Seite - 58 - in The Priority of Locomotion in Aristotle’s Physics

in the superlunary sphere, only living beings strictly speaking can be sources of change, as only they can actually be responsible for initiating their own changes, unlike the inanimate elements whose movement depends in some way on an external agent (as Aristotle explains in Physics VIII 4).53 This, however, is also in accordance with the basic idea stated by Aristotle just two chapters before the discussion of the priority of locomo- tion in Phys. VIII 5; for there he argued that any kind of change is either self-caused by that which is undergoing this change, or that this change can be traced back to some other self-mover.54 The only things in the sublunary sphere that are self-movers, it seems, are living beings. As the passage from the MA therefore pointed out correctly, all changes that do not have their cause in something from the superlunary sphere will necessarily have their source of change in a living being. All this, of course, has implications for the interpretation of the argument as a whole, because it clearly shows that locomotion must be prior to the other non-substantial kinds of change not only with respect to living beings, but also to all other changes that have their cause in a living being. That is to say, if locomotion is prior with respect to all changes of which a living thing may be the source, then the same must be true for all other changes which are caused by this being. Accordingly, any change in magnitude that is caused either directly or through a number of intermediate steps by a liv- ing being must also in the end be preceded by locomotion. Thus, it is cor- rect to say, at the very least, that locomotion necessarily precedes any change in quantity and quality that a living being undergoes in the sense stated above or that is undergone by something else in virtue of a living being’s causing of this change. 3.5 The reason for the restriction of the argument’s scope This, of course, does not show that φορά is prior to change in quality and quantity in general, although this seems to be what is claimed at the begin- ning of the passage in 260a26–29, because, as we have seen, besides the changes that are caused by living things, there are still other kinds and causes of change in the cosmos. However, as I said before, this is not what the argument is primarily about, although Aristotle does not make this explicit. Part of the project 53 As is pointed out in Phys. VIII 4, 255a5–7 and 255b29–31, the elemental bodies, which at least according to Phys. II 1, 192b8–15, have a nature, cannot be called self-movers in the strict sense. For more on this see Nussbaum (1985), 322–323. 54 See Phys. VIII 5, 256a13–21 and 256b1–3. 58 Change in quality and quantity of living beings ISBN Print: 9783525253069 — ISBN E-Book: 9783647253060 © 2014, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht GmbH & Co. KG, Göttingen