ARISTOTLE'S CONCEPT OF UNIVERSE

At the time of the Greek philosopher and naturalist Aristotle (384-322 B.C.),
the Earth and the unierse !ere seen as "onstru"ted out of fie #asi"
elements$ earth, !ater, air, fire, and ether. %he natural pla"e of the
motionless Earth !as at the "entre of that unierse. %he stars in the
heaens !ere made up of an indestru"ti#le su#stan"e "alled ether and
!ere "onsidered as eternal and un"han&in&.
Aristotle !as a student of 'lato and has influen"ed man( fields of stud(
in"ludin& )"ien"e, %heolo&( and 'hilosoph( et". Althou&h Aristotle !as not
a s"ientist, it is important to note that he did point out that the Earth had to
#e sphere sin"e its shado! !as al!a(s "ir"ular. %his !as in fa"t a ke(
s"ientifi" insi&ht !hi"h allo!ed Eratosthenes around 2** BC to "al"ulate
the "ir"umferen"e of the Earth.
Aristotle+s "osmolo&( !as the first ,stead( state, unierse. %he other #asi"
elements - !ater, air, fire - !ere earthl( elements. %he "elestial #odies
in"ludin& the )un, the planets, and the stars, !ere "onsidered to #e
atta"hed to ri&id, "r(stalline spheres, !hi"h !ere supposed to reole in
perfe"t "ir"les a#out the Earth. %he three innermost spheres, "losest to the
Earth, "ontained !ater, air, and fire, respe"tiel(. Aristotle tau&ht that
the 'lanets and )tars !ere on "on"entri" "r(stalline spheres "entered on
the Earth. Ea"h 'lanet, the )un and the -oon !ere in their o!n sphere,
and the )tars !ere pla"ed on the lar&est sphere surroundin& all of the rest.
.e felt that the !orld !as filled !ith "han&e, death and de"a( !hile
the 'lanets, -oon and )un !ere perfe"t, un"han&in& and more or less
ornaments on the sk(, not !orlds that "ould #e e/plored.
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.e "hose this model #e"ause o#serational eiden"e of the time supported
it. 1n this theor( of motion, thin&s naturall( moe to the "enter of
the Earth and the onl( !a( to deiate from it !as to hae a for"e applied to
the o#2e"t. )o a #all thro!n parallel to the &round must hae a for"e
"ontinuall( pushin& it alon&.
A""ordin& to Aristotle, spa"e and time also #elon& to the "lass of
3uantities. %ime - past, present, and future, forms a "ontinuous !hole.
)pa"e, like!ise, is a "ontinuous 3uantit(4 for the parts of a solid o""up( a
"ertain spa"e, and these hae a "ommon #oundar(4 it follo!s that the parts
of spa"e also, !hi"h are o""upied #( the parts of the solid, hae the same
"ommon #oundar( as the parts of the solid. %hus, not onl( time, #ut spa"e
also, is a "ontinuous 3uantit(, for its parts hae a "ommon #oundar(.
Aristotle also tau&ht that the Earth !as uni3ue in the 5nierse, !ith its o!n
set of ph(si"al la!s that !ere different from ho! thin&s !orked up in
the .eaens. .e stated that the Earth !as made up
of earth, air, !ater and fire. .e also held that all the heaens, and eer(
parti"le of matter in the 5nierse !as formed out of another fifth element
"alled ,ether,, !hi"h !as supposedl( !ei&htless and ,in"orrupti#le,. .ea(
su#stan"es su"h as iron and metals !ere "onsidered to #e primaril(
"onsistin& of the ,element, of earth, !ith a limited amount of matter from
the other elements. 6ther, less hea( and7or dense o#2e"ts !ere thou&ht to
#e less earth(, and "omposed of a &reater mi/ture of the other elements.
.umans !ere "reated !ith all of the su#stan"es, !ith the e/"eption
of ether, #ut the relatie proportion of elements !as uni3ue to ea"h person,
and there !as no standard amount of ea"h !ithin the human #od(.
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Gravity
%he Aristotelian theor( of &rait( !as a theor( that stated that all #odies
moe to!ards their natural pla"e. 8or some o#2e"ts, Aristotle "laimed the
natural pla"e to #e the "enter of the Earth, therefore the( fall to!ards it. 8or
other o#2e"ts, the natural pla"e is the heaenl( spheres, e&. &ases, steam
that moe a!a( from the "enter of the Earth and to!ards .eaen and to
the -oon. %he speed of this motion !as thou&ht to #e proportional to the
mass of the o#2e"t ie. steam and smoke are li&ht so the( drift up!ards.
%here !ere 9 planets or !anderin& )tars, #e"ause the( had a "ourse
throu&h the :odia" in addition to traelin& around the Earth$ the
-oon, -er"ur(, ;enus, the )un, -ars and <upiter. Be(ond these !ere the
fi/ed )tars. %he ph(si"al elements, a""ordin& to Aristotle moed erti"all(,
dependin& on their =heainess> or =&rait(>4 the "elestial #odies !ere not
ph(si"al #ut a =fifth element> or =3uintessen"e> !hose nature !as to moe in
perfe"t "ir"les around the Earth, makin& a dail(
rotation. Aristotle enisioned the Earth as the true "enter of all the "ir"les or
=or#s> "arr(in& the heaenl( #odies around it and all motion as uniform and
un"han&in&.
Characteristics of Aristotle's mechaical !ict"re of the heaves#
'lanets moed and !ere "arried on spheres like a me"hani"al "lo"k
me"hanism.
Earth resided at the "enter
6utermost sphere !as the ,prime moer,
-oon, )un, 'lanets "arried on inner spheres
?? spheres in all !ere ne"essar( for the &iant "lo"k!ork.
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%he uniersal as a uniersal does not e/ist. A""ordin& to Aristotle the
uniersal is not a su#stan"e.
,)u#stan"e, in the truest and primar( and most definite sense of the !ord,
is that !hi"h is neither predi"a#le of a su#2e"t nor present in a su#2e"t4 for
instan"e, the indiidual man or horse., (Cate&ories, 2a00-04). B( ,present
in a su#2e"t,, Aristotle means the mode of #ein& of a""idents su"h as
,!hite,, moin&,, ,si/ feet tall., (0a24-?) @ot onl( is su#stan"e in the
primar( sense not an a""ident of a su#2e"t, it is not the spe"ies ,man, or
,horse.,
Aristotle thro"$h the years
Aristotle dominated s"ientifi" thinkin& for man( (ears. .is ie!s on motion
!ere !idel( a""epted #e"ause the( seemed to support !hat people
o#sered in nature. 8or e/ample, Aristotle thou&ht that !ei&ht affe"ted
fallin& o#2e"ts. A heaier o#2e"t, he ar&ued, !ould rea"h the &round faster
than a li&hter o#2e"t dropped at the same time from the same hei&ht.
Atul Bhosekar
-.A -11 (Buddhist )tudies)
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