Abstract
Aristotle claims in Physics II.3 that we do not understand something until we have grasped its primary cause (πρώτη αἰτία). However, rather than identifying just one cause, Aristotle proposes the framework of the four causes (material, formal, efficient and final) as a means to distinguish certain ways in which causation occurs, and the different explanatory role each can play. In addition, Aristotle proposes two different but complementary assessments of change: a description of the static principles of κίνησις in Physics I.7, and a dynamic definition of κίνησις in Physics III.1. Aristotle does not expressly analyse the natural motions of his elements in terms of these concepts of cause and change. By undertaking such an analysis, this thesis seeks to shed some new light on these concepts and phenomena.Although τόπος is not a cause per se, the assessment of the natural motions of Aristotle’s sublunar elements highlights the significant role played by the proper place of each of the sublunar elements in respect of the formal and final causation of those motions. In addition, among other things, this assessment of the sublunar elements rebuts the suggestion that Aristotle’s requirement that ‘every moved body is moved by something’ erases the distinction between forced and natural motions.
With regard to Aristotle’s heavenly element, αἰθέρ, commentators have raised significant doubts about whether any of its motions could constitute a κίνησις. In light of this, one key step in the assessment of causation and change with regard to the natural motion of αἰθέρ is a demonstration of how certain motions in the heavens could satisfy Aristotle’s dynamic definition, but not his static principles, of κίνησις. This demonstration is achieved by (i) distinguishing between the rotations of the celestial spheres and the orbits of the heavenly bodies, and (ii) focussing on the extent to which those πρᾶξεις entail a change of τόπος. This approach also highlights the differences between the efficient causation of forced motions and the efficient causation of natural motions.
Ultimately, this application of the concepts of the four causes and Aristotle’s two assessments of κίνησις to the natural motions of his sublunar and heavenly elements seeks to test the overall coherence of Aristotle’s schema.
| Date of Award | 1 Sept 2022 |
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| Original language | English |
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| Supervisor | Joachim Aufderheide (Supervisor) & Raphael Woolf (Supervisor) |