Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents of Volume 1
- Preface
- List of contributors
- Frontmatter
- Contents of Volume 2
- Introduction
- I Fundamentals
- II Logic and language
- III Natural philosophy
- 16 Natural philosophy in earlier latin thought
- 17 Creation and causation
- 18 The influence of arabic aristotelianism on scholastic natural philosophy: projectile motion, the place of the universe, and elemental composition
- 19 Change, time, and place
- 20 The nature of change
- IV Soul and knowledge
- V Will and desire
- VI Ethics
- VII Political philosophy
- VIII Metaphysics
- IX Theology
- Appendices
- Bibliography of primary sources
- Bibliography of secondary sources
- Index nominum
- Index rerum
- References
19 - Change, time, and place
from III - Natural philosophy
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2014
- Frontmatter
- Contents of Volume 1
- Preface
- List of contributors
- Frontmatter
- Contents of Volume 2
- Introduction
- I Fundamentals
- II Logic and language
- III Natural philosophy
- 16 Natural philosophy in earlier latin thought
- 17 Creation and causation
- 18 The influence of arabic aristotelianism on scholastic natural philosophy: projectile motion, the place of the universe, and elemental composition
- 19 Change, time, and place
- 20 The nature of change
- IV Soul and knowledge
- V Will and desire
- VI Ethics
- VII Political philosophy
- VIII Metaphysics
- IX Theology
- Appendices
- Bibliography of primary sources
- Bibliography of secondary sources
- Index nominum
- Index rerum
- References
Summary
For Aristotle, the natural world is the world of things subject to change. Accordingly, Aristotle’s natural philosophy essentially consists in a philosophical investigation of change. Aristotle deals with the most fundamental philosophical issues about change in the Physics. Here he determines the intrinsic constituents of a thing that make it possible for it to be subject to change (matter and form), he classifies the types of explanatory factor at work in the natural world (the distinction of the four causes), and in particular he argues for the claim that nature acts for an end (teleological explanation). He also gives a general definition of change, which relates the notion of change to the more basic notions of act and potency, he shows that every change is continuous, and he proves the existence of an eternal motion and an unmoved mover. In addition, he provides a philosophical treatment of the notions of time, place, the void, and the infinite, which are thought to be necessary parts of a complete discussion of change. Because of its extremely rich philosophical content, the Physics was intensely studied by medieval philosophers and became the focal text for the assimilation of Aristotle’s natural philosophy.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge History of Medieval Philosophy , pp. 267 - 278Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2014