Aristotle’s Account of the Immobility of Place: A Cold Case
Abstract At least since the Neoplatonic commentators, Aristotle’s thesis that place is immobile has been considered a serious problem for his theory of place and locomotion. This diagnosis, however, is essentially based on a single passage (212a14–21)—the famous passage on the boat moving in a river...
Auteur principal: | |
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Type de support: | Électronique Article |
Langue: | Anglais |
Vérifier la disponibilité: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Publié: |
Brill
2022
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Dans: |
Phronesis
Année: 2022, Volume: 67, Numéro: 4, Pages: 421-461 |
Sujets non-standardisés: | B
immobility
B locomotion B Change B Place B Physics B Aristotle |
Accès en ligne: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
Résumé: | Abstract At least since the Neoplatonic commentators, Aristotle’s thesis that place is immobile has been considered a serious problem for his theory of place and locomotion. This diagnosis, however, is essentially based on a single passage (212a14–21)—the famous passage on the boat moving in a river—which interpreters find both central and obscure or imprecise, and which has so far resisted a literal reading. I tackle this issue by considering texts hitherto neglected by scholars and propose a new and charitable interpretation, showing the consistency of Aristotle’s thesis of the immobility of place with his general theory of change, as well as a fresh reading of ll. 212a14–21 that stays close to the text. Further, I argue that there are good reasons to believe that the interpretation I put forward is the most ancient one. |
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ISSN: | 1568-5284 |
Contient: | Enthalten in: Phronesis
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15685284-bja10059 |