Mixture, Generation and the First Aporia of Aristotle’s GC 1.10

Abstract

Abstract This paper concerns the classification of the process of mixture, for Aristotle, and the related issue of the manner in which the ingredients remain present once mixed. I argue that mixture is best viewed as a kind of substantial generation in the context of the GC and, accordingly, that the ingredients do not enjoy the kind of strong presence within a mixture usually attributed to them. To do this, I critically examine the most promising versions of the standard view and offer a new interpretation of Aristotle’s treatment of a puzzle about mixture in GC 1.10.