Aristotle\u27s Theory of Elemental Bodies

This dissertation presents a systematic study of Aristotle\u27s theory of elemental bodies. In the first part of the study, I analyze Aristotle\u27s characterizations of the elements. I contrast Aristotle\u27s view with those of the Atomists and Plato, who take the simple bodies to be either identical with certain geometric structures (Plato\u27s Timaeus) or essentially and most distinctively characterized by them (the Atomists). Aristotle, I argue, thinks that both views preclude a satisfactory account of the unity of complex bodies and, as a result, rehabilitates a more traditional view of the elements according to which they are characterized in terms of a limited set of powers ( dunameis). ^ Aristotle offers two such characterizations of the elements, however. The first is tailored to his cosmology and highlights the locomotive powers (the light and the heavy) that establish the general architecture of the cosmos. The second is tailored to his chemistry and highlights the basic sensible powers (the hot, the cold, the moist, and the dry) that underwrite his accounts of elemental transformation and mixture. The latter, chemical characterization, I argue, is explanatory of the cosmological characterization. ^ That result pays dividends in my interpretation of the elements\u27 hylomorphic structure. Although the elements are the simplest bodies, I argue that Aristotle is committed to sub-elemental (prime) matter. An element\u27s form is a pair of basic sensible powers. Its matter, qua matter, is potentially hot or cold and potentially moist or dry, but insofar as it is inseparable from the elements, it is always actually characterized by one power from each contrary pair. ^ In the second part of the study, I turn from Aristotle\u27s characterizations of the elements to his conception of what it is to be an element. An elemental body, I argue, is indivisible into bodies different in form and a primary component in the composition of other bodies. I offer novel interpretations of each criterion. The result is a clearer picture both of Aristotle\u27s chemical theory of matter and its relationship to central concerns in his metaphysics.