“No Change for Relatives”: The Strategy of Initial Presence
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Abstract
In the Physics, Aristotle says that there is no change associated with the category of relatives. In this paper, I examine a widespread but neglected strategy that medieval thinkers use to understand Aristotle’s claim. According to this strategy, which I label initial presence, if there is no change in the category of relatives, it is because the relation-properties are already present in their subject as soon as the properties on which relation-properties are founded exist. Appreciating the importance of this strategy is crucial not only for understanding medieval theories of relation but also for assessing the credibility of arguments used in the secondary literature to interpret medieval texts, in particular a well-known passage from Thomas Aquinas’s commentary on the Physics.
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“No Change for Relatives”: The Strategy of Initial Presence
In: History of Philosophy & Logical AnalysisSearch for other papers by Charles Girard in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
In the Physics, Aristotle says that there is no change associated with the category of relatives. In this paper, I examine a widespread but neglected strategy that medieval thinkers use to understand Aristotle’s claim. According to this strategy, which I label initial presence, if there is no change in the category of relatives, it is because the relation-properties are already present in their subject as soon as the properties on which relation-properties are founded exist. Appreciating the importance of this strategy is crucial not only for understanding medieval theories of relation but also for assessing the credibility of arguments used in the secondary literature to interpret medieval texts, in particular a well-known passage from Thomas Aquinas’s commentary on the Physics.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 211 | 99 | 12 |
| Full Text Views | 94 | 0 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 114 | 1 | 0 |
