The argument is complicated in virtue of its manner of presentation. First, it is a narrative in which Aristotle gradually develops his own views by exposing the errors of those who investigated nature before him; it is structured as presenting an alternative to views expressed by Empedocles and Democritus, and as in the spirit of Socrates (642a24–31). Second, as is so typical of him, what initially may appear to be three separate narratives turn out to be a single, complex case for emphasizing