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but the body of the animal may be in motion unnaturally as well as naturally:
it depends upon the kind of motion that it may chance to be suffering and the
kind of element of which it is composed. And the motion of things that derive
their motion from something else is in some cases natural, in other unnatural:
e.g. upward motion of earthy things and downward motion of fire are
unnatural. Moreover the parts of animals are often in motion in an unnatural
way, their positions and the character of the motion being abnormal. The fact
that a thing that is in motion derives its motion from something is most
evident in things that are in motion unnaturally, because in such cases it is
clear that the motion is derived from something other than the thing itself.
Next to things that are in motion unnaturally those whose motion while
natural is derived from themselves-e.g. animals-make this fact clear: for here
the uncertainty is not as to whether the motion is derived from something but
as to how we ought to distinguish in the thing between the movent and the
moved. It would seem that in animals, just as in ships and things not naturally
organized, that which causes motion is separate from that which suffers
motion, and that it is only in this sense that the animal as a whole causes its
own motion.
The greatest difficulty, however, is presented by the remaining case of
those that we last distinguished. Where things derive their motion from
something else we distinguished the cases in which the motion is unnatural:
we are left with those that are to be contrasted with the others by reason of the
fact that the motion is natural. It is in these cases that difficulty would be
experienced in deciding whence the motion is derived, e.g. in the case of light
and heavy things. When these things are in motion to positions the reverse of
those they would properly occupy, their motion is violent: when they are in
motion to their proper positions-the light thing up and the heavy thing down-
their motion is natural; but in this latter case it is no longer evident, as it is
when the motion is unnatural, whence their motion is derived. It is impossible
to say that their motion is derived from themselves: this is a characteristic of
life and peculiar to living things. Further, if it were, it would have been in
their power to stop themselves (I mean that if e.g. a thing can cause itself to
walk it can also cause itself not to walk), and so, since on this supposition fire
itself possesses the power of upward locomotion, it is clear that it should also
possess the power of downward locomotion. Moreover if things move
themselves, it would be unreasonable to suppose that in only one kind of
motion is their motion derived from themselves. Again, how can anything of
continuous and naturally connected substance move itself? In so far as a thing
is one and continuous not merely in virtue of contact, it is impassive: it is only
in so far as a thing is divided that one part of it is by nature active and another
passive. Therefore none of the things that we are now considering move
542
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book The Complete Aristotle"
The Complete Aristotle
- Title
- The Complete Aristotle
- Author
- Aristotle
- Date
- ~322 B.C.
- Language
- English
- License
- PD
- Size
- 21.0 x 29.7 cm
- Pages
- 2328
- Keywords
- Philosophy, Antique, Philosophie, Antike, Dialogues, Metaphysik, Metaphysics, Ideologie, Ideology, Englisch
- Categories
- Geisteswissenschaften
- International
Table of contents
- Part 1; Logic (Organon) 3
- Categories 4
- On Interpretation 34
- Prior Analytics, Book I 56
- Prior Analytics, Book II 113
- Posterior Analytics, Book I 149
- Posterior Analytics, Book II 193
- Topics, Book I 218
- Topics, Book II 221
- Topics, Book III 237
- Topics, Book IV 248
- Topics, Book V 266
- Topics, Book VI 291
- Topics, Book VII 317
- Topics, Book VIII 326
- On Sophistical Refutations 348
- Part 2; Universal Physics 396
- Physics, Book I 397
- Physics, Book II 415
- Physics, Book III 432
- Physics, Book IV 449
- Physics, Book V 481
- Physics, Book VI 496
- Physics, Book VII 519
- Physics, Book VIII 533
- On the Heavens, Book I 570
- On the Heavens, Book II 599
- On the Heavens, Book III 624
- On the Heavens, Book IV 640
- On Generation and Corruption, Book I 651
- On Generation and Corruption, Book II 685
- Meteorology, Book I 707
- Meteorology, Book II 733
- Meteorology, Book III 760
- Meteorology, Book IV 773
- Part 3; Human Physics 795
- On the Soul, Book I 796
- On the Soul, Book II 815
- On the Soul, Book III 840
- On Sense and the Sensible 861
- On Memory and Reminiscence 889
- On Sleep and Sleeplessness 899
- On Dreams 909
- On Prophesying by Dreams 918
- On Longevity and the Shortness of Life 923
- On Youth, Old Age, Life and Death, and Respiration 929
- Part 4; Animal Physics 952
- The History of Animals, Book I 953
- The History of Animals, Book II translated 977
- The History of Animals, Book III 1000
- The History of Animals, Book IV 1029
- The History of Animals, Book V 1056
- The History of Animals, Book VI 1094
- The History of Animals, Book VII 1135
- The History of Animals, Book VIII 1150
- The History of Animals, Book IX 1186
- On the Parts of Animals, Book I 1234
- On the Parts of Animals, Book II 1249
- On the Parts of Animals, Book III 1281
- On the Parts of Animals, Book IV 1311
- On the Motion of Animals 1351
- On the Gait of Animals 1363
- On the Generation of Animals, Book I 1381
- On the Generation of Animals, Book II 1412
- On the Generation of Animals, Book III 1444
- On the Generation of Animals, Book IV 1469
- On the Generation of Animals, Book V 1496
- Part 5; Metaphysics 1516
- Part 6; Ethics and Politics 1748
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book I 1749
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book II 1766
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book III 1779
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book IV 1799
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book V 1817
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VI 1836
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VII 1851
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VIII 1872
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book IX 1890
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book X 1907
- Politics, Book I 1925
- Politics, Book II 1943
- Politics, Book III 1970
- Politics, Book IV 1997
- Politics, Book V 2023
- Politics, Book VI 2053
- Politics, Book VII 2065
- Politics, Book VIII 2091
- The Athenian Constitution 2102
- Part 7; Aesthetic Writings 2156