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Single Idea 13220

[filed under theme 26. Natural Theory / A. Speculations on Nature / 6. Early Matter Theories / g. Atomism ]

Full Idea

Bodies are divisible through and through.

Gist of Idea

Bodies are endlessly divisible

Source

Aristotle (Coming-to-be and Passing-away (Gen/Corr) [c.335 BCE], 326b27)

Book Ref

Aristotle: 'The Basic Works of Aristotle', ed/tr. McKeon,Richard [Modern Library Classics 2001], p.502

A Reaction

This is Aristotle's flat rejection of atomism, arrived at after several sustained discussions, in this text and elsewhere. I don't think we are in a position to say that Aristotle is wrong.

The 25 ideas from 'Coming-to-be and Passing-away (Gen/Corr)'

21360 Unobservant thinkers tend to dogmatise using insufficient facts [Aristotle]
13210 Wood is potentially divided through and through, so what is there in the wood besides the division? [Aristotle]
13211 If a body is endlessly divided, is it reduced to nothing - then reassembled from nothing? [Aristotle]
16100 True change is in a thing's logos or its matter, not in its qualities [Aristotle]
16101 A change in qualities is mere alteration, not true change [Aristotle]
16572 Does the pure 'this' come to be, or the 'this-such', or 'so-great', or 'somewhere'? [Aristotle]
16573 Philosophers have worried about coming-to-be from nothing pre-existing [Aristotle]
16595 If each thing can cease to be, why hasn't absolutely everything ceased to be long ago? [Aristotle]
13212 Infinity is only potential, never actual [Aristotle]
13213 All comings-to-be are passings-away, and vice versa [Aristotle]
13214 The substratum changing to a contrary is the material cause of coming-to-be [Aristotle]
12133 If the substratum persists, it is 'alteration'; if it doesn't, it is 'coming-to-be' or 'passing-away' [Aristotle]
13215 If a perceptible substratum persists, it is 'alteration'; coming-to-be is a complete change [Aristotle]
12134 Matter is the substratum, which supports both coming-to-be and alteration [Aristotle]
13216 Matter is the limit of points and lines, and must always have quality and form [Aristotle]
13220 Bodies are endlessly divisible [Aristotle]
13221 Existence is either potential or actual [Aristotle]
17994 The primary matter is the substratum for the contraries like hot and cold [Aristotle]
16717 Which of the contrary features of a body are basic to it? [Aristotle]
16594 The Four Elements must change into one another, or else alteration is impossible [Aristotle]
13223 Fire is hot and dry; Air is hot and moist; Water is cold and moist; Earth is cold and dry [Aristotle]
13224 There couldn't be just one element, which was both water and air at the same time [Aristotle]
13226 An Order controls all things [Aristotle]
13227 Being is better than not-being [Aristotle]
13228 There is no time without movement [Aristotle]