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centre-but it might be questioned since both centres are the same, which
centre it is that portions of earth and other heavy things move to. Is this their
goal because it is the centre of the earth or because it is the centre of the
whole? The goal, surely, must be the centre of the whole. For fire and other
light things move to the extremity of the area which contains the centre. It
happens, however, that the centre of the earth and of the whole is the same.
Thus they do move to the centre of the earth, but accidentally, in virtue of the
fact that the earth’s centre lies at the centre of the whole. That the centre of
the earth is the goal of their movement is indicated by the fact that heavy
bodies moving towards the earth do not parallel but so as to make equal
angles, and thus to a single centre, that of the earth. It is clear, then, that the
earth must be at the centre and immovable, not only for the reasons already
given, but also because heavy bodies forcibly thrown quite straight upward
return to the point from which they started, even if they are thrown to an
infinite distance. From these considerations then it is clear that the earth does
not move and does not lie elsewhere than at the centre.
From what we have said the explanation of the earth’s immobility is also
apparent. If it is the nature of earth, as observation shows, to move from any
point to the centre, as of fire contrariwise to move from the centre to the
extremity, it is impossible that any portion of earth should move away from
the centre except by constraint. For a single thing has a single movement, and
a simple thing a simple: contrary movements cannot belong to the same thing,
and movement away from the centre is the contrary of movement to it. If then
no portion of earth can move away from the centre, obviously still less can the
earth as a whole so move. For it is the nature of the whole to move to the
point to which the part naturally moves. Since, then, it would require a force
greater than itself to move it, it must needs stay at the centre. This view is
further supported by the contributions of mathematicians to astronomy, since
the observations made as the shapes change by which the order of the stars is
determined, are fully accounted for on the hypothesis that the earth lies at the
centre. Of the position of the earth and of the manner of its rest or movement,
our discussion may here end.
Its shape must necessarily be spherical. For every portion of earth has
weight until it reaches the centre, and the jostling of parts greater and smaller
would bring about not a waved surface, but rather compression and
convergence of part and part until the centre is reached. The process should be
conceived by supposing the earth to come into being in the way that some of
the natural philosophers describe. Only they attribute the downward
movement to constraint, and it is better to keep to the truth and say that the
reason of this motion is that a thing which possesses weight is naturally
endowed with a centripetal movement. When the mixture, then, was merely
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Buch The Complete Aristotle"
The Complete Aristotle
- Titel
- The Complete Aristotle
- Autor
- Aristotle
- Datum
- ~322 B.C.
- Sprache
- englisch
- Lizenz
- PD
- Abmessungen
- 21.0 x 29.7 cm
- Seiten
- 2328
- Schlagwörter
- Philosophy, Antique, Philosophie, Antike, Dialogues, Metaphysik, Metaphysics, Ideologie, Ideology, Englisch
- Kategorien
- Geisteswissenschaften
- International
Inhaltsverzeichnis
- Part 1; Logic (Organon) 3
- Categories 4
- On Interpretation 34
- Prior Analytics, Book I 56
- Prior Analytics, Book II 113
- Posterior Analytics, Book I 149
- Posterior Analytics, Book II 193
- Topics, Book I 218
- Topics, Book II 221
- Topics, Book III 237
- Topics, Book IV 248
- Topics, Book V 266
- Topics, Book VI 291
- Topics, Book VII 317
- Topics, Book VIII 326
- On Sophistical Refutations 348
- Part 2; Universal Physics 396
- Physics, Book I 397
- Physics, Book II 415
- Physics, Book III 432
- Physics, Book IV 449
- Physics, Book V 481
- Physics, Book VI 496
- Physics, Book VII 519
- Physics, Book VIII 533
- On the Heavens, Book I 570
- On the Heavens, Book II 599
- On the Heavens, Book III 624
- On the Heavens, Book IV 640
- On Generation and Corruption, Book I 651
- On Generation and Corruption, Book II 685
- Meteorology, Book I 707
- Meteorology, Book II 733
- Meteorology, Book III 760
- Meteorology, Book IV 773
- Part 3; Human Physics 795
- On the Soul, Book I 796
- On the Soul, Book II 815
- On the Soul, Book III 840
- On Sense and the Sensible 861
- On Memory and Reminiscence 889
- On Sleep and Sleeplessness 899
- On Dreams 909
- On Prophesying by Dreams 918
- On Longevity and the Shortness of Life 923
- On Youth, Old Age, Life and Death, and Respiration 929
- Part 4; Animal Physics 952
- The History of Animals, Book I 953
- The History of Animals, Book II translated 977
- The History of Animals, Book III 1000
- The History of Animals, Book IV 1029
- The History of Animals, Book V 1056
- The History of Animals, Book VI 1094
- The History of Animals, Book VII 1135
- The History of Animals, Book VIII 1150
- The History of Animals, Book IX 1186
- On the Parts of Animals, Book I 1234
- On the Parts of Animals, Book II 1249
- On the Parts of Animals, Book III 1281
- On the Parts of Animals, Book IV 1311
- On the Motion of Animals 1351
- On the Gait of Animals 1363
- On the Generation of Animals, Book I 1381
- On the Generation of Animals, Book II 1412
- On the Generation of Animals, Book III 1444
- On the Generation of Animals, Book IV 1469
- On the Generation of Animals, Book V 1496
- Part 5; Metaphysics 1516
- Part 6; Ethics and Politics 1748
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book I 1749
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book II 1766
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book III 1779
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book IV 1799
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book V 1817
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VI 1836
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VII 1851
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VIII 1872
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book IX 1890
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book X 1907
- Politics, Book I 1925
- Politics, Book II 1943
- Politics, Book III 1970
- Politics, Book IV 1997
- Politics, Book V 2023
- Politics, Book VI 2053
- Politics, Book VII 2065
- Politics, Book VIII 2091
- The Athenian Constitution 2102
- Part 7; Aesthetic Writings 2156