Introduction [Aristotle on the Continuum in Presocratic Thought]

This Introduction demonstrates that the concept of the continuum relates to the nature of physical magnitudes and makes it possible to explain how, despite each natural entity being one in itself, many bodies and many parts of the same body can still exist. However, before it pertains to individual physical bodies, the notion of the continuum concerns how the Presocratics conceived the principle or principles from which such multiple and moving bodies arise. The problem of the unity and multiplicity of principles in Presocratic philosophy emerges primarily as a problem of the infinite divisibility and extension of a continuous primordial body. Indeed, Aristotle considered both the so-called monist and pluralist philosophers to be essentially monists, who mostly assumed a primal substance to be one and infinite in extent, and who inferred consequences about its divisibility to infinity. Hence, it becomes clear how Aristotle’s concept of the continuum originates from his reflections on the Presocratics, and how understanding the Presocratics’ notion of the continuum is therefore indispensable for understanding Aristotle’s continuum.