On Aristotle’s arguments for the Earth’s smallness: argumentative gaps and context
In the last chapter of the second book of his De Caelo, Aristotle argues for the Earth’s smallness. In this paper I will differentiate between three relevant ways in which this feature can be understood, and I will explain how Aristotle’s arguments relate to them. I will argue that Aristotle’s argum...
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| Format: | article |
| Status: | Published version |
| Publication Date: | 2022 |
| Country: | Argentina |
| Institution: | Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas |
| Repository: | CONICET Digital (CONICET) |
| Language: | English |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/200540 |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/11336/200540 |
| Access Level: | Open access |
| Keyword: | Aristotle Greek astronomy De Caelo Theory of the Earth https://purl.org/becyt/ford/6.3 https://purl.org/becyt/ford/6 |
| Summary: | In the last chapter of the second book of his De Caelo, Aristotle argues for the Earth’s smallness. In this paper I will differentiate between three relevant ways in which this feature can be understood, and I will explain how Aristotle’s arguments relate to them. I will argue that Aristotle’s arguments, as they are presented in the relevant passages, are not conclusive, and finally I will provide a plausible context which might help understand Aristotle’s text. |
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