How the Universe's Motive Principle Operates

The Starting Point

Science seeks coherence in the structure and motion of the physical world through quantitative relationships and mathematical formalism. If philosophy succeeds in identifying the principles underlying this coherence, then a genuine meeting point between philosophy and physics becomes possible.

The essential question is whether there exist principles that possess not only ontological meaning but also real efficiency in the becoming of non-living physical bodies.

Aristotle's Contribution and Its Limit

Aristotle already recognized the necessity of a motive principle governing the physical world.

However, the mode of action he proposed—through a first moved body—cannot, in my view, explain the totality of physical motion.

Why Another Mode of Action Is Needed

A mechanical cause acting solely by contact cannot account for every movement occurring in the universe.

Matter, considered by itself, acts only through contact. If another kind of causality is required, then another principle must also be acknowledged beyond quantified matter alone.

Saint Thomas Aquinas also defended the existence of a spiritual motive principle governing the physical world (1).

If one accepts both the necessity of a motive principle distinct from quantified matter and the impossibility of explaining its action through a first moved body, then only one possibility remains, in my view:

An immanent action operating through interrelation.

Consequences for Philosophy and Physics

This proposal is not merely philosophical.

It invites philosophers and theologians to re-examine the nature of efficient causality while encouraging physicists to reconsider the conceptual foundations of a general theory of the universe (2).

Further Reading

Unless my analysis is mistaken, philosophers and theologians should seriously examine this possibility.

Proof by Motion Revisited – Non-Mechanical Causality and the Motive Principle

Notes

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

Note 2. A physical theory contains several conceptual levels: a worldview, a mathematical formulation and an operational level. In my view, the motive principle belongs to the conceptual postulate that underlies the initial concepts describing coherence in structure and motion. This conceptual postulate forms the bridge between philosophical inquiry and scientific theory, opening the possibility of a general theory of the universe.

Origin of This Reflection

This page is adapted from the afterword:

"What If Einstein Was Mistaken on a Key Point in His Analysis Leading to Special Relativity?"

For a more detailed presentation, see my open letter to Lee Smolin (November 2019), reproduced 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 develop a relational conception of spacetime and motion.