The Order of Nature in Aristotle's Physics
Place and the Elements

In this 1999 book, Lang establishes the case that we must rethink our approach to Aristotle's physical science and Aristotelian texts.

Helen S. Lang (Author)

9780521624534, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 28 October 1998

338 pages
23.6 x 15.9 x 2.7 cm, 0.61 kg

"...this book will be of interest to scholars. It will also interest those seeking to understand Aristotle's physics on its own terms." Norman O. Dahl, Religious Studies Review

This 1999 book demonstrates a method for reading the texts of Aristotle by revealing a continuous line of argument running from the Physics to De Caelo. The author analyses a group of arguments that are almost always treated in isolation from one another, and reveals their elegance and coherence. She concludes by asking why these arguments remain interesting even though we now believe they are absolutely wrong and have been replaced by better ones. The book establishes the case that we must rethink our approach to Aristotle's physical science and Aristotelian texts, and as such will provoke debate and stimulate new thinking amongst philosophers, classicists, and historians of science.

Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Part I. Place: 1. Aristotle's physics and the problem of nature
2. Nature and motion
3. Place
4. Void
Part II. The Elements: 5. Inclination: an ability to be moved
6. Inclination as heaviness and lightness
7. Inclination: the natures and activities of the elements
Part III. Nature As a Cause of Order: 8. The order of nature in Aristotle's physics
Bibliography of works cited
Subject and name index
Index of Aristotelian texts.

Subject Areas: Western philosophy: Ancient, to c 500 [HPCA]