Aristotle's Physics

(Originally written July 14, 2006 in Book 4)

The History of Western Philosophy
Bertrand Russell

Chapter 23: Aristotle's Physics

The nature of a thing is its end, i.e. the nature of an acorn is to be an oak.

Aristotelian nature has a teleological implication.

Things with these teleological natures have an internal principle. It is their nature to become what their nature is.

Things not yet at their end (an acorn, not yet an oak) are their potential nature.

Motion is the prices of achieving one's potential.

Time is the motion of numeration.

There has always been motion and there will always be motion.

Without motion there is no time.

The earth is the center of the universe.

On earth everything is composed of combinations of the four elements. Everything in the heavens is composed of a fifth element.

Side note - "Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo had to combat Aristotle as well s the Bible in establishing the view that the earth is not the centre of the universe" (Russell, 207).

Linehan - Bad science based on poor Biblical interpretations does not negate the accuracy of the Bible, only disproves the theories based on bad Biblical interpretation. I can state that God created the world in seven, 24 hour days and then that could theoretically be disproved by science. The Biblical account of creation would not be discredited then, only my interpretation would.

Aristotelian physics is incompatible with Newton's First Law of Motion.

Also Aristotle's view of the heavenly bodies being indestructible and otherwise incorruptible obviously has to be abandoned.