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46
ChapterII
deeplyinfluencedAvicenna’ssuccessorsintheEastandWest.Itis
probablyAvicenna’smainachievementinnaturalphilosophythat
afterhim,foreverylucidreader,thediscussionofmotionmust
focusonwhathappensataninfnitesimallevel.18
ItisworthnotingthatJohnDumbleton,inpresentingthenew
proofofuthemeanspeedtheorem”,referstoAvicenna’sPhysicsofthe
Shifā’.19
ThenextArabphilosopherwithwhomAverroesarguesisAvempace.
Avempaceisoftheopinionthatnaturalscienceisatheoreticaloneand
itshouldutilizetheresultsofotherscience.Itisnotasdemonstrative
asgeometry,becauseitsobjectsarematerialthingsinmotion,however,
noteachofitsstatementsareinductive.AlthoughAvempaceacceptsthe
Aristotelianbasicconditionofmotionthat:ueverythingthatismoved,
ismovedbysomething”,butheinterpretsitinhisownway.Obviously
amotioncanoccuronlyifanactivepoweractscausingthemotion,but
aresistanceisnotanecessaryconditionformotion.Whilediscussing
theissueoftwodifferenttypesofmotionuviolent”andunatural”,as
introducedbyAristotle,Avempacestatesthat,eventhoughuviolent”
motionisopposedtotheunatural”one,inthissensethatoneisdi-
rectedinanopposingdirectionthanitsunaturalplace”,andtheother
goestowardsitsnaturalplace,bothmotionsshouldbedescribedinthe
sameway.HeacceptsJohnPhiloponus’conceptandclaimsthatthere
isaminimumamountofmovingpowerforeachmoveable,butthe
powerscanbeadded,i.e.,themovingandresistiveones.Whenthey
areequal,motiondoesnotoccur.Inuviolent”motionwhiletheacting
powerovercomesthepassiveoneitisconstantlyexhaustedbyit,since
theinitialimpetusisdiminishingbytheresistanceduringthemotion.
Inthecaseofunatural”motioninamedium,abodyhastoovercome
theresistanceofthemediumwhencuttingitout.Naturalmotionin
avoid,however,wouldoccurwiththespeeddirectlyproportionalto
theweightofthebody.
Asaproofthatmotionwithoutanymedium,namely,through
avoid,ispossible,Avempaceadducesthemovementofthespheres:
18SeeM.Rashed,Naturalphilosohy,pp.301-302.
19SeeJohannesDumbleton,Summalogicaeetphilosophiaenaturalis,PartIII:Demotu
locali(Editions),§5,p.395.