Aristotle's Physics: A Critical Guide

Front Cover
Mariska Leunissen
Cambridge University Press, Aug 27, 2015 - Art - 297 pages
Aristotle's study of the natural world plays a tremendously important part in his philosophical thought. He was very interested in the phenomena of motion, causation, place and time, and teleology, and his theoretical materials in this area are collected in his Physics, a treatise of eight books which has been very influential on later thinkers. This volume of new essays provides cutting-edge research on Aristotle's Physics, taking into account recent changes in the field of Aristotle in terms of its understanding of key concepts and preferred methodology. The contributions reassess the key concepts of the treatise (including nature, chance, teleology, art, and motion), reconstruct Aristotle's methods for the study of nature, and determine the boundaries of his natural philosophy. Due to the foundational nature of Aristotle's Physics itself, the volume will be a must-read for all scholars working on Aristotle.
 

Contents

Aristotles μέθοδος
10
Aristotle on interpreting nature
31
Nature as a principle of change
46
Aristotle on chance as an accidental cause
66
Nature
88
Artifacts
107
The origins of Aristotles natural teleology in Physics ii
121
Substantial generation in Physics i 57
144
Aristotles processes
186
Unity of change and disunity
206
Perfection and the physiology of habituation according
225
Selfmotion as othermotion in Aristotles Physics
245
The argument of Physics viii
265
Bibliography
284
Index
296
Copyright

On how Aristotle arrived
162

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About the author (2015)

Mariska Leunissen is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Her recent publications include Explanation and Teleology in Aristotle's Science of Nature (2010).