A new book by Vojtěch Hladký from the Department of Philosophy and History of Science has just been published in the prestigious International Pre-Platonic Studies series. Titled Rejoicing Sphairos, Wandering Daimon, and Other Living Beings, the publication offers a set of interconnected studies focused on Empedocles’ natural philosophy and his understanding of life, death, and the cosmic cycle.
The book consists of several thematically related studies on Empedocles (a Greek-writing author from the 5th century BCE), which examine his natural philosophy and related topics. It presents a detailed reconstruction of the Sphairos, depicted as a vast organism—a structured whole with distinguishable parts. This interpretation is supported by parallels with earlier authors and by how later ancient philosophers received the concept of the Sphairos. Other chapters delve into Empedocles’ reflections on the origins of life—anticipating the later idea of evolution—as well as embryology, analogy, and other biological themes. These innovative scientific ideas are presented alongside some of his unconventional religious beliefs, especially his remarkable concept of the wandering (transmigrating) soul, which, however, is strictly material in nature.