How the universe's motive principle

operates

Science seeks to approach coherence in the structure and movement of the physical world, through knowledge of quantitative proportions and within a certain mathematical formalism. If philosophy discovers the principles underlying this coherence in structure and movement, a practical meeting point between philosophy and physics may become possible. The question is whether there exist principles that have value not only from the standpoint of being and pure meaning, but also from that of efficiency (analysis of the efficient cause in the becoming of non-living physical bodies). (...)

Aristotle had already recognized the necessity, for the physical world, of a motive principle, which according to him must act through a first moved body (the first body set in motion directly by the first mover, thereby enabling the movement of other bodies). I reach the same conclusion concerning the existence of the motive principle. However (..) the mode of action of this motive principle cannot be the one envisaged by Aristotle, due to a question relating to the exercise of causes. A mechanical cause by contact, resulting from the action of a first moved body, cannot be responsible for all movements, and matter quantified by itself can act only by contact. Moreover, if another type of causality is required, this allows us to say that another principle must be posited beyond quantified matter alone.

It should also be noted that the idea of a spiritual motive principle for the physical world is supported by Saint Thomas Aquinas (1), Doctor of the Church. And if one admits that a motive principle distinct from quantified matter is indeed necessary for the physical world, and that this principle cannot act by means of a first moved body, then, from my point of view, only immanent action through interrelation remains. This is why philosophers and theologians, unless I am mistaken, should analyze this possibility very seriously. And as for physics, I do not think one can truly arrive at a general theory of the universe without recovering, in one way or another, this idea of a motive principle (2).

Note 1 : Summa Theologica, Prima Pars, Question 2, Article 3.

Note 2 : Indeed, in a physical theory one can distinguish different conceptual levels: the worldview, the mathematical formulation, the operational aspect. And as far as the worldview is concerned, the idea of a motive principle is, in my view, essential. It must be part of the conceptual postulate that defines the initial concepts dealing with coherence in structure and movement. Of course, one can also arrive at a definition of the initial concepts without having clearly identified the conceptual postulate to which they are linked, this conceptual postulate providing the bridge between the philosophical approach and the scientific approach and making it possible to arrive at a general theory of the universe. The formulation of a system of thought based on a conceptual postulate lies outside of the philosophical method, but it allows the creation of an intermediate domain between philosophy and science. (…)

Postface “What if Einstein Was Mistaken on a Key Point in His Analysis Leading to Special Relativity?”

For a more detailed presentation of these ideas, please refer to my open letter to Lee Smolin (November 2019), included in the appendix of my book Paradox of the Invariance of the Speed of Light, where I explain how the discovery of the universe’s motive principle led me to a relational conception of spacetime and motion.

Philippe de Bellescize