Abstract (may include machine translation)
Aristotle, at Met. E. 1, 1026a6–22, contrasts what he calls phusikE epistEmE (physical science) with the other theoretical sciences, the mathematical sciences, and theology. The upshot of the comparison is that physics is similar to theology, because both theology and physics treat substances–entities which are capable of separate existence on their own–but this similarity does not allow for an identification of the two theoretical disciplines, because physics, unlike theology, treats changeable substance, whereas theological inquiry investigates the domain of the eternal and immutable divine entities. This, as Aristotle also stresses, means that if there were no unmovable, non-physical entities, physics would be first philosophy: it would give an account of everything there is in the world by inquiring into the principles of everything.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | A Companion to Ancient Philosophy |
| Publisher | John Wiley and Sons |
| Pages | 270-291 |
| Number of pages | 22 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9780631210610 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 8 May 2012 |
Keywords
- Aristotelian division of sciences, of a theoretical science of changeable being
- Aristotelian kinematics, priority of locomotion (phora), and circular locomotion
- Aristotelian theory of movement, everything moved being moved by a mover
- Aristotle's matter and form, a hypothetical necessity
- Aristotle's physics and cosmology
- Changes any changeable entity, from external influences and the changing object itself
- Motion, causal interaction, and causational synonymy
- Principles of physics, in the true Aristotelian sense, physics of the genus and the principles
- The mover of eternal motions, an entity possessing infinite power
- Trace of crisis in the history of philosophy, from its beginning to Aristotle