Knowra Aristotelian physics Aristotelian physics Aristotle’s account of nature explains change through substances, causes, places, and purposes. It distinguishes natural motion from motion imposed by an external mover.
Four causes : Aristotle’s four explanatory answers identify a thing’s material, form, source of change, and end. These causes explain why a natural body exists and changes as it does.
Nature (philosophy) : In Aristotle, nature is an internal principle of motion and rest belonging to natural things. Aristotelian physics begins by defining natural things through their own sources of change.
Physics (Aristotle) : Aristotle’s treatise investigates nature, motion, causes, infinity, place, time, and the unmoved mover. This work presents the central arguments of Aristotelian physics.
Galilean mechanics : The mathematical study of motion associated with Galileo, including falling bodies and projectile trajectories. Galileo challenged Aristotelian claims about falling, motion, and the need for a continuing mover.
Natural place : In Aristotelian cosmology, each elemental body has a proper region toward which it naturally moves. A body’s natural motion is directed toward its element’s place in the cosmos.
Substance : A primary being that exists in its own right, rather than as a property of something else. Aristotle treats substances as the enduring subjects that undergo physical change.
Aristotle : An ancient Greek philosopher whose writings shaped philosophy and natural inquiry for centuries. His account of the physical world is part of a broader system spanning logic, biology, and metaphysics.
Newtonian mechanics : A system of mechanics that describes motion through laws of motion and universal gravitation. Newtonian laws replaced natural place and motion with a unified account of force and inertia.
Natural motion : Motion that arises from a body’s nature, such as earth falling toward the cosmic center. It distinguishes a body’s intrinsic tendency from motion imposed by an external mover.
Hylomorphism : The view that physical substances are composites of matter and form. It explains how a changing body can have material continuity and a determinate nature.
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