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being of two kinds: either from the centre or to the centre. These four bodies
are fire, air, water, earth. Fire occupies the highest place among them all, earth
the lowest, and two elements correspond to these in their relation to one
another, air being nearest to fire, water to earth. The whole world surrounding
the earth, then, the affections of which are our subject, is made up of these
bodies. This world necessarily has a certain continuity with the upper
motions: consequently all its power and order is derived from them. (For the
originating principle of all motion is the first cause. Besides, that clement is
eternal and its motion has no limit in space, but is always complete; whereas
all these other bodies have separate regions which limit one another.) So we
must treat fire and earth and the elements like them as the material causes of
the events in this world (meaning by material what is subject and is affected),
but must assign causality in the sense of the originating principle of motion to
the influence of the eternally moving bodies.
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3
Let us first recall our original principles and the distinctions already drawn
and then explain the ‘milky way’ and comets and the other phenomena akin to
these.
Fire, air, water, earth, we assert, originate from one another, and each of
them exists potentially in each, as all things do that can be resolved into a
common and ultimate substrate.
The first difficulty is raised by what is called the air. What are we to take its
nature to be in the world surrounding the earth? And what is its position
relatively to the other physical elements. (For there is no question as to the
relation of the bulk of the earth to the size of the bodies which exist around it,
since astronomical demonstrations have by this time proved to us that it is
actually far smaller than some individual stars. As for the water, it is not
observed to exist collectively and separately, nor can it do so apart from that
volume of it which has its seat about the earth: the sea, that is, and rivers,
which we can see, and any subterranean water that may be hidden from our
observation.) The question is really about that which lies between the earth
and the nearest stars. Are we to consider it to be one kind of body or more
than one? And if more than one, how many are there and what are the bounds
of their regions?
We have already described and characterized the first element, and
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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