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The unmoved mover ()Aristotle, Metaphysics XII, 1072a. or prime mover () is a concept advanced by Aristotle as a primary cause (or first uncaused cause) or "mover" of all the motion in the universe. As is implicit in the name, the moves other things, but is not itself moved by any prior action. In Book 12 () of his Metaphysics, Aristotle describes the unmoved mover as being perfectly beautiful, indivisible, and contemplating only the perfect contemplation: self-contemplation. He also equates this concept with the active intellect. This Aristotelian concept had its roots in cosmology speculations of the earliest Greek pre-Socratic philosophers and became highly influential and widely drawn upon in medieval philosophy and theology. St. Thomas Aquinas, for example, elaborated on the unmoved mover in the Five Ways.
In the Physics (VIII 4–6) Aristotle finds "surprising difficulties" explaining even commonplace change, and in support of his approach of explanation by four causes, he required "a fair bit of technical machinery". This "machinery" includes potentiality and actuality, hylomorphism, the theory of categories, and "an audacious and intriguing argument, that the bare existence of change requires the postulation of a first cause, an unmoved mover whose necessary existence underpins the ceaseless activity of the world of motion". Aristotle's "first philosophy", or Metaphysics (" after the Physics"), develops his peculiar theology of the prime mover, as πρῶτον κινοῦν ἀκίνητον: an independent divine eternal unchanging immaterial substance.
The unmoved mover is an immaterial substance (separate and individual beings), having neither parts nor magnitude. As such, it would be physically impossible for them to move material objects of any size by pushing, pulling, or collision. Because matter is, for Aristotle, a substratum in which a potential to change can be actualized, any potentiality must be actualized in an eternal being, but it must not be still because continuous activity is essential for all forms of life. This immaterial form of activity must be intellectual and cannot be contingent upon sensory perception if it is to remain uniform; therefore, eternal substance must think only of thinking itself and exist outside the starry sphere, where even the notion of place is undefined for Aristotle. Their influence on lesser beings is purely the result of an "aspiration or desire,""Cosmological Argument for the Existence of God," in Macmillan Encyclopedia of Philosophy (1967), Vol. 2, p. 233ff. and each aetheric celestial sphere emulates one of the unmoved movers, as best it can, by uniform circular motion. The first heaven, the outmost sphere of fixed stars, is moved by a desire to emulate the prime mover (first cause),Aristotle, Physics VIII 6, 258 b26-259 a9. about whom, the subordinate movers suffer an accidental dependency.
Many of Aristotle's contemporaries complained that oblivious, powerless gods are unsatisfactory. Nonetheless, it was a life which Aristotle enthusiastically endorsed as one most enviable and perfect, the unembellished basis of theology. As the whole of nature depends on the inspiration of the eternal unmoved movers, Aristotle was concerned with establishing the metaphysical necessity of the perpetual motions of the heavens. Through the Sun's seasonal action upon the terrestrial spheres, the cycles of generation and corruption give rise to all natural motion as efficient cause. The intellect, nous, "or whatever else it be that is thought to rule and lead us by nature, and to have cognizance of what is noble and divine" is the highest activity, according to Aristotle (contemplation or speculative thinking, theōríā). It is also the most sustainable, pleasant, self-sufficient activity;Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics X 1177 a20. something which is aimed at for its own sake. (Unlike politics and warfare, it does not involve doing things we'd rather not do, but rather something we do at our leisure.) This aim is not strictly human: to achieve it means to live following not mortal thoughts but something immortal and divine within humans. According to Aristotle, contemplation is the only type of happy activity that it would not be ridiculous to imagine the gods having. In Aristotle's psychology and biology, the intellect is the soul (see also eudaimonia).
According to Giovanni Reale, the first Unmoved Mover is a living, thinking, and personal God who "possesses the theoretical knowledge alone or in the highest degree...knows not only Himself, but all things in their causes and first principles."Giovanni Reale, Il concetto di filosofia prima e l'unità della metafisica in Aristotele, Milan 1965, p. 23. As quoted in
The purpose of Aristotle's cosmological argument that at least one eternal unmoved mover must exist is to support everyday change.
In Aristotle's estimation, an explanation without the temporal actuality and potentiality of an infinite locomotive chain is required for an eternal cosmos with neither beginning nor end: an unmoved eternal substance for whom the Primum Mobile turns diurnally, whereby all terrestrial cycles are driven by day and night, the seasons of the year, the transformation of the elements, and the nature of plants and animals.
Substance is necessarily composed of different elements. The proof for this is that there are things that are different from each other and that all things are composed of elements. Since elements combine to form composite substances, and because these substances differ from each other, there must be different elements: in other words, "b or a cannot be the same as ba."
Aristotle's principles of being (see section above) influenced Anselm's view of God, whom he called "that than which nothing greater can be conceived." Anselm thought God did not feel emotions such as anger or love but appeared to do so through our imperfect understanding. The incongruity of judging "being" against something that might not exist may have led Anselm to his famous ontological argument for God's existence.
Many medieval philosophers used the idea of approaching a knowledge of God through negative attributes. For example, we should not say that God exists in the usual sense of the term; all we can safely say is that God is not nonexistent. We should not say that God is wise, but we can say that God is not ignorant (i.e., in some way, God has some properties of knowledge). We should not say that God is One, but we can state that there is no multiplicity in God's being.
Many later Jewish, Islamic, and Christian philosophers accepted Aristotelian theological concepts. Key Jewish philosophers included ibn Tibbon, Maimonides, and Gersonides, among many others. Their views of God are considered mainstream by many Jews of all denominations, even today. Preeminent among Islamic philosophers who were influenced by Aristotelian theology are Avicenna and Averroes. In Christian theology, the key philosopher influenced by Aristotle was undoubtedly Thomas Aquinas. There had been earlier Aristotelian influences within Christianity (notably Anselm), but Aquinas (who, incidentally, found his Aristotelian influence via Avicenna, Averroes, and Maimonides) incorporated extensive Aristotelian ideas throughout his theology. Through Aquinas and the Scholasticism of which he was a significant part, Aristotle became "academic theology's great authority in the thirteenth century"Oberman, Heiko. Luther: Man Between God and the Devil, 1982, trans. Eileen Walliser-Schwarzbart, 1989. p. 160. and influenced Christian theology that became widespread and deeply embedded. However, notable Christian theologians rejected Aristotelian theological influence, especially the first generation of Christian Reformers, most notably Martin Luther.Luther's quotes aimed directly against Aristotle are many and sometimes strident. For example, "Virtually the entire Ethics of Aristotle is the worst enemy of grace" (Thesis 41) and "Briefly, the whole of Aristotle is to theology as shadow is to light" (Thesis 50) in Luther's 97 Theses of September 1517 (Luther, Disputation Against Scholastic Theology, 1517).In a personal note, Luther wrote, "Should Aristotle not have been a man of flesh and blood, I would not hesitate to assert that he was the Devil himself." (Luther, 8 Feb 1517; quoted in Oberman, 121)."Thomas Aquinas wrote a great deal of heresy, and is responsible for the reign of Aristotle, the destroyer of godly doctrine." (Luther, Against Latomus, 1521; quoted in Payton, 196). In subsequent Protestant theology, Aristotelian thought quickly reemerged in Protestant scholasticism.
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