The Rota Aristotelis, a pseudo problem over chiliads

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The Rota Aristotelis, a pseudo problem over chiliads
Dosch, Hans Günter; Schmidt, Ernst A.

From the journal StL Studia Leibnitiana, Volume 50, December 2018, issue 2

Published by Franz Steiner Verlag

essay, 7166 Words
Original language: German
StL 2018, pp 214-228
https://doi.org/10.25162/sl-2018-0014

Abstract

The problem of the Rota Aristotelis deals with the unrolling of two tightly connected concentric circles with different radii. It is to be found in Chapter 24 of the text Mechanica of the Aristotelian corpus (today generally no longer attributed to Aristotle) and has bothered many authors until the modern age. All these scholars agree that the solution given there is not satisfactory. We conclude that Chapter 24 is close to Aristotle, at least, both from a philological and philosophical point of view. The solution of the problem given in the ancient text can very well be transferred into a modern physical phenomenological explanation.