John Philoponus on Physical Place

Firstphilosophical monograph exclusively focusing on John Philoponus theory ofplace and the void.This book examines the place of physical bodies, amajor topic of natural philosophy that has occupied philosophers sinceantiquity. Aristotle s conceptions of place (topos) and the void (kenon),as expounded in the Physics, were systematically repudiated by JohnPhiloponus (ca. 485-570) in his philosophical commentary on that work. Theprimary philosophical concern of the present study is the in-depthinvestigation of the concept of place established by Philoponus, puttingforward the claim that the latter offers satisfactory solutions to problemsraised by Aristotle and the Aristotelian tradition regarding the nature ofplace. Philoponus account proposes a specific physical model of how physicalbodies exist and move in place, and regards place as an intrinsic reality ofthe physical cosmos. Due to exactly this model, his account may be consideredas strictly pertaining to the study of physics, thereby constituting aremarkable episode in the history of philosophy and science.This publication is GPRC-labeled (Guaranteed Peer-Reviewed Content).