous - for it goes hand in hand with this that it separates out the foreign), 'cold', on the other hand, is that which unites and closes equally for the related and the dissimilar; 'wet', on the other hand, is that which is indeterminate by its own boundary, yet supple for it; 'dry' that which, though sharply delineated by its own boundary, is nevertheless inflexible. Thin and thick and glutinous and brittle and hard and soft and the other differences, however, are from these.\|[[w:Aristotle\|Aristotle]]: ''[[w:On Generation and Corruption\|On Generation and Corruption]]'' II,2 329 b\|ref=<ref>According to the translation by [[WikipediaDE:Thomas Buchheim\|Thomas Buchheim]] (2011), p. 97ff; see also the translation by [[w:Karl von Prantl\|Carl Prantl]] (1857) p. 439ff [http://www.odysseetheater.org/jump.php?url=http://www.odysseetheater.org/ftp/bibliothek/Philosophie/Aristoteles/Aristoteles_Werke_Vier_B%FCcher_%FCber_das_Himmelsgebaude.pdf#page=444&viewe=Fit pdf]</ref>}}

	== Literature ==		== Literature ==