Methodological Superiority of Aristotle Over Euclid

Extract

If we were to name the two greatest mathematicians of antiquity, we would probably choose Archimedes and Euclid. The first excelled in research, the second in synthesis or system. The synthesis or system is closely associated with the theory or philosophy of that subject; and Euclid's Elements, which has been characterized as “one of the noblest monuments of antiquity”, is the best concrete instance of the theory of mathematics according to the ancient Greeks. Now Aristotle had a theory of mathematics, although he was not a practicing mathematician. It is the purpose of this article to show that the mathematical method according to Aristotle is superior to and more modern than that according to Euclid. For references to Aristotle's works we shall use pages and lines according to the standard Bekker's edition (Berlin, 1831). By “a number” we shall mean a positive integer or a whole number. We proceed to a brief outline of Euclid's Elements.