Page - 703 - in The Complete Aristotle
Image of the Page - 703 -
Text of the Page - 703 -
completed the circleâ, because it reverts again to the beginning. Hence it is by
imitating circular motion that rectilinear motion too is continuous.
These considerations serve at the same time to explain what is to some
people a baffling problem-viz. why the âsimpleâ bodies, since each them is
travelling towards its own place, have not become dissevered from one
another in the infinite lapse of time. The reason is their reciprocal
transformation. For, had each of them persisted in its own place instead of
being transformed by its neighbour, they would have got dissevered long ago.
They are transformed, however, owing to the motion with its dual character:
and because they are transformed, none of them is able to persist in any place
allotted to it by the Order.
It is clear from what has been said (i) that coming-to-be and passing-away
actually occur, (ii) what causes them, and (iii) what subject undergoes them.
But (a) if there is to be movement (as we have explained elsewhere, in an
earlier workâ) there must be something which initiates it; if there is to be
movement always, there must always be something which initiates it; if the
movement is to be continuous, what initiates it must be single, unmoved,
ungenerated, and incapable of âalterationâ; and if the circular movements are
more than one, their initiating causes must all of them, in spite of their
plurality, be in some way subordinated to a single âoriginative sourceâ.
Further (b) since time is continuous, movement must be continuous, inasmuch
as there can be no time without movement. Time, therefore, is a ânumberâ of
some continuous movement-a ânumberâ, therefore, of the circular movement,
as was established in the discussions at the beginning. But (c) is movement
continuous because of the continuity of that which is moved, or because that
in which the movement occurs (I mean, e.g. the place or the quality) is
continuous? The answer must clearly be âbecause that which is moved is
continuousâ. (For how can the quality be continuous except in virtue of the
continuity of the thing to which it belongs? But if the continuity of âthat in
whichâ contributes to make the movement continuous, this is true only of âthe
place in whichâ; for that has âmagnitudeâ in a sense.) But (d) amongst
continuous bodies which are moved, only that which is moved in a circle is
âcontinuousâ in such a way that it preserves its continuity with itself
throughout the movement. The conclusion therefore is that this is what
produces continuous movement, viz. the body which is being moved in a
circle; and its movement makes time continuous.
<
div class=âsectionâ title=â11â>
11
703
back to the
book The Complete Aristotle"
The Complete Aristotle
- Title
- The Complete Aristotle
- Author
- Aristotle
- Date
- ~322 B.C.
- Language
- English
- License
- PD
- Size
- 21.0 x 29.7 cm
- Pages
- 2328
- Keywords
- Philosophy, Antique, Philosophie, Antike, Dialogues, Metaphysik, Metaphysics, Ideologie, Ideology, Englisch
- Categories
- Geisteswissenschaften
- International
Table of contents
- 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