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Article: An Aristotelian watchdog as Avant-Garde physicist: Julius Caesar Scaliger.("Aristotelian corpuscularianism")(General Topic: Physics Before Newton)
- Article from:
- The Monist
- Article date:
- October 1, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Hegeler Institute. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Introduction: The (in)compatibility of Aristotelian and corpuscularian theories of matter
There are many good reasons for seeing Aristotelian hylemorphism and atomism as diametrically opposed theories of matter. Aristotle himself had forcefully combatted the physical model of Leucippus and Democritus, whose ontology consisted of indivisible material bodies (atoms) moving in an immaterial void (vacuum), presenting his own model as an alternative. This alternative excluded both indivisibles and the void and postulated instead a plenist world made up of substances all of which were infinitely divisible continua composed of universal matter and specific substantial ...