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    Carmelics

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    Made withinDC&Austin
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    Home/Original/inverse
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    Inverse View

    It is not the case that Averroes argued Ptolemy's epicycles and eccentrics are mathematically useful fictions that violate Aristotelian physical principles about natural circular motion.

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    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
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    • 1.Ptolemy himself presented epicycles as physically real mechanisms, not merely computational conveniences or acknowledged fictions.
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    • 2.If epicycles truly violate Aristotelian principles, rejecting them entirely rather than calling them 'fictions' better serves natural philosophy.
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    • 3.The distinction between 'useful fiction' and 'physically real' was not clearly established in Averroes' medieval philosophical framework.
      ?

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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Aristotelian physics requires all celestial motions to be perfectly circular and centered on Earth, which observational data contradicts.
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    • 2.Ptolemy's epicycles successfully predict planetary positions without claiming physical reality, making them mathematically useful fictions.
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    • 3.Distinguishing between mathematical models and physical reality allows both empirical accuracy and philosophical coherence.
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