Gli eleati e i loro critici in Aristotele (Phys. 1, 3, 187 a 1-11)

Abstract

In Phys. 1, 3, 187 a 1 ss. Aristotle gives an exposition of the criticism some philosophers (enioi) had directed against the principies of eleatic ontology. Aristotle considers their refutation as insufficient, because it gives in (enedosan) to the doctrines it rejects. The ancient commentators thought that Aristotle refers to Plato and the Academy, whereas modern interpreters from Zeller and Bumet onwards have read in this passage an allusion to the atomists. In this article, the testimony of Phys. 1, 3 is analysed in the wider perspective of Aristotle's criticism of el ea tic philosophy as developed in the first book of the Physics. lt is argued that the ancient interpretation is preferable.