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ChapterII
TheoriesofLocalMotionbefore
theOxfordCalculators
Asforthestorythisbooktells,themostimportanttheoriesoflocal
motionweretheideasputforwardbyAristotle,Averroes,RobertGros-
seteste,andWilliamofOckham.WhileforalltheOxfordCalculators,
thoughAristotle’stheoryandtheinterpretationofhisworksbyAver-
roeswerethestartingpointfortheirownconcepts,itwasthemeth-
odologyofRobertGrossestesteandWilliamofOckham,regarding
mathematicsastheactuallanguagefordescribingphysicalphenomena,
thatconstitutedaturningpointinthehistoryofthetheoryofmotion
aspresentedbytheOxfordCalculators.Therefore,thepresentchapter
offersshortdescriptionsofthesetheories.1
1.Aristotle‘s“MathematicalPhysics”
AsEdwardHusseynotices:
Aristotle’squestformathematicallawsinthephysicalworldis,like
everythingelseinhisphysics,closelygroundedontheexperience
ofordinarylife.Thecentralulawsofproportionality”mustbeso
understood.Butthegoverningassumptionthatthemathematical
relationshipsaretheretobediscoveredmustbeduetothere-
alizationthatinbasicphysicalprocessesitisonlythequantities
andtheirrelationshipsthatholdoutsomeprospectofareasonable
explanation;apurelyqualitativelawwouldinevitablybefullof
unexplainedexceptions.Butalawrelatingquantitiesisnecessarily
amathematicalone.[…]ForAristotle,mathematicswasastudyof
certainparticularlybasicpropertiesofphysicalbodies.2
1PartofthischapterwaspresentedinR.Podkoński,uRichardSwineshead’sThe-
oryofMotion”,Łódź2019,pp.15-22.
2E.Hussey,Aristotle)sMathematicalPhysics:AReconstruction,[in:]uAristotle’sPhys-
ics:ACollectionofEssays”L.Judson(ed.),Oxford1991,p.241.ForAristotle’s