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On the "Perceptible Bodies" at De Generatione et Corruptione II.1

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Summary:Near the beginning of De Gen. et Cor. II.1, Aristotle claims that the generation and corruption of all naturally constituted substances are "not without the perceptible bodies" (328b32-33). It is not clear what he intends by this. In this paper I offer a new interpretation of this assertion. I argue that the assumption behind the usual reading, namely, that these "perceptible bodies" ought to be distinguished from the naturally constituted substances, is flawed, and that the assertion is best understood as a claim that Aristotle has established in the second half of the first book of the De Gen. et Cor.
Main Authors:Crowley, Timothy J.
Subject:Aristotle Physics Generation Bodies Perceptibility Elements Prime Matter Contact Tangibility
Year:2019
Country:Portugal
Document type:article
Access type:unknown
Associated institution:Imprensa da Universidade de Coimbra
Language:English
Origin:Archai
Description
Summary:Near the beginning of De Gen. et Cor. II.1, Aristotle claims that the generation and corruption of all naturally constituted substances are "not without the perceptible bodies" (328b32-33). It is not clear what he intends by this. In this paper I offer a new interpretation of this assertion. I argue that the assumption behind the usual reading, namely, that these "perceptible bodies" ought to be distinguished from the naturally constituted substances, is flawed, and that the assertion is best understood as a claim that Aristotle has established in the second half of the first book of the De Gen. et Cor.