Medieval Theology II

Abstract

This chapter argues that the second kinetic operation or feature in the ontological description of force is the externalization of motion. Kinetically, the externalization of motion occurs when a flow becomes disjoined or released from a field of circulation. Once such a flow breaks free or bifurcates from the conjunction of a circulatory system, it is then capable of folding itself into a new series of junctions in a new field or connecting to another field elsewhere. When the internal motion of circulation, like that of a rotating sphere, for instance, appears to transfer its motion to another body as a cause, agent, or force, what occurs kinetically is not the transfer of a metaphysical substance, but the continuation of the same movement, circulated differently. This chapter treats this issue historically within the early modern concept of medieval impetus and the clockwork universe.