Aristotle’s unlimited dunamis argument: an unrecognized proof of the immobility of the Prime Mover

British Journal for the History of Philosophy:1-13 (forthcoming)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

According to the standard view, the function of the unlimited dunamis argument (Physics VIII.10, Metaphysics Λ.7 1073a5–11) is to introduce a new property of the first immovable mover, namely its lack of magnitude. The paper challenges this view and argues that the argument at issue serves to prove that the eternal motion of the first heavenly sphere is caused by an immovable mover rather than by a moved mover. Further, the paper shows that, at least in Phys. VIII, the unlimited dunamis argument is the main argument for the immobility of the Prime Mover.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 92,758

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Aristotle’s First Mover.Kurd Fīruzjā’ī & Yār ali - 2006 - Journal of Philosophical Theological Research 7 (28):173-186.
Aristotle: Metaphysics.Michael Loux - 2003 - In Christopher Shields (ed.), The Blackwell Guide to Ancient Philosophy. Oxford, UK: Blackwell. pp. 163–183.
Can Aristotle's prime mover be a physical cause?Henning Tegtmeyer - 2015 - Rivista di Filosofia Neoscolastica 107 (4):767-782.
St. Thomas's Argument from Motion and Its Critics.Vera Rogers - 1943 - Dissertation, Marquette University
The Holistic Presuppositions of Aristotle's Cosmology.Mohan Matthen - 2001 - Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 20:171-199.
Cosmo-Metaphysics: The Origin of the Universe in Aristotelian and Chinese Philosophy.Mingjun Lu - 2017 - Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 16 (4):465-482.

Analytics

Added to PP
2023-10-05

Downloads
17 (#890,390)

6 months
7 (#484,016)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Diana Quarantotto
Università degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza

Citations of this work

No citations found.

Add more citations

References found in this work

Aristotle's theology.Stephen Menn - 2012 - In Christopher Shields (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Aristotle. Oup Usa. pp. 422.
Aristotle, Dynamics and Proportionality.Andrew Gregory - 2001 - Early Science and Medicine 6 (1):1-21.
Misplaced Passages at the End of Aristotle's Physics.Friedrich Solmsen - 1961 - American Journal of Philology 82 (3):270.

Add more references