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change may or may not occur in the cosmos. He first of all rejects the the-
ory that everything is always changing, and, again, the theory claiming that
there is no change at all and everything is at permanent rest.69 The only
plausible options, he argues, are either (1) that all things are sometimes in
motion and sometimes at rest, or (2) that besides the things that are chan-
ging between change and a state of rest, there are some things that are
always undergoing change and others that are always at rest. It is the task of
Phys. VIII 4–6 to examine which of these two options is correct.70
In Phys. VIII 4 Aristotle begins this task by establishing the claim that for
whatever is changing there must be some cause of this change71: either what
is changing is itself the cause of its change, i.e. a self-mover, or its change is
caused by some other thing. Phys. VIII 5 then directly continues this train
of thought and shows that each thing that is in the state of change, but is
not a self-mover, must have a first cause of change that is a self-mover72,
which, as Aristotle points out in this context, may be further analysed into a
moving and an unmoving part73—a step that is essential for the further
development of the argument. This line of reasoning is then completed in
Phys. VIII 6, where Aristotle shows that for the stated reasons there must be
one unmoved mover that is the source of all change.74 This unmoved mover
is eternal and causes an eternal change that is always one and the same, i.e.
not composed of different changes, and therefore continuous as a whole.75
By establishing the theory of the necessary existence of the first unmoved
mover, Aristotle seems to have finished his examination, as the task which
was set out at the end of Phys. VIII 3 is accomplished: according to this the-
ory developed throughout chapters 1–6, it is clear now that in the cosmos
there are things that are always undergoing change, others that are always
at rest, and still others that are sometimes at rest and sometimes undergoing
change.76
Contrary to what one might expect, however, Aristotle’s inquiry does not
end after Phys. VIII 6, but continues by arguing first of all that locomotion
is the primary of the four kinds of change (VIII 7) and that circular locomo-
tion is the primary type of locomotion and the kind of change that alone
69 See Phys. VIII 3, 254a35–b4.
70 λοιπὸν οὖν θεωρῆσαι πότερον πάντα τοιαῦτα οἷα κινεῖσθαι καὶ ἠρεμεῖν, ἤ ἔνια
μὲν οὕτως, ἔνια δ᾽ ἀεὶ ἠρεμεῖ, ἔνια δ᾽ἀεὶ κινεῖται· τοῦτο γὰρ δεικτόν ἡμῖν. Phys. VIII 3,
254b4–6.
71 ἅπαντα ἂν τὰ κινούμενα ὑπό τινος κινοῖτο. Phys. VIII 4, 256a3.
72 See Phys. VIII 5, 258b4–9.
73 See Phys. VIII 5, 258a1–2.
74 See for instance Phys. VIII 6, 259a6–13, and 259a13–20.
75 See Phys. VIII 6, 259a13–20, and 260a17–19.
76 See Phys. VIII 6, 260a11–19. Physics VIII 33
ISBN Print: 9783525253069 — ISBN E-Book: 9783647253060
© 2014, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht GmbH & Co. KG, Göttingen
The Priority of Locomotion in Aristotle’s Physics
- Title
- The Priority of Locomotion in Aristotle’s Physics
- Author
- Sebastian Odzuck
- Editor
- Dorothea Frede
- Gisela Striker
- Publisher
- Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht GmbH & Co
- Date
- 2014
- Language
- English
- License
- CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- ISBN
- 9783647253060
- Size
- 15.5 x 23.2 cm
- Pages
- 238
- Categories
- Geisteswissenschaften
- Naturwissenschaften Physik
Table of contents
- 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