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case, which then raises the question whether there are kinds of living beings
in whose development locomotion is not last. For this reason, I do not think
that Aristotle’s assumption was based on mere observation—at least not
primarily. As I will now show, this assumption is in accordance with and
follows from his theory of the soul as it is stated in the De Anima. In fact,
the first of the two arguments for locomotion’s priority in essence presup-
poses this theory without mentioning it explicitly. Accordingly, I will now
deal with the aspects of this theory that are of importance to my under-
standing of this argument.
7.1.4.1 Capacities of the soul
According to Aristotle, the soul as the principle of life of living things has
different capacities.24 Which capacity the soul of a certain living being has
depends on what kind of living thing it is. A plant’s soul, for instance, only
has the capacity of nutrition that is responsible for a living thing’s nourish-
ment, growth and reproduction.25 But the soul of every other living being
also has this capacity. More highly developed forms of life, however, have
additional capacities which plants lack. All animals, in contrast to plants,
for example are able to make perceptions and therefore have a certain capa-
city that is responsible for this kind of sensory activity. As we have seen,
some, but not all, of the animals have the capacity to move from place A to
place B. According to Aristotle’s theory, such animals, in contrast to
sponges or other animals of that kind, therefore have a soul which may be
the source of their self-motion, or to put it in other words, they have a soul
which has the locomotive capacity.26
As we have seen, the argument under discussion clearly refers to such
capacities, as the term ‘locomotion’ does not mean ‘change in place’ in gen-
eral, but rather stands for the capacity to cause one’s own change in place.27
In this sense x has locomotion, if it can cause its own change in place. As I
said, the argument presented may show that the capacity to self-locomote is
prior in essence to the capacity to perform any of the other changes, rather
24 The difference between things that have a soul and those that do not lies in the fact that
the former have life while the latter do not (see de An. II 2, 413a20–22). The soul is the princi-
ple (ἀρχή) of the kind of activities that are specific to things that live (see for instance de An.
II 2, 413a22–25 and 413b11–13).
25 See for instance de An. II 2, 413a31–b1.
26 See for instance de An. II 4, 415b21–23.
27 See p.173. This also seems to be in accordance with comparable passages in the De
Anima where Aristotle for instance says that ‘x has perception’ and obviously means that x
has the capacity to perceive (see for instance de An. II 3, 414b4, III 3, 427b11–12, and III 11,
433b31–434a2).
176 Locomotion is prior in essence
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