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Infinite Regress Arguments as per impossibile Arguments in Aristotle: De Caelo 300a30–b1, Posterior Analytics 72b5–10, Physics V.2 225b33–226a10

Duncombe, Matthew

Authors



Abstract

Infinite regress arguments are a powerful tool in Aristotle, but this style of argument has received relatively little attention. Improving our understanding of infinite regress arguments has become pressing since recent scholars have pointed out that it is not clear whether Aristotle’s infinite regress arguments are, in general, effective or indeed what the logical structure of these arguments is. One obvious approach would be to hold that Aristotle takes infinite regress arguments to be per impossibile arguments, which derive an infinite sequence. Due to his finitism, Aristotle then rejects such a sequence as impossible. This paper argues that this obvious approach does not work, even for its most amenable cases. The paper argues instead that infinite regress arguments involve domain-specific infinities, and so there is not a general finitism which underpins infinite regress arguments in Aristotle, but rather domain-specific reasons that there cannot be an infinite number of entities in each domain in which Aristotle invokes an infinite regress argument.

Citation

Duncombe, M. (2023). Infinite Regress Arguments as per impossibile Arguments in Aristotle: De Caelo 300a30–b1, Posterior Analytics 72b5–10, Physics V.2 225b33–226a10. Rhizomata, 10(2), 262-282. https://doi.org/10.1515/rhiz-2022-0015

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Nov 11, 2022
Online Publication Date Jan 13, 2023
Publication Date Jan 13, 2023
Deposit Date Feb 17, 2023
Publicly Available Date Jan 14, 2024
Journal Rhizomata
Print ISSN 2196-5102
Electronic ISSN 2196-5110
Publisher De Gruyter
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 10
Issue 2
Pages 262-282
DOI https://doi.org/10.1515/rhiz-2022-0015
Keywords History and Philosophy of Science, Philosophy
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/16493610
Publisher URL https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/rhiz-2022-0015/html

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