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  • Essay / Essay on Aristotle on the Void - 628

    #3Aristotle has eight points that prove that a real vacuum cannot exist. Vacuum is not a condition of movement; Aristotle argues that not all movements need a vacuum. He then argues that a void is not an interval, if a void is a place with nothing in it, then it would not be a void because it is a place. Second, emptiness is incompatible with motion because it goes against the doctrine of natural motion. Because the projectiles travel parallel to the Earth, if there were a vacuum there would be no way to move them. Then an argument found in (215a 20), discussing whether objects stop at certain places rather than another or continue to infinity proves that there is no vacuum. Then there is motion everywhere in the universe and there is no motion in a vacuum so there cannot be a vacuum. Density is another factor, for some people the space between atoms is where the void is. Aristotle says that the difference in density is due to changes and according to Aristotle does not require a vacuum. He gives his final arguments on (216a 27) involving a cube and the void and his argument is that the void is a thing rather than a bodiless place. Aristotle determines through these arguments that the void does not exist in nature.#6(239b 5-7) Zeno essentially states that when the arrow is in a place it is at rest, at every moment it is flying through the air where she is located. a place of its own size. This is why at every moment of its flight it is at rest. Aristotle's argument is that Zeno wrongly assumes that time consists of the present. Aristotle's solution is found in (239b 8-10). For Aristotle, there is no movement in the present, so the arrow is not at rest during its flight. Lines are not made up of points, time is not ...... middle of paper ...... ion and movement takes place in a circle because it is complete and continuous. His final argument is that the immobile mover (which is indivisible and has no parts because it is an infinite force and an infinite force cannot have magnitude because that limits it) applies circular locomotion to the celestial spheres, which then transmit motion to everything else.#8The study of motion is at the heart of the book; movement defines nature, time and is what causes the process of change. Motion is an important aspect of understanding the physics of the world, because the world is constantly in motion. Because motion is mentioned in the definition of nature, any discussion of nature will rely on explaining motion. Thus, in Aristotle's attempt to define and understand the physics of the world, there was heavy reliance on motion and that is why it is mentioned in every physics book..