Oxford Physics in the Thirteenth Century : (ca. 1250-1270) Motion, Infinity, Place and Time

This volume deals with the reception of Aristotle's natural philosophy in Oxford between 1250 and 1270. It examines a group of ten unedited commentaries on Aristotle's Physics. This book consists of four main chapters devoted respectively to the concepts of motion, infinity, place, and time. Topics included are the question about the nature of motion, the discussion of the actual infinity in numbers, the relation between Aristotle's concepts of place in the Physics and in the Categories, the debate about the reality and the unicity of time. This book offers a comprehensive philosophical analysis of a hitherto unexplored phase of the Aristotelian natural philosophy in the Middle Ages. Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Acknowledgements Introduction 1. Content, Aim, and Limits of This Book 2. Aristotle's Theory of Motion, Infinity, Place, and Time 3. The Early English Commentaries Chapter One: Motion: Its Ontological Status Introduction: The Aristotelian Background 1. Simplicius' Position 2. Averroes' Position 3. The Rejection of Averroes' Position 3.1 The Exegesis of Averroes' Distinction Between the True Way and the Famous Way of Regarding Motion 3.2 The Arguments Against Averroes' Position 3.3 The Physical Approach to Averroes' Position 4. The Exegesis of the Definition of Motion 5. The Classification of Motion in the Aristotelian Categories Chapter Two: The Infinite Introduction 1. Metaphysical Grounds for the Rejection of an Actual Infinite in Magnitude 2. The Actual Infinite and the Potential Infinite by Addition in Magnitude 3. The Infinite in Number 3.1 The Finitist Position and the Infinitist Position About Number 3.2 Ontological Aspects of the Infinitist Position Chapter Three: Place Introduction 1. Place in the Categories and Place in the Physics 2. The Synthetizing Approach in the Early English Tradition 3. The 'Immersive' Notion of Place 3.1 Immersive Place as Natural Place (T, N, G3) 3.2 Immersive Place as Three-Dimensional Extension (S, P, G1, M3) 3.3 Ontological Problems in the Three-Dimensional Notion of Immersive Place 3.4 Roger Bacon's Rejection of Immersive Place in the Communia Naturalium 4. The Immobility of Place 4.1 Averroes' Opinion 4.2 The Second Opinion on the Immobility of Place: The Immobility of the Celestial Nature 4.3 The Third Opinion on the Immobility of Place: The Identity of the Distance from the Fixed Points of the Universe 5. The Place of the Heavens 5.1 Aristotle's Opinion 5.2 Averroes' Opinion 5.3 The Place of the Heavens as Their Convex Surface Chapter Four: Time Introduction 1. Time as Successive Entity 2. The Extramental Reality of Time and Its Ontological Status 2.1 Ehe Rejection of Averroes' Position 2.2 Time and Motion 3. The Unity of Time 3.1 Averroes' Opinion 3.2 Richard Rufus of Cornwall's and Roger Bacon's Opinion 3.3 Bonaventure's Opinion: Its Reception in P and G1 Conclusion Bibliography Index of Names Index of Manuscripts Index of Subjects STUDIEN UND TEXTE ZUR GEISTESGESCHICHTE DES MITTELALTERS