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Galileo, Aristotle, velocity, disposition and the essence of movement

Galileo replaced concern with the nature of movement with concern with the measurable characteristics of movement (first of all, velocity). But when we say something moved so many miles/Km an hour, we are talking, in a sense about a kind of disposition. Not the sort of disposition to act that exists when something is inactive. But the disposition to continue to act a certain way. It seems to me that Galileo, in focusing on the measurement, took this disposition as a given, whereas Aristotle, in defining motion as the act of a potency as such, is much more interested in the nature of this disposition.

Comments

Unknown said…
So in other words, the motion of a ball is qualitatively distinct from the motion of a peacock, both of which would be qualitatively different from the motion of a walking human being?
3:11 PM
Leo White said…
Yes. I guess my point is that if you were to graph motion (with x as time and y as distance), you wouldn't notice anything other than velocity (or the lack thereof). Qualitative and other aspects of motion would be left out of consideration. Aristotle thought those non-quantitative aspects were the most important. Let's say that he underestimated the importance of the quantitative aspect of motion: he nevertheless had other interesting things to say about motion.
9:10 AM
Leo White said…
Oops: I meant to say that Aristotle might have underestimated the quantitative aspect of motion. Galileo, on the other hand, was oblivious to the qualitative.
6:18 AM
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