Element
A simplest part out of which things are composed, such as the four elements of ancient science or the elements of modern chemistry.
Works to read
- Elements, Book I by Euclid, c. 300 BCE · Great Books
- Elements, Books I-VI by Euclid, c. 300 BC · Great Books
- Elements of Chemistry by Antoine Lavoisier, 1789 · Great Books
- The Principles of Psychology by William James, 1890 · Great Books
- The Sceptical Chymist by Robert Boyle, 1661
- Logical Writings on Binary Arithmetic and Universal Character by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, 1679-1703
- Principles of Economics by Carl Menger, 1871
- That Hideous Strength by C. S. Lewis, 1945
Passages
From the texts
And since one element is definition and one is matter, contrarieties which are in the definition make a difference in species, but those which are in the thing taken as including its matter do not make one.
— Aristotle, Metaphysics
Thus Empedocles holds that the corporeal elements are four, while all the elements-including those which initiate movement-are six in number; whereas Anaxagoras agrees with Leucippus and Democritus that the elements are infinite.
— Aristotle, On Generation and Corruption
Verified quotations
No verified quotation in the library contains this idea's key words yet.
Passages are verified quotations from the library that use one of these words: element, elements, atoms. Sentences under “From the texts” are copied word for word from the full texts in this library. Read each in its context on the work's page.