John Philoponus' Criticism of Aristotle's Theory of Aether (Peripatoi)

This volume concludes the edition, translation, and commentary of the first order of the "Jerusalem Talmud". It contains four small but important tractates. The first, Ma'aser Šeni, deals with Second Tithe (Deut. 14: 22-27) and the fourth-year fruit of a newly planted tree (Lev. 19: 24). This is sanctified food, to be consumed by the laity at the holy precinct, for which redemption is expressly authorized. The tractate deals in large part with the problems of redemption of dedicated food. In addition, there is a long section on the interpretation of dreams, and a detailed description of the ceremony of presentation of the tithe in the Temple. The second tractate, Hallah, details the application of the general rules of heave to the Cohen's part of any bread dough. The third tractate, 'Orlah, the fruit of a newly planted tree during the first three years (Lev. 19: 23), treats this as paradigm for all food whose usufruct is forbidden, and most of the tractate discusses the problems that may arise if any such food is not immediately disposed of. The last tractate, Bikkurim, describes the rules for selection and presentation of First Fruits in the Temple on or after Pentecost. The rite is given in detail, with an excursus on the honor due elders. A first appendix shows the position of the Tosephta as intermediary between Yerushalmi and Babli tradition, with a distinct slant towards Babylonian positions. A second appendix tries to identify the main authors of the tractates of this first order. Acknowledgements Abbreviations 1. Introduction PART I 2. The Foundation of Aristotle’s Theory of Aether 2.1 Aether and Eternity 2.2 The Prologue: De caelo I 1 2.3 Mathematics and Physics in De caelo I 1 2.4 Conclusion 3. The Existence of Aether: De caelo I 2 3.1 Gathering Premises 3.2 The Existence, Simplicity and Priority of Aether 3.3 Conclusion 4. The Nature of Aether: De caelo I 3 – 4 4.1 Aristotle’s Negative Celestial Physics 4.2 The Conclusion of the Argument and Additional Evidence 4.3 Contrariety and Circular Motion: De caelo 14 4.4 Conclusion PART II 5. Philoponus’ Rejection of Aether: Book I 5.1 Introduction 5.2 On the Correlation of Natures and Motions 5.3 Against the Division of Locomotion: Fragments I/6 – 8 5.4 The Movement of the Firesphere 5.5 Against the Priority of the Heavens 5.6 Conclusion 6. On the Nature of the Celestial Region: Books II and III 6.1 The Structure and Argument of Book II 6.2 The Structure and Argument of Book III 6.3 Conclusion 7. The Celestial Body: Unalterable but Corruptible 7.1 The Structure and Argument of Book IV 7.2 Excursus: Philoponus’ Conception of ‘The Three-dimensional’ 7.3 The Structure and Argument of Book V 7.4 Conclusion 8. Conclusion 8.1 Retrospect 8.2 Aristotle and Philoponus: A Summary Comparison 8.3 The Application of Impetus Theory to the Motion of the Celestial Spheres 9. List of Fragments 10. Indices 11. Bibliography By Christian Wildberg. Spine Title: John Philoponus' Criticism. Includes Indexes. Bibliography: P. [265]-274.