F
flyingfish
Guest
If you accept the prime mover argument for the existence of God, why do you think this argument requires for there to be a single prime mover rather than many? (When Aristotle formulated the argument, he wondered about the number of prime movers:
The number of movers
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unmoved_mover)Near the end of Metaphysics, Book Λ, Aristotle introduces a surprising question, asking “whether we have to suppose one such [mover] or more than one, and if the latter, how many.”[2] Aristotle concludes that the number of all the movers equals the number of separate movements, and we can determine these by considering the mathematical science most akin to philosophy, i.e., astronomy. Although the mathematicians differ on the number of movements, Aristotle considers that the number of spheres would be 49 or 55. Nonetheless, he concludes his Metaphysics, Book Λ, with a quotation from the Iliad: “The rule of many is not good; one ruler let there be.”[3][4]