John Philoponus on Physical Place

Ioannis Papachristou holds a PhD in Philosophy from Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin. He is a post-doctorate researcher in the Project 'Sourcebook of Byzantine Philosophy' at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.

• Acknowledgments Preface Chapter 1. Form, Method and Structure of the Physics Commentary1.1 The form of the Physics commentary 1.2 A note on Vitelli’s edition 1.3 The form of the commentary and Philoponus’ philosophical contributions 1.4 Levels of interpretation 1.5 Dividing Aristotle’s Physics into lectures 1.6 Introduction to the digressions 1.7 The argument of the digressions 1.8 A note on Philoponus’ sources and targets in the digressions Chapter 2. Place as Extension: Problems and Solutions 2.1 Aristotle’s rejection of place as extension 2.2 Themistius’ exegesis of Aristotle’s argument 2.3 Philoponus’ exegesis of Aristotle’s argument 2.4 Philoponus refuting the infinity of places 2.5 Philoponus refuting changing and coinciding places Chapter 3. The Ontology of Place According to Philoponus 3.1 Three-dimensionality of place 3.2 Place as measure 3.3 Place and the ‘violation’ of nature 3.4 The empty universe 3.5 Place, substance, qualities and quantity Chapter 4. Philoponus on Void as Place 4.1 The concept of plērōsis 4.2 The void is place 4.3 Motion through void and motion through a corporeal medium 4.4 Motion of bodies in Philoponus’ cosmological system 4.5 Philoponus on physical place Chapter 5. Philoponus against Aristotle and the Peripatetic Tradition 5.1 Aristotle’s definition of place 5.2 The equality between place and the bodies in it 5.3 The immobility of place 5.4 Motion through surfaces 5.5 The place of the heavens Epilogue Bibliography Texts Translations Secondary literature Index Locorum Index Nominum

Overall, Papachristou’s book is a valuable contribution to the study of place, void, and extension in ancient physics in general and of Philoponus’ thought in particular. It offers readers a persuasive interpretation of Philoponus’ theory of place, adding perceptibly to our understanding of the discussion of place and void in ancient physics. Hopefully, it will stimulate further discussions of Philoponus’ notion of extension in his commentaries on Aristotle as well as in his polemical works.Maria Varlamova, Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2022.06.24