Aristotle and the pre-cosmic chaos (De cael. 3.2, 301a11-20) (in Polish)

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Published: Mar 1, 2013
DOI: https://doi.org/10.13153/diam.35.2013.509
Keywords:
cosmogony, chaos, reception of Presocratic philosophy, Aristotle, Empedocle, Anaxagoras, Milesian monists

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Maria Marcinkowska-Rosół
Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan

Abstract

The article is an analysis and interpretation of Aristotle’s De caelo 301a11-20. In this passage Aristotle, confronting his concept of the natural movement of the elements with the concept of their haphazard pre-cosmic movement (ascribed to the atomists and Plato), refers to some Presocratic cosmogonies that do not allow for pre-cosmic disorder. According to the proposed interpretation, he considers three alternative cosmogonic models, in which the elements in the pre-cosmic stage are, respectively, 1) unmoved, 2) collected together, and 3) separated. Even if Aristotle, advocating the eternity of the world, does not accept the pre-cosmic phase at all, in this dialectical discussion he approves of the first two models and repudiates the third on the grounds of his own cosmology and definition of change. An analysis of his arguments leads to the rejection of the thesis (assumed by some scholars) that the passage ascribes the concept of the pre-cosmic rest of the ἀρχή to the Milesian monists and the idea of the pre-cosmic movement of the entirely divided elements to Empedocles.

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“Aristotle and the Pre-Cosmic Chaos (De Cael. 3.2, 301a11-20) (in Polish)”. 2013. Diametros, no. 35 (March): 65-83. https://doi.org/10.13153/diam.35.2013.509.
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No. 35 (2013)
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Author Biography

Maria Marcinkowska-Rosół, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan

Maria Marcinkowska-Rosół, PhD
Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan
Institute of Classical Philology
ul. Fredry 10
Pl-61-701 Poznań
e-mail: mm3180@abs.umk.pl

How to Cite

“Aristotle and the Pre-Cosmic Chaos (De Cael. 3.2, 301a11-20) (in Polish)”. 2013. Diametros, no. 35 (March): 65-83. https://doi.org/10.13153/diam.35.2013.509.
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