The Energeia of self-thinking: a new defense for the Classic Interpretation of the Prime Mover

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Ph.D. Candidate in Philosophy, Philosophy Department, Faculty of Humanities and Literature, University of Tehran, Tehran. Iran.

2 Philosophy Department, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Tehran

Abstract

Objective: This essay tends to defend the classical interpretation of Aristotle's God as the efficient cause of the universe mainly through textual evidences. The authors carry their point by emphasizing the concept of divine thinking activity in three main steps: explaining what Aristotle meant by self-thinking thought; arguing for the omniscience of the divine Intellect; and based on the previous two steps, arguing for the formal causation of the Prime Mover as an intellectual cause through whose single act of thinking plays the role of efficient, formal and final cause of the world, as many classical philosophers and commentators see it in the same way.

Method: The authors use a conceptual and argumentative method to approach their point.

Results: The Aristotelian account of divine Intellect as an all-knowing cause by whose single and perpetual act of thinking performs the role of an efficient, as well as a formal and final cause of the world, bears conceptual as well as textual basis in Aristotelian corpus.

Conclusions: the notion of Aristotelian philosophy as the opposing rival of other ancient schools, as a modern idea, remains challengeable.

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Journal of Philosophical Investigations

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 10 August 2026

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