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Aristotle · Physics §7.2#1

Immediate Contact of Mover and Moved in Locomotion

Passage 86 of 113 · Greek

Summary

The author argues that the primary efficient mover and the moved thing are together with nothing in between, demonstrating this first in local motion by reducing all kinds of locomotion to the basic actions of pulling and pushing.

§7.2#1Τὸ δὲ πρῶτον κινοῦν, μὴ ὡς τὸ οὗ ἕνεκεν, ἀλλʼ ὅθεν ἡ ἀρχὴ τῆς κινήσεως, ἄμα τῷ κινουμένῳ ἐστί (λέγω δὲ τὸ ἄμα, ὅτι οὐδέν ἐστιν αὐτῶν μεταξύ)· τοῦτο γὰρ κοινὸν ἐπὶ παντὸς κινουμένου καὶ κινοῦντός ἐστιν.
Now the first mover—not in the sense of that for the sake of which, but that from which the source of motion comes—is together with that which is moved (by "together" I mean that there is nothing between them); for this is common to every moved thing and mover.
ἐπεὶ δὲ τρεῖς αἱ κινήσεις, τε κατὰ τόπον καὶ ἡ κατὰ τὸ ποιὸν καὶ ἡ κατὰ τὸ ποσόν, ἀνάγκη καὶ τὰ κινοῦντα τρία εἶναι, τό τε φέρον καὶ τὸ ἀλλοιμωῦν καὶ τὸ αὖξον ἢ φθῖνον.
And since there are three motions—that in respect of place, that in respect of quality, and that in respect of quantity—it is necessary that the movers also be three: that which carries, that which alters, and that which increases or decreases.
πρῶτον οὖν εἴπωμεν περὶ τῆς φορᾶς· πρώτη γὰρ αὕτη τῶν κινήσεων.
First, then, let us speak of locomotion; for this is the first of motions.
ἅπαν δὴ τὸ φερόμενον ἢ ὑφ’ ἑαυτοῦ κινεῖται ἢ ὑπʼ ἄλλου.
Every thing that is carried, indeed, is moved either by itself or by another.
ὅσα μὲν οὖν αὐτὰ ὑφʼ αὑτῶν κινεῖται, φανερὸν ἐν τούτοις ὅτι ἄμα τὸ κινούμενον καὶ τὸ κινοῦν ἐστιν· ἐνυπάρχει γὰρ αὐτοῖς τὸ πρῶτον κινοῦν, ὥστʼ οὐδέν ἐστιν ἀναμεταξύ·
In the case of those things that are moved by themselves, it is obvious that the moved and the mover are together; for the first mover is present in them, so that there is nothing in between.
ὅσα δʼ ὑηʼ ἄλλου κινεῖται, τετραχῶς ἀνάγκη γίγνεσθαι· τέτταρα γὰρ εἶδη τῆς ὑπʼ ἄλλου φορᾶς, ἕλξις, ὦσις, ὄχησις, δίνησις.
But for those things that are moved by another, it must happen in four ways; for there are four species of locomotion by another: pulling, pushing, carrying, and turning.
ἅπασαι γὰρ αἱ κατὰ τόπον κινήσεις ἀνάγονται εἰς ταύτας·
For all motions in respect of place are reduced to these.
ἡ μὲν γὰρ ἔπωσις ὦσίς τίς ἐστιν, ὅταν τὸ ἀφʼ αὑτοῦ κινοῦν ἐπακολουθοῦν ὠθῇ, ἡ δʼ ἄπωσις, ὅταν μὴ ἐπακολουθῇ κινῆσαν, ἡ δὲ ῥῖψις, ὅταν σφοδροτέραν ποιήση τὴν ἀφʼ αὐτοῦ κίνησιν τῆς κατὰ φύσιν φορᾶς, καὶ μέχρι τοσούτου φέρηται ἕως ἂν κρατῇ ἡ κίνησις.
For pushing-on (ἔπωσις) is a kind of pushing, when that which moves from itself pushes while following along, whereas pushing-away (ἄπωσις) is when it does not follow along after having moved it, and throwing (ῥῖψις) is when it makes the motion from itself more violent than the natural carrying, and the object is carried as long as the motion dominates.
πάλιν ἡ δίωσις καὶ σύνωσις ἄπωσις καὶ ἕλξις εἰσίν· ἡ μὲν γὰρ δίωσις ἄπωσις (ἢ γὰρ ἀφʼ αὐτοῦ ἢ ἀπʼ ἄλλου ἐστὶν ἡ ἄπωσις, ἡ δὲ σύνωσις ἕλξις (καὶ γὰρ πρὸς αὑτὸ καὶ πρὸς ἄλλο ἡ ἕλξις).
Again, pushing-apart (δίωσις) and pushing-together (σύνωσις) are pushing-away and pulling; for pushing-apart is pushing-away (for pushing-away is either from oneself or from another), and pushing-together is pulling (for pulling is either toward oneself or toward another).
ὥστε καὶ ὅσα τούτων εἴδη, οἷον σπάθησις καὶ κέρκισις· ἡ μὲν γὰρ σύνωσις, ἡ δὲ δίωσις.
Consequently, whatever are species of these, such as packing (σπάθησις) and beating (κέρκισις), are also so; for the former is pushing-together, and the latter is pushing-apart.
ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ αἱ ἄλλαι συγκρίσεις καὶ διακρίσεις—ἅπασαι γὰρ ἔσονται διώσεις ἢ συνώσεις —πλὴν ὅσαι ἐν γενέσει καὶ φθορᾷ εἰσιν.
Likewise also the other processes of combination and separation—for all of them will be pushings-apart or pushings-together—except those that occur in generation and destruction.
ἅμα δὲ φανερὸν ὅτι οὐδʼ ἔστιν ἄλλο τι γένος κινήσεως ἡ σύγκρισις καὶ διάκρισις· ἅπασαι γὰρ διυανέμονται εἴς τινας τῶν εἰρημένων.
At the same time it is clear that combination and separation are not some other genus of motion; for they are all distributed into some of those mentioned.
ἔτι δʼ ἡ μὲν εἰσπνοὴ ἕλξις, ἡ δʼ ἐκπνοὴ ὦσις.
Furthermore, inhalation is pulling, and exhalation is pushing.
ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ ἡ πτύσις, καὶ ὅσαι ἄλλαι διὰ τοῦ σώματος ἢ ἐκκριτικαὶ ἢ ληπτικαὶ κινήσεις· αἱ μὲν γὰρ ἕλξεις εἰσίν, αἱ δʼ ἀπώσεις.
Likewise also spitting, and whatever other movements through the body are either excretory or conceptive; for some are pullings, and others are pushings-away.
δεῖ δὲ καὶ τὰς ἄλλας τὰς κατὰ τόπον ἀνάγειν· ἅπασαι γὰρ πίπτουσιν εἰς τέσσαρας ταύτας, τούτων δὲ πάλιν ἡ ὄχησις καὶ ἡ δίνησις εἰς ἕλξιν καὶ ὦσιν.
And we must also reduce the other motions in respect of place; for they all fall into these four, and of these again, carrying and turning are reduced to pulling and pushing.
ἡ μὲν γὰρ ὄχησις κατὰ τούτων τινὰ τῶν τριῶν τρόπων ἐστίν (τὸ μὲν γὰρ ὀχούμενον κινεῖται κατὰ συμβεβηκός, ὕτι ἐν κινουμένῳ ἐστὶν ἢ ἐπὶ κινουμένου τινός, τὸ δʼ ὀχοῦν ὀχεῖ ἢ ἑλκόμενον ἢ ὠθούμενον ἢ δινούμενον, ὥστε κοινή ἐστιν ἁπασῶν τῶν τριῶν ἡ ὄχησις)· ἡ δὲ δίνησις σύγκειται ἐξ ἕλξεως τε καὶ ὤσεως· ἀνάγκη γὰρ τὸ δινοῦν τὸ μὲν ἕλκειν τὸ δʼ ὠθεῖν· τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἀφʼ αὑτοῦ τὸ δὲ πρὸς αὑτὸ ἄγει.
For carrying is in accordance with one of these three ways (for the thing carried is moved accidentally, because it is in a moved thing or on some moved thing, while that which carries does so either by being pulled or by being pushed or by being turned, so that carrying is common to all three); and turning is composed of pulling and pushing; for that which turns must pull one part and push another, since it leads one part away from itself and the other toward itself.
ὥστʼ εἰ τὸ ὠθοῦν καὶ τὸ ἕλκον ἅμα τῷ ὠθουμένῳ καὶ τῷ ἑλκομένῳ, φανερὸν ὅτι τοῦ κατὰ τόπον κινουμένου καὶ κινοῦντος οὐδέν ἐστι μεταξύ.
Consequently, if that which pushes and that which pulls are together with that which is pushed and that which is pulled, it is clear that there is nothing between the locally moved and the mover.

