Philosophical theory of eternity

THEORY OF ETERNITY OF LIFE:

this theory was given by Richter, Helmholtz, preyer, Arrhenius, bondi. According to them life only changes it’s
form but is never created from dead substances. It has no origin and has always existed. They concluded that
life comes from life never from lifeless things. This concept was defined as theory of biogenesis. Theory
of biogenesis was supported by cosmozoic theory proposed by Richter. But this theory failed to explain
how the pre existing life came to exist in this world. Since the spores from the outer world couldn’t tolerate
the atmospheric friction they can’t reach the biosphere and generate life. The ancient philosopher Aristotle
argued that the world must have existed from eternity in his Physics as follows.
In Book I, he argues that everything that comes into existence does so from a substratum. Therefore, if the
underlying matter of the universe came into existence, it would come into existence from a substratum. But
the nature of matter is precisely to be the substratum from which other things arise. Consequently, the
underlying matter of the universe could have come into evidence only from an already existing matter exactly
like itself; to assume that the underlying matter of the universe came into existence would require assuming
that an underlying matter already existed. As this assumption is self-contradictory, Aristotle argued, matter
must be eternal.
[1] In Book VIII, his argument from motion is that if an absolute beginning of motion should be assumed, the
object to undergo the first motion must either
(A) have come into existence and begun to move, or (B) have existed in an eternal state of rest before
beginning to move.
[2] Option A is self-contradictory because an object cannot move before it comes into existence, and the
act of coming into existence is itself a "movement," so that the first movement requires a movement before
it, that is, the act of coming into existence. Option B is also unsatisfactory for two reasons. First, if the
world began at a state of rest, the coming into existence of that state of rest would itself have been motion.
Second, if the world changed from a state of rest to a state of motion, the cause of that change to motion
would itself have been a motion. He concludes that motion is necessarily eternal. Aristotle argued that a
"vacuum" (that is, a place where there is no matter) is impossible. Material objects can come into
existence only in place, that is, occupy space. Were something to come from nothing, "the place to be
occupied by what comes into existence would previously have been occupied by a vacuum, inasmuch as no
body existed." But a vacuum is impossible, and matter must be eternal.
The Greek philosopher Critolaus (c. 200-c. 118 BC) [3] of Phaselis defended Aristotle's doctrine of the
eternity of the world, and of the human race in general, against the Stoics. There is no observed change in the
natural order of things; humankind recreates itself in the same manner according to the capacity given by
Nature, and the various ills to which it is heir, though fatal to individuals, do not avail to modify the whole.
Just as it is absurd to suppose that humans are merely earth-born, so the possibility of their ultimate
destruction is inconceivable.
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