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for fulfilling the essence and the form that something has by belonging to a
certain kind. I take the following to be a basic reconstruction of the argu-
ment that is supposed to show that this claim is correct:
(1) If x is posterior to y in the coming to be of living things, then x is
prior in essence to y with respect to living things.
(2) In the coming to be of living things locomotion is posterior to altera-
tion, growth and diminution.
(3) Therefore, locomotion is prior in essence to alteration, growth and
diminution with respect to living things.
The reason why Aristotle presents this argument is that he needs to deal
with a problem that had already been raised in the discussion of the fourth
argument. As we have seen, the fourth argument was supposed to show that
locomotion has priority in time (ἐν χρόνῳ) over any other kind of change.1
Yet, in the discussion of the argument it was also stated that—on a smaller
scale, namely with respect to each living thing that has a coming to be—
locomotion is not primary at all, but on the contrary even is the last of the
changes (ὑστάτη τῶν κινήσεων).2 The reason for this assumption is that,
of the different kinds of change, locomotion in the process of the develop-
ment of a living thing comes last and in fact only belongs to those things
which are about to reach the end of their coming to be, or already have
completed it.3 In answer to this objection Aristotle rightly claims that the
coming to be of any living thing is temporally preceded by an eternal loco-
motion that is causally responsible for the generation of this living thing
and for this reason also precedes the changes that supposedly were prior to
locomotion. Nonetheless, Aristotle still seems to think he needs to say more
about the fact that locomotion is last in the development of certain living
things and how this fits into his theory that change in place is primary. For
this reason he picks up the fact about the posteriority of locomotion at the
beginning of the fifth argument again and shows that locomotion is prior in
a more important sense—namely prior in essence—not only in spite of, but
because of its posteriority in the development of living things.4 This
1 For the following see chapter 6.
2 ἀλλ᾽ ἐφ᾽ ἑνὸς μὲν ὁτουοῦν τῶν ἐχόντων γένεσιν τὴν φορὰν ἀναγκαῖον ὑστάτην
εἶναι τῶν κινήσεων, Phys. VIII 7, 260b30–32: “But in any single thing of those which have
coming to be locomotion must be the last of the changes.”
3 μετὰ γὰρ τὸ γενέσθαι πρῶτον ἀλλοίωσις καὶ αὔξησις, φορὰ δ᾽ ἤδη τετελειωμέ-
νων κίνησίς ἐστιν, Phys. VIII 7, 260b32–33: “For after coming to be first alteration and
growth [come to the thing], while locomotion is a change of things that already have achieved
completion.”
4 This again makes clear that Aristotle has very good reasons for showing that locomotion
is primary in different respects and not, as Graham (1999), 127, suggests in the part of his
Locomotion is prior in essence, since it is last in coming to be 165
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