Seite - 190 - in The Priority of Locomotion in Aristotle’s Physics
Bild der Seite - 190 -
Text der Seite - 190 -
undergoing a change only with respect to its place, x itself at t1 would be
indistinguishable from x at t2. Apart from the negligible fact of x at t2 being
older than x at t1, nothing in x itself has changed. This is not the case when
x undergoes a change in quality or in quantity: to return to the previous
examples, one could tell the difference between me at t1 and me at t2, for
my face is red when I am angry at t2 while it is pale at t1; something in me
or, as Aristotle puts it here, of my being, has changed. In the same way,
there is a difference between me at t1 and at t2 in the second example,
because I am larger at t2 than at t1, and also heavier, as growth for Aristotle
always involves the addition of some extra material.54
This must be what Aristotle has in mind when he claims that locomotion
is the one and only (κατὰ μόνην) kind of change which does not change
anything of the being (τοῦ εἶναι) of that which undergoes the change at all
—a claim that is in accordance with common sense assumptions, but that at
first glance is irritating in its wording to the reader of Aristotle, as it seems
to contradict basic assumptions of his theory of change.
But now that this is clear, in what way is the fact that locomotion does
not change its subject’s being in the described sense a reason for the claim
stated in sentence (1), namely that, of all kinds of change, the subject of
change in place departs from its essence least and thus has priority in
essence?
7.2.3 Locomotion preserves its subject’s essence best
In other words, what sentence (1) says is that if something x undergoes one
of the remaining kinds of change, x departs from or steps out of its essence
(τῆς οὐσίας ἐξίσταται), i.e. changes in essence to a higher degree than in
the case in which x merely undergoes a change in place.
This claim makes sense with respect to coming to be and corruption.
Both are defined as changing their subject with respect to its substance or
essence (κατ᾽ οὐσίαν).55 For this reason sentence (2) does not say anything
about coming to be and corruption, as there is no need for an argument
showing the truth of this assumption: it is clear per definitionem that both
change their subject’s essence more than locomotion, since they are sub-
stantial changes, while the latter is a non-substantial one which does not
since location is a relational property, change of place involves a change only of relations, not
of non-relational properties.”
54 See my discussion of the first argument for priority in locomotion, where I show in
what way Aristotle thinks that every process of growth involves the addition of something.
55 See for instance Phys. III 1, 200b33–34, Phys. V 1, 225a17–18.
190 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