Reading questions: Aristotle's Physics; Ptolemy's Almagest and Tetrabiblos

Update: Sept. 30th -- Questions marked with a * were not covered in class, and thus will not be on the test.

Aristotle: Physics Book II, chapters 1-3

Part 1
1. What, according to Aristotle, is the difference between natural things (= things that exist 'by nature') and non-natural (artificial) things?

2. What are the two candidate answers Aristotle considers for the question "What is (a thing's) nature?"? What are the arguments in favor of each candidate? Which of the two does Aristotle ultimately choose?

3. At the beginning of Part 2, Aristotle wonders "how the mathematician is different from the physicist." What is Aristotle's eventual answer to this question?

Part 3
4. What are the four kinds of "cause," according to Aristotle?

* 5. What is the difference between a "proper" cause and an "incidental" cause? Give an example. *

On the Heavens Book I, chapters 2-3

1. What are the different kinds of natural motion? (What does it mean to call a certain motion 'natural' or 'unnatural'?)

2. What is the natural motion of fire and air? Of water and earth?

3. How does Aristotle characterize 'upward' and 'downward'? 'Heavy' and 'light'?

4. Make a list of the characteristics that Aristotle attributes to the stars and planets (='bodies which move in a circle'). What reasons/ evidence does Aristotle give for claiming stars and planets have these characteristics?

Ptolemy: Almagest Book I, chapters 1-8

1. Ptolemy claims that his subject-matter (which he calls "mathematics") of the Almagest is the best kind of all theoretical philosophy. Why? (Also: How does "mathematics" in Ptolemy differ from math today?)

2. What are (some of) the arguments/ evidence that (a) the heavens are a sphere, and (b) the only motion of the stars is spherical/ circular?

3. What are (some of) the arguments/ evidence that the planet Earth is a sphere?

* 4. What are (some of) the arguments/ evidence that the planet Earth is in the center of the universe? *

5. What does Ptolemy mean by "the Earth has, to the senses, the ratio of a point to the distance of the sphere of the so-called fixed stars"? What arguments does Ptolemy use to show this?

6. What are (some of) the arguments/ evidence that the planet Earth does not rotate on its axis (p.45)?

Tetrabiblos Book I, chapters 1-2

1. According to Ptolemy, how does astrology -- the topic of Tetrabiblos -- compare to astronomy -- the topic of the Almagest?

2. Ptolemy claims "a certain power emanating from the eternal ethereal substance" causes changes here on Earth. What arguments does he give for this claim?

3. How does Ptolemy explain astrology's apparent mistakes/ failures?