350 BC
ON THE MOTION OF ANIMALS
by Aristotle
translated by A. S. L. Farquharson
1
ELSEWHERE we have investigated in detail the movement of animals
after their various kinds, the differences between them, and the
reasons for their particular characters (for some animals fly, some
swim, some walk, others move in various other ways); there remains
an investigation of the common ground of any sort of animal movement
whatsoever.
Now we have already determined (when we were discussing whether
eternal motion exists or not, and its definition, if it does exist)
that the origin of all other motions is that which moves itself, and
that the origin of this is the immovable, and that the prime mover
must of necessity be immovable. And we must grasp this not only
generally in theory, but also by reference to individuals in the world
of sense, for with these in view we seek general theories, and with
these we believe that general theories ought to harmonize. Now in
the world of sense too it is plainly impossible for movement to be
initiated if there is nothing at rest, and before all else in our
present subject- animal life.
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