On Aristotle’s arguments for the Earth’s smallness: argumentative gaps and context

Abstract

In the last chapter of the second book of his De Caelo, Aristotle argues for the Earth’s smallness. In this paper I will differentiate between three relevant ways in which this feature can be understood, and I will explain how Aristotle’s arguments relate to them. I will argue that Aristotle’s arguments, as they are presented in the relevant passages, are not conclusive, and finally I will provide a plausible context which might help understand Aristotle’s text.