An investigation into coming-to-be and passing-away. Aristotle distinguishes generation and destruction from mere alteration, and asks what it means for a substance to come into existence or cease to exist — a question that sits at the boundary of physics and metaphysics.
Start ReadingGeneration, alteration, and growth distinguished. Aristotle analyses the fundamental types of change in the natural world, arguing that coming-to-be is a distinct process from mere qualitative change or increase in size.
The four elements and their transformations. Aristotle explains how the four elements (earth, water, air, fire) arise from combinations of the basic qualities (hot, cold, wet, dry) and how they transform into one another through cyclical change.