1.2.3

Aristotle's Prime Mover

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Aristotle - The Prime Mover

The Prime Mover is the logical result of the application of the final cause to the whole universe.

Some things are not changing

Some things are not changing

  • Remember the movement from potentiality to actuality is going on in all things – in other words, change is happening to them.
  • Most things are changing (being generated and being destroyed), but some things are not changing in that way.
The motion of heavenly spheres

The motion of heavenly spheres

  • Aristotle thinks here of the heavenly spheres (containing the planets and fixed stars, which were considered to be nested around each other about the earth).
  • These are only undergoing changes in the sense of cyclical motion. They are not (according to Aristotle) being generated or destroyed.
  • This is because their movement is the reality behind time itself. For Aristotle, time cannot be destructible – it is uniform and everlasting.
The principle of the prime mover

The principle of the prime mover

  • The movement of the spheres causes the change in the universe – each sphere causes the one inside it to move until you get to the outermost sphere, which has to be moved by something which is not itself moved (or it would need an explanation for its own movement).
  • This is called the Primum Mobile or the Prime Mover.
Prime mover: the cause of motion

Prime mover: the cause of motion

  • The object of desire moves other things without itself moving (think of how a saucer of milk draws a cat to it) – in this way the prime mover is the cause of the motion of all other things.
  • They are being drawn to it as to their own final end.
Prime Mover vs Form of the Good

Prime Mover vs Form of the Good

  • Both are linked in the domain of ethics:
    • Prime Mover: through the idea of everything being drawn to its own purpose.
    • Form of the Good: as the means by which everything that exists is known.
  • The Prime Mover is based on arguments that appeal to a posteriori (observed) evidence; the Form of the Good on a priori arguments.
  • They are both ‘ultimates’, which might appeal to non-theistic deists – impersonal sources of reality, arrived at through philosophical speculation rather than faith.
Rationalism vs empiricism

Rationalism vs empiricism

  • How dependent on our senses are we for knowledge?
    • Empiricists argue that sense experience is the ultimate source of knowledge.
    • Rationalists argue that concepts are independent of sense-experience.
  • Therefore, it is a debate in the field of epistemology (philosophy of knowledge).
  • The empiricist Hume says that ideas do not exist in themselves independently from objects other than as a relation between objects.
Jump to other topics
1

Philosophy of Religion

1.1

Ancient Philosophical Influences: Plato

1.1.1Plato's Understanding of Reality1.1.2Plato's Theory of Forms1.1.3Plato's Analogy of the Cave1.1.4The Purpose of Plato's Analogy of the Cave1.1.5Evaluation of Plato's Theories
1.2

Ancient Philosophical Influences: Aristotle

1.2.1Aristotle's Understanding of Reality1.2.2Aristotle's Four Causes1.2.3Aristotle's Prime Mover
1.3

Ancient Philosophical Influences: Soul, Mind, Body

1.3.1Plato & Aristotle's Views of the Soul1.3.2Metaphysics of Consciousness1.3.3Materialism - Ryle’s Philosophical Behaviourism1.3.4Materialism - Identity Theory
1.4

The Existence of God - Arguments from Observation

1.4.1The Teleological Argument - Aquinas' Fifth Way1.4.2The Teleological Argument - Paley & Evolution1.4.3The Cosmological Argument1.4.4Hume's Criticisms: Teleological & Cosmological
1.5

The Existence of God - Arguments from Reason

1.5.1The Ontological Argument1.5.2Criticisms of the Ontological Argument
1.6

Religious Experience

1.6.1Introduction to Religious Experience1.6.2Mystical Experience1.6.3Conversion Experience1.6.4Understanding Religious Experience1.6.5Issues Relating to Religious Experience - Validity1.6.6Issues Relating to Religious Experiences - People
1.7

The Problem of Evil

1.7.1Presentations of the Problems of Evil1.7.2Discussion Points -
1.8

The Nature & Attributes of God

1.8.1Omnipotence1.8.2Omniscience1.8.3Boethius - Divine Knowledge, Free Will & Eternity1.8.4(Omni)benevolence1.8.5Eternity & Free Will
1.9

Religious Language: Negative, Analogical, Symbolic

1.9.1Apophatic & Cataphatic Way1.9.2Symbol1.9.3Discussion Points: Religious Language
1.10

Religious Language: 20th Century Perspective

1.10.1Logical Positivism & Verification Principle1.10.2Wittgenstein1.10.3Falsification Symposium: Flew & Hare1.10.4Falsification Symposium: Mitchell1.10.5Discussion Points: Verification & Falsification1.10.6Discussion Points: Aquinas vs Wittgenstein
2

Religion & Ethics

2.1

Natural Law

2.1.1St Thomas Aquinas - Telos & Four Tiers of Law2.1.2St Thomas Aquinas - Precepts2.1.3St Thomas Aquinas - Real & Apparent Goods2.1.4Discussion Points - Natural Law & Doing Good2.1.5Discussion Points - Telos & Double Effect Doctrine
2.2

