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TheoriesofLocalMotionbeforetheOxfordCalculators
41
thewholeofBookVIIshouldberatherseenasadraft,anunfn-
ishedversionoftheplannedintroductiontotheconceptofthePrime
MoverpresentedinthetreatiseweknownowasBookVIIIofthe
Physics.8
Surely,Aristotlewasnotverystrictthere,notdeterminingexactlythe
natureoftherelationbetweenweightandresistance,eventhoughhe
obviouslyassumedsucharelation.9Nevertheless,theAristotelianulaws
ofmotion”introducedinBookVIIofthePhysics,aswellastheurules”
fromBookIVreferredtothemathematicaldescriptionoftherelations
betweenforces,resistancesorweights,andspeedsinlocalmotion,ex-
plicitlyalludingtotheequalratiosbetweenthesefactorsandbringing
uptheulawofproportion.”Whatismoreimportantinthecontextthat
interestsusmosthere,isthatsuccessivegenerationsofnaturalphiloso-
phers,eitherancientormedieval,hadnodoubtthattheseurules”were
intendedbyAristotlefromtheoutset,andshouldbeseen,asmathe-
maticallysoundandconsistentequations.
Aristotlerecognizedmathematicsasoneofthetheoreticalscience
thatuaremoretobedesiredthantheothersciences.”10Heevensought
forexpressionsofgoodnessandbeautyinmathematicalprocedures:
Thosewhoassertthatthemathematicalsciencessaynothingof
thebeautifulandthegoodareinerror.Forthesesciencessayand
proveagreatdealaboutthem;iftheydonotexpresslymention
them,butproveattributeswhicharetheirresultsortheirdefni-
tions,itisnottruetosaythattheytellusnothingaboutthem.The
chiefformsofbeautyareorderandsymmetryanddefniteness,
whichthemathematicalsciencesdemonstrateinaspecialdegree.
Andsincethese(e.g.orderanddefniteness)areobviouslycauses
ofmanythings,evidentlythesesciencesmusttreatthissortof
8J.E.Murdoch,E.D.Sylla,TheScienceofMotionł,p.224.
9Establishingsucharelationwouldbeevenmorediffculttakingintoaccountthe
factthatAristotleconsideredalsotheshapeanddimensionsofamovingbody
tobeequallysignifcantfactors.SeeAristotle,OntheHeavens,313b,2-16,Bk.IV,
pp.465-466.
10Aristotle,Metaphysics,1025b1-1026a,32,Bk.E(VI),W.D.Ross(transl.),[in:]
uTheBasicWorks…”,pp.778-779.