Page - 39 - in The Priority of Locomotion in Aristotle’s Physics

of change, does not entail the occurrence of some other change, but that to the contrary none of these other types can occur without locomotion. In addition, the change which has its primary source in the first unmoved mover must be of such a kind that it can be undergone by that which is directly changed by the first unmoved mover, i.e. the imperishable and eternal outermost sphere of the heavens. As we will see, this special kind of change, despite being a change, can therefore only change its subject in a way that is compatible with the fact that its subject as an imperishable and eternal thing must not alter or change anything of what it is. In Phys. VIII 7 Aristotle will argue that this is possible for locomotion alone, which is another reason why it is the only appropriate candidate for this very special first change. The discussion in Phys. VIII 7–9, in which the answers to all three ques- tions are given, therefore aims as a whole at establishing that the only kind of change that can be eternal without being composed of different changes, i.e. circular locomotion, also has all of the other characteristics which the change that is directly caused by the first unmoved mover needs to have because it is the primary kind of change in all important respects.88 In Phys. VIII 7, the chapter on which my study will focus, Aristotle first of all shows that of the four kinds of change, change in quality, quantity, place, and sub- stance, locomotion is the primary one (260a20–261a26). At the end of the same chapter and throughout the whole of Phys. VIII 8 he then presents arguments for the claim that a change in place alone, i.e. circular locomo- tion, can constitute one single change that is eternal. In Phys. VIII 9 he ulti- mately demonstrates that circular locomotion is prior to the different types of change in place, thus making it clear that the primary kind of change and that which can be eternal are one and the same. If the discussion stated in Phys. VIII 7–9 is successful, then Aristotle indeed provides the lacking justi- fication for the assumption which Phys. VIII 1–6 presupposes and on which the whole theory developed there relies, namely that there is one single change that fulfils all the criteria of the change caused by the first unmoved mover and that therefore may itself be responsible for any other changes that occur in the cosmos. An essential part of this inquiry, is the discussion that I will focus on in my study, that is, the discussion of the claim that of the four kinds of 88 That this is what Aristotle has in mind is indicated by 260a23–26, where the connec- tion between the primary kind of change and that which may be “continuous”, i.e. eternal, is made; this is pointed out by Aquinas, In Phys., L. VIII, l. XIV, 1086, who states that Aristotle in these lines makes clear that the primary change and the eternal one must be one and the same although this may be doubted. He does not, however, explain why exactly they should be identical. Nevertheless, his remark certainly is very helpful in making sense of these intro- ductory remarks. Physics VIII 39 ISBN Print: 9783525253069 — ISBN E-Book: 9783647253060 © 2014, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht GmbH & Co. KG, Göttingen