Situation Ethics

2.2.1Fletcher's Situation Ethics2.2.2Fletcher's Concept of Conscience2.2.3Discussion Points: Moral Decision-Making2.2.4Discussion Points - Agape
2.3

Kantian Ethics

2.3.1Introduction to Kantian Ethics & Duty2.3.2Hypothetical & Categorical Imperative2.3.3Summum Bonum & Three Postulates2.3.4Discussion Points: Kantian Ethics
2.4

Utilitarianism

2.4.1The Utility Principle2.4.2Act & Rule Utilitarianism2.4.3Discussion Points: Utilitarianism
2.5

Euthanasia

2.5.1Key Concepts for Euthanasia Debates2.5.2Discussion Points: Natural Law & Situation Ethics2.5.3Discussion Points: Sanctity of Life2.5.4Discussion Points: Autonomy & Medical Intervention
2.6

Business Ethics

2.6.1Corporate Social Responsibility & Whistle-Blowing2.6.2Good Ethics & Globalisation2.6.3Discussion Points: Utilitarianism & Kantian Ethics2.6.4Discussion Points: CSR, Globalisation & Capitalism
2.7

Meta-Ethical Theories

2.7.1Naturalism2.7.2Intuitionism2.7.3Emotivism2.7.4Meta-Ethics
2.8

Conscience

2.8.1Aquinas' Theological Approach2.8.2Freud's Psychological Approach2.8.3Comparing Aquinas & Freud
2.9

Sexual Ethics

2.9.1Sexual Ethics2.9.2Development of Religious Beliefs on Sexual Ethics2.9.3Application of Sexual Ethics2.9.4Examining Sexual Ethics
3

Developments in Christian Thought

3.1

Saint Augustine's Teachings

3.1.1Human Nature3.1.2Original Sin & God's Grace
3.2

Death & the Afterlife

3.2.1Heaven, Hell, & Purgatory3.2.2Different Interpretations of the Afterlife3.2.3Election3.2.4The Final Judgement3.2.5Discussion Points: Heaven, Hell & Purgatory
3.3

Knowledge of God's Existence

3.3.1Natural Knowledge3.3.2Revealed Knowledge in Faith, Grace, & Jesus Christ3.3.3Revealed Knowledge in the Bible & Church3.3.4Discussion Points: Reason & Belief in God3.3.5Discussion Points: The Fall & Trust in God
3.4

The Person of Jesus Christ

3.4.1Jesus Christ’s Authority as the Son of God3.4.2Jesus Christ’s Authority as a Teacher of Wisdom3.4.3Jesus Christ’s Authority as a Liberator
3.5

Christian Moral Principles

3.5.1The Bible & Love3.5.2Bible, Church & Reason3.5.3Discussion Points: Christian Ethics3.5.4Discussion Points: Love & the Bible
3.6

Christian Moral Action

3.6.1Dietrich Bonhoeffer & the Confessing Church3.6.2Bonhoeffer & Civil Disobedience3.6.3Bonhoeffer's Teaching on Ethics as Action3.6.4Discussion Points: Civil Disobedience & Bonhoeffer
3.7

Development - Pluralism & Theology

3.7.1Pluralism & Theology: Exclusivism & Inclusivism3.7.2Pluralism & Theology: Pluralism3.7.3Discussion Points: Salvation3.7.4Discussion Points: Pluralism Undermining Beliefs
3.8

Development - Pluralism & Society

3.8.1Development of Multi-Faith Societies3.8.2Responses to Inter-Faith Dialogue3.8.3The Scriptural Reasoning Movement3.8.4Discussion Points: Social Cohesion & Scripture3.8.5Discussion Points: Conversion
3.9

Gender & Society

3.9.1Waves of Feminism3.9.2Traditional Christian Views on Gender Roles3.9.3Christian Views on Gender Roles & Family3.9.4Discussion Points: Secular Views of Gender3.9.5Discussion Points: Motherhood & Family
3.10

Gender & Theology

3.10.1Rosemary Radford Ruether3.10.2Mary Daly3.10.3Discussion Points: Ruether & Daly3.10.4Discussion Points: Male Saviour & Female God
3.11

Challenges

3.11.1Secularism - Sigmund Freud3.11.2Secularism - Richard Dawkins3.11.3Christianity & Public Life3.11.4Discussion Points: Spiritual Values3.11.5Discussion Points: Social Values & Opportunities3.11.6Karl Marx3.11.7Liberation Theology

Practice questions on Aristotle's Prime Mover

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  1. 1
    What changes did Aristotle say the heavenly spheres were undergoing? Multiple choice
  2. 2
    What is the Prime Mover? Multiple choice
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Aristotle's Four Causes

Plato & Aristotle's Views of the Soul