Book excerpt: On Generation and Corruption Aristotle - On Generation and Corruption, also known as On Coming to Be and Passing Away is a treatise by Aristotle. Like many of his texts, it is both scientific and philosophic (although not necessarily scientific in the modern sense). The philosophy, though, is essentially empirical; as in all Aristotle's works, the deductions made about the unexperienced and unobservable are based on observations and real experiences.