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explained that the whole world of the upper motions is full of that body.
This is an opinion we are not alone in holding: it appears to be an old
assumption and one which men have held in the past, for the word ether has
long been used to denote that element. Anaxagoras, it is true, seems to me to
think that the word means the same as fire. For he thought that the upper
regions were full of fire, and that men referred to those regions when they
spoke of ether. In the latter point he was right, for men seem to have assumed
that a body that was eternally in motion was also divine in nature; and, as
such a body was different from any of the terrestrial elements, they
determined to call it ‘ether’.
For the um opinions appear in cycles among men not once nor twice, but
infinitely often.
Now there are some who maintain that not only the bodies in motion but
that which contains them is pure fire, and the interval between the earth and
the stars air: but if they had considered what is now satisfactorily established
by mathematics, they might have given up this puerile opinion. For it is
altogether childish to suppose that the moving bodies are all of them of a
small size, because they so to us, looking at them from the earth.
This a matter which we have already discussed in our treatment of the
upper region, but we may return to the point now.
If the intervals were full of fire and the bodies consisted of fire every one of
the other elements would long ago have vanished.
However, they cannot simply be said to be full of air either; for even if
there were two elements to fill the space between the earth and the heavens,
the air would far exceed the quantitu required to maintain its proper
proportion to the other elements. For the bulk of the earth (which includes the
whole volume of water) is infinitesimal in comparison with the whole world
that surrounds it. Now we find that the excess in volume is not
proportionately great where water dissolves into air or air into fire. Whereas
the proportion between any given small quantity of water and the air that is
generated from it ought to hold good between the total amount of air and the
total amount of water. Nor does it make any difference if any one denies that
the elements originate from one another, but asserts that they are equal in
power. For on this view it is certain amounts of each that are equal in power,
just as would be the case if they actually originated from one another.
So it is clear that neither air nor fire alone fills the intermediate space.
It remains to explain, after a preliminary discussion of difficulties, the
relation of the two elements air and fire to the position of the first element,
709
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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