Abstract

In the introduction to An Approach to Aristotle’s Physics, David Bolotin presents an exceptionally clear account of the difficulties of making a claim for Aristotle’s natural philosophy as a contemporary teacher about nature. Modern science has repudiated the chief elements of the Aristotelian cosmos—the geocentric universe, the account of projectile motion—and so the contemporary interpreter treats Aristotle as a brilliant expositor of the world “as it appears.” Alternatively, the interpreter may say there is no final truth in the matter of nature, so Aristotle’s cosmos within its own perspective was as compelling as our modern science is within its own perspective. Neither of these interpretations suits Aristotle, Bolotin says, since the philosopher’s conception of science included its being a true account of nature itself.