Notes

  1. §7.2#1Τὸ δὲ πρῶτον κινοῦν, μὴ ὡς τὸ οὗ ἕνεκεν, ἀλλʼ ὅθεν ἡ ἀρχὴ τῆς κινήσεως — This specifies that the "first mover" is not the final cause (tò hoû héneken) but the efficient cause, which is the source of motion (hóthen hē archḕ tē̂s kinḗseōs). The negation mḗ is used to define or limit the concept.
  2. ¦35¦λέγω δὲ τὸ ἅμα, ὅτι οὐδέν ἐστιν αὐτῶν μεταξύ — This strictly defines the term "together" (háma) in terms of spatial contact, meaning "there is nothing in between them." The conjunction hóti functions to introduce an explanatory clause for the preceding statement.
  3. ¦5¦ἡ μὲν γὰρ δίωσις ἄπωσις... ἡ δὲ σύνωσις ἕλξις — This reduces complex movements to more fundamental physical actions by mapping díōsis (pushing-apart, containing the prefix di- of separation) to ápōsis (pushing-away), and sýnōsis (pushing-together, containing the prefix syn- of combination) to hélxis (pulling).
  4. ¦15¦δεῖ δὲ καὶ τὰς ἄλλας τὰς κατὰ τόπον ἀνάγειν — This sentence involves the omission of a noun (implying kīnḗseis). It outlines the structure of the overall argument, in which all general local motions are first reduced to the four basic types (pulling, pushing, carrying, turning), and subsequently two of those (carrying, turning) are further reduced to pulling and pushing in a two-stage process.
  5. ¦244a¦τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἀφʼ αὑτοῦ τὸ δὲ πρὸς αὑτοῦ ἄγει — The phrase tò dḕ pròs hautou in the text is likely a typo or variant for pròs hautó. It explains the dynamic combination of pushing and pulling in rotational motion (dínēsis), where the mover leads one part "away from itself" (aph' hautou) and the other "toward itself" (pròs hautó).

Cite this passage

Aristotle, Physics §7.2#1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0086.tlg031.humanitext-grc1:7.2%231

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