Page - 34 - in The Priority of Locomotion in Aristotle’s Physics

can be eternal (VIII 8–9). In the last chapter Aristotle closes the discussion by arguing for another claim that seems to be presupposed by the theory developed in Phys. VIII 1–6, namely that the first unmoved mover does not have parts or any spatial extension and only for this reasons is capable of persistently causing the occurrence of the same change, i.e. the eternal cir- cular locomotion of the outermost heavenly sphere (VIII 10). As we have seen so far, the context of Aristotle’s arguments for the claim that change in place is the primary kind of change in Phys. VIII 7 is a dis- cussion which shows that change must always have existed and in connec- tion with which he develops his theory of the necessary existence of a first and eternal unmoved mover. My next step will be to examine the way in which the latter is connected with the question of the primary kind of change. 2.4.3 The importance of the primary kind of change In what follows I will argue that the examination of the question which is the primary kind of change and the arguments presented for the claim that this change must be locomotion plays an important role in the whole of Book VIII of the Physics. For, the discussion in Phys. VIII 7–9, of which this inquiry is a necessary part, provides essential support for the theory that change exists eternally and that there must be a first unmoved mover by backing up an assumption presupposed by this theory, despite serious objections against it. The assumption that Phys. VIII 7–9 show to be true is that there is a kind of change that can be eternal, primary and one without being composed of other changes. That this is Aristotle’s motivation for treating of the question which is the primary kind of change becomes clearer upon closer examination of the beginning of Phys. VIII 7, that is, of the introductory remarks which open the discussion of the primary kind of change. Here is the passage in full: Οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄλλην ποιησαμένοις ἀρχὴν μᾶλλον ἔσται περὶ τούτων φανερόν. σκεπτέον γὰρ [1] πότερον ἐνδέχεταί τινα κίνησιν εἶναι συνεχῆ ἢ οὔ, καὶ [2] εἰ ἐνδέχεται, τίς αὕτη, καὶ [3] τίς πρώτη τῶν κινήσεων· δῆλον γὰρ ὡς εἴπερ ἀναγκαῖον μὲν ἀεὶ κίνησιν εἶναι, πρώτη δὲ ἥδε καὶ συνεχής, ὅτι τὸ πρῶτον κινοῦν κινεῖ ταύ- την τὴν κίνησιν, ἣν ἀναγκαῖον μίαν καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν εἶναι καὶ συνεχῆ καὶ πρώτην.77 (VIII 7, 260a20–26) 77 All translations are my own, unless noted otherwise; yet, I made extensive use of the different translations that are listed in the bibliography. 34 The importance of the primary kind of change ISBN Print: 9783525253069 — ISBN E-Book: 9783647253060 © 2014, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht GmbH & Co. KG, Göttingen