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(V 1–2).50 This argument, combined with the definition of change devel-
oped in Book III51, enables Aristotle to claim that his discussion so far has
made clear what change is, how many different kinds of change there are,
and what their basic characteristics are.52 In the remaining chapters of this
book the rest of the concepts that are necessary for developing a general
theory of change and that are of essential importance for the inquiries in
Books VI and VIII are analysed. Aristotle therefore discusses the different
ways in which changes or parts thereof can be related to each other (V 3).
The most important of these concepts is the notion of continuity, without
which for instance the refutation of Zeno’s paradoxes in Books VI, as well
as the discussion of the eternal kind of change in VIII would be impossi-
ble.53 Also, the analysis of the features that are responsible for a change’s
unity (V 4), and of ways in which changes or states of rest are contrary to
each other (V 5–6) are of utmost importance for the project Aristotle pur-
sues in Book VIII.54
Building on what was discussed in the previous book, in Physics VI Aris-
totle elaborates on one of the main features that change, time and magni-
tude have in common, namely that they are continuous, and he systemati-
cally works out what this implies for change. This enables him to repel the
threat of Zeno’s paradoxes and to establish a coherent theory of change that
allows for a scientific understanding and treatment of this phenomenon
and that thus lays the basis for a science that deals with everything in nature
that is subject to change. However, the inquiry in Book VI does not end
with the refutation of Zeno’s paradoxes, but continues afterwards in Phys.
VI 10 with a discussion of whether something indivisible can undergo
change and whether infinite change exists. Although both problems play an
important role in the discussion in Physics VIII, it is especially the latter, as
50 The different ways in which x is said to change are essential to the arguments for the
priority of locomotion; see for instance section 4.2.2, esp. p.77–78. That all arguments presup-
pose that there are exactly four kinds of change is clear from the fact that in all but the first
one Aristotle argues that locomotion is the first of these four types, that is, if there were other
kinds of change the arguments couldn’t possibly succeed in showing that locomotion of all
kinds of change is primary.
51 See Phys. V 1, 224b10–11, where Aristotle refers to the definition of change that was
presented in Phys. III.
52 See Phys. V 2, 226b16–17.
53 For the latter for instance see my discussion of the third argument (esp. section 5.2.1)
where it also becomes clear that the argument also presupposes knowledge of the other terms
presented in Phys. V 3, e.g. of that of ἐφεξῆς.
54 This, for instance, becomes clear in my presentation of the third argument (esp. section
5.2.3). There Aristotle shows that the only change capable of forming an eternal unity is circu-
lar locomotion, since it can do so without being composed of parts that are contrary to one
another.
28 The importance of the primary kind of change
ISBN Print: 9783525253069 — ISBN E-Book: 9783647253060
© 2014, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht GmbH & Co. KG, Göttingen
The Priority of Locomotion in Aristotle’s Physics
- Titel
- The Priority of Locomotion in Aristotle’s Physics
- Autor
- Sebastian Odzuck
- Herausgeber
- Dorothea Frede
- Gisela Striker
- Verlag
- Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht GmbH & Co
- Datum
- 2014
- Sprache
- englisch
- Lizenz
- CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- ISBN
- 9783647253060
- Abmessungen
- 15.5 x 23.2 cm
- Seiten
- 238
- Kategorien
- Geisteswissenschaften
- Naturwissenschaften Physik
Inhaltsverzeichnis
- Acknowledgements 9
- 1. Introduction 10
- 2. The importance of the primary kind of change 14
- 3. Change in quality and quantity of living beings depends on loco-motion, but not vice versa 42
- 4. Locomotion necessarily accompanies each of the other kinds of change, but not vice versa 71
- 4.1 Overview 71
- 4.2 What changes in quantity changes with respect to place 73
- 4.3 What undergoes generation or corruption changes with respect to place 89
- 4.4 What changes in quality changes with respect to place 98
- 4.4.1 Overview 98
- 4.4.2 What does it mean that condensation and rarefaction are principles of quality? 100
- 4.4.3 Every alteration involves a change in the four basic qualities 104
- 4.4.4 Every change in the four basic qualities involves con- densation or rarefaction 108
- 4.4.5 Condensation and rarefaction are forms of aggregation and segregation 110
- 4.4.6 What changes in quality changes with respect to place 112
- 4.4.7 Conclusion 113
- 4.5 Conclusion 113
- 5. All changes depend on the first locomotion, but not vice versa 115
- 6. Locomotion has temporal priority 144
- 6.1 Overview 144
- 6.2 Locomotion has priority in time, since it is the only change eternals can undergo 146
- 6.3 Objection: Locomotion is the last of all changes in perishable things 148
- 6.4 Coming to be presupposes an earlier locomotion 150
- 6.5 The locomotion of the sun as a cause of generation 154
- 6.6 Conclusion 162
- 7. Locomotion is prior in essence 164
- 7.1 Locomotion is prior in essence, since it is last in coming to be 164
- 7.2 Locomotion alone preserves its subject’s essence 186
- 7.2.1 Overview 186
- 7.2.2 Locomotion does not change its subject’s being 188
- 7.2.3 Locomotion preserves its subject’s essence best 190
- 7.2.4 Making x depart from its essence by being part of a change in essence? 195
- 7.2.5 Change in quality or quantity in principle may result in a change in essence 202
- 7.3 Conclusion: Locomotion’s priority in essence 207
- 8. Conclusion 211
- Bibliography 220
- List of Abbreviations 223
- Index Locorum 221
- Index Nominum 223
- Index Rerum 221