Aristotle’s Concept of the Unmoved Mover
Rex Jasper V. Jumawan
Fr. Dexter C. Veloso
Introduction
The universe is a busy drama of restless changes. Everwhere we observe
potentialities being actualized, new potentialities created, and every process directed
toward its end. Thinking about the history of the universe as a series of events, we might
ask ourselves about the cause of the movement in the universe. For Aristotle, “motion is
something that requires an explanation” (Lawhead 2007, The Voyage of Discovery: A
Historical Introduction to Philosophy, 95). This led his inquisitive mind to seek an
explanation of the eternal motion of the universe.
Aristotle came to an idea of a mover that itself cannot be in motion. He called it the
Unmoved Mover. This Unmoved Mover is the source of all motion. It is also pure act,
that is to say, its nature is already complete. However, this Unmoved Mover, as Aristotle
called it God, is not the God of the Judeo-Christian faith which is a loving and merciful
God. This God enacts only the laws of gravity.
In this paper, the fundamental source of motion in the universe which is the
Unmoved Mover will be discussed according to the philosophy of Aristotle. This will
give us the ultimate explanation of the universe. This paper will also present the basic
understanding of Aristotle’s concept of the Unmoved Mover.
The Existence of an Unmoved Mover
Aristotle believed that the universe is eternal, meaning to say, it has no absolute
beginning and has no end. This led him to ask himself: what kept the universe in constant
motion? Is there something that moved it constantly? The premise “everything that is in
motion must be moved by something” (McKeon 1947, The Basic Works of Aristotle, 340)
is the basic principle that demonstrates the existence of a mover that is itself cannot be
moved by others. Now here is the argument: “everything that moves are moved by
another, this other—if also moved—must be moved by another” (Yarza 1994, History of
Ancient Philosophy, 157). It is necessary to arrive at the source of motion which is itself
unmoved. If it is moved by others then something else has to sustain its motion. If this is
possible, then we could not trace back the beginning of motion.
The fundamental source of all motion, according to Aristotle, is called the Unmoved
Mover. Since it cannot be moved by other things, it should not act as an efficient cause
but as the final cause of all motion. Say for example: a batter during a baseball game hits
a ball with his bat to score a home run. Now the efficient cause is the bat that hit the ball
which causes the ball to move; and the final cause is the desire of the batter to score a
home run.
To explain how the Unmoved Mover operates as the final cause, Aristotle found it
“necessary to endow celestial bodies with intelligences that function as their motors”
(Adler 1979, Aristotle For Everybody, 186). The celestial intelligences function as motors
though being attracted by the Unmoved Mover. Thus what is intelligible (Unmoved
Mover) moves the intellect of others (celestial bodies) while remaining unmoved.
In a simple analogy, we will demonstrate how the Unmoved Mover move others
while being unmoved. A candy in the window of a store entices a person to buy and eat it.
This causes the person to move without the candy itself moving, yet it attracts the person.
The act of being enticed by the candy is the reason of the person to buy it. Thus, it is the
final cause. Similarly, the celestial bodies move in their eternal motion because they are
being attracted by the Unmoved Mover. In other words, they seek to be like the Unmoved
Mover and “such motion is the nearest they can approach to it” (Ackrill 1981, Aristotle
The Philosopher, 129).
The Nature of the Unmoved Mover
To be an unmoved and eternal mover of a universe, a mover must have unique
qualities. It is very tempting to ask what are the essential qualities of the Unmoved Mover.
This Unmoved Mover is a pure act, that is to say, it is something that does not need of
any changes, for by its nature is already complete. Aristotle believed that “pure actuality
(form without matter) can exist while pure potentiality (matter without form) cannot”
(Adler 1979, 186).
The Unmoved Mover, for Aristotle, has qualities that can only be ascribed to itself.
These are the following: a) eternal—because only this can explain the eternity of the
movement of the world; b) immobile—because it cannot be subject to any kind of
movement; c) immutable—because it is not subject to any change for it is already in
pure actuality.
Aristotle believed that the Unmoved Mover never changes or has any potential to
change, never begins and never ends, and so is eternal. Aristotle claimed that eternal
things must be good; there can be no defect in something that exists necessarily, because
badness is connected with some kind of imperfection.
The Unmoved Mover and the other movers
Aristotle thought that the Unmoved Mover, however, could not be accounted for the
movement of all celestial bodies. The Unmoved Mover directly moves the first mobile
being which is a sphere. Between the celestial bodies and the earth, Aristotle presupposes
the “existence of many other concentric spheres, each are of a smaller size that the
preceding sphere, and the larger sphere containing within itself the smaller sphere”
(Yarza 1994, 161).
Although the celestial bodies are moved by the eternal, immobile, immutable mover
which is the Unmoved Mover, Aristotle says that there are a lot of other movers that
cause the celestial movements. “The Unmoved Mover was the mover of the first sphere;
it moves the other spheres indirectly” (Yarza 1994, 162). This other spheres is the other
movers that Aristotle pointed out.
The Unmoved Mover as God
The Unmoved Mover, for Aristotle, is God although his version “is not a
transcendent, anthropomorphic, personal God such as the God in the Judeo-Christian
tradition” (Lawhead 2007, 95). The God that is very loving and very forgiving to its
created beings.
However, “there is no indication that Aristotle ever thought of the Unmoved Mover
as an object of worship, still less as a being to whom prayers might be addressed”
(Copleston 1946, A History of Ancient Philosophy, 317). Aristotle’s version of God does
nothing but only the laws of gravity. It does not have any emotions; it is not vulnerable to
any other beings.
Conclusion
Aristotle’s idea of the Unmoved Mover is complete and unchanging, thus it cannot
be affected or influenced by the ever-changing universe. It is the highest sort of reality;
the being that which all things desired to be; the universal motor and the final cause.
Indeed, to create something is to cause something that does not exist to come into
existence. And so a world that has no beginning does not need a creator. But even a world
that has no beginning needs a cause for its continued existence. A cause to keep the
universe in its everlasting motion. Thus, this led the inquisitive mind of Aristotle to think
that an Unmoved Mover exists.
Aristotle’s concept of the Unmoved Mover was very influential all throughout the
ancient times. Even though it may appear that this view of God is in tension with the
elements of biblical tradition, it found its way into the medieval theology, particularly
Saint Thomas Aquinas.
References
Ackrill, John. 1981. Aristotle the Philosopher. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Adler, Mortimer. 1978. Aristotle For Everybody. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co.
Inc.
Copleston, Frederick. 1946. A History of Ancient Philosophy. Vol. 1, Greece and Rome.
Norwich: Jarrold and Sons, Ltd.
Lawhead, William. 2007. The Voyage of Discovery: A Historical Introduction to
Philosophy. 3rd ed. Belmont: Thomson Wadsworth.
McKeon, Richard. 1947. The Basic Works of Aristotle. New York: Random House.
Yarza, Ignatius. 1994. History of Ancient Philosophy. Edited by M. Guzman. Translated
by Caesar Santos. Manila: Sinag-Tala Publishers, Inc.