Aristotle and Mach's principle

Since Aristotle denied the possibility of a space independent of bodies (absolute space), it is clear that in his view, the motion relative to absolute space (absolute motion) is impossible. But, has Aristotle been able to provide a consistent explanation of motion without using the concepts of absolute space and motion—what has not been achieved in Einstein’s general relativity? Is his explanation of motion consistent with Mach’s principle (relativity of motion)? To answer these questions, it is necessary to examine the relationship between Aristotle’s theory of motion and Mach’s principle. This paper demonstrates that Aristotle’s explanation of ‘motion’ does not satisfy Mach’s principle. Moreover, it becomes clear that despite Aristotle’s attempt to remove the concepts of absolute space and motion from physics, his theory is not entirely devoid of these absolute concepts. In other words, it is demonstrated that Aristotle’s theory of motion suffers from an internal inconsistency in the case of rotatory motion. In this study the library data gathered is analyzed based on the descriptive-analytical methodology.