Aristotle Metaphysics Book 12 (section 1069 – 1073)

Source: Perseus

Summary

Book 12 is usually considered the culmination of Aristotle’s work in metaphysics, and in it he offers his teleological system. Before he draws any grand conclusions, he begins with the idea of substance, of which there are three kinds: changeable and perishable (e.g., plants and animals), changeable and eternal (e.g., heavenly bodies), and immutable. If all substances are perishable, then ultimate destruction of everything is inevitable. But Aristotle asserts two imperishable entities: motion and time. If time were created, then there must have been no time before the creation, but the very concept of “before” necessitates the concept of time. On the other hand, as he argued in his works of natural philosophy, the only continuous motion must be circular. Thus he returns to the idea of the Unmoved Mover, for only such a being could generate eternal circular motion. The Unmoved Mover is the ultimate cause of the universe, and it is pure actuality, containing no matter since it is the very cause of itself. In order for the Mover to be unmoved itself, it must move in a non-physical way, by inspiring desire.

Aristotle gives the Mover the name of God, but this figure is unlike most standard conceptions of a divine being. Though Aristotle asserts that it is a living creature and represents the pinnacle of goodness, it also has no interest in the world and no recognition of man, for it exists in a completely transcendent and abstract state. The activity of God–if it can be called such–is simply knowledge, and this knowledge is purely a knowledge of itself, because an abstracted being is above sense and experience and can know only what is best. Some have interpreted this to mean that God, in knowing itself, implicitly knows everything else, but Aristotle flatly denied this view. In fact, he believed, for example, that God would have no knowledge of evil. Thus Aristotle’s conception is full of paradoxes. God is the ultimate cause of everything in the world, but it also remains completely detached.

Aquinas’ Commentary On Metaphysics 12