How Aristotle Concludes that There is No Time Without Change: The Tekmeriodic Interpretation
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Quentin Pharr
Abstract
This paper provides a new interpretation of how Aristotle most plausibly reasoned to the conclusion that ‘there is no time without change’ in lines 218b21–219a10 of Physics book IV, section 11. Following the criticisms made about both the Verificationist and Endoxic Interpretations of this argument, it draws from what appears to be correct about those interpretations, but also looks to Aristotle’s own views about how to properly reason – particularly as they are developed in his Prior and Posterior Analytics, Topics, and Rhetoric – in order to suggest the form of his reasoning. Overall, what results is the “Tekmeriodic” Interpretation, according to which Aristotle’s reasoning (1) is informal and enthymematic; (2) employs endoxa to show that change is a “token” (tekmerion) of time’s passage; and lastly, (3) is “deductively proper” – insuring both the “validity” of his argument and that there is no time without change, but not vice versa.
Acknowledgments
I want to graciously thank Margaret Hampson for her invaluable comments on the contents of this article and for making it so much better as a result. And, to Sarah Broadie who first aided me in its writing: ע”ה.
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