The circular motion in book X of Laws, 893c4-d5

Abstract

This paper presents a new translation and a new interpretation of the description of circular motion found in Laws, X, 893c4-d5. After discussing the context of our passage and emphasizing the importance of the classification of motions carried out by the Athenian in his preamble to the laws on impiety, we will discuss in detail the characterization of circular motion. We will offer a new perspective on the amazing properties of this form of movement and, above all, we will put forward a novel analysis of the Greek text, which will seek to show that it is fundamental for circular movement that there be, at its core, some kind of interaction between things that are in motion and things that stand still, the latter functioning as an immobile principle of motion in a circle. Finally, we will point out some importante consequences of this analysis, both from a methodological standpoint – insofar as it points to an alternative understanding of the method in operation in the classification of movements – and from metaphysical perspective, insofar as it has resonances in Platonic cosmology, psychology, and theology.