Natural Sciences and Byzantium: Determining the Innate "Implanted Power" (dotheisa dynamis) according to John Philoponus and Nikephoros Blemmydes

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Published: Mar 25, 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/ethiki.22656
Keywords:
John Philoponus; Nikephoros Blemmydes; Implanted Power (Dotheisa Dynamis); Byzantine Science; Aristotelian Physics; Vacuum (Kenon); Theory of Impetus; Cosmology
Anastasios Dionysopoulos
Abstract

This article examines the evolution of physical sciences in the Byzantine era, specifically focusing on the concept of "implanted power" (dotheisa dynamis) as developed by John Philoponus and later adopted by Nikephoros Blemmydes. The author analyzes how Philoponus challenged Aristotelian cosmology by collapsing the distinction between "natural" and "violent" motion, proposing instead that God implants an internal moving force into objects. The study further explores Blemmydes' contribution to the debate regarding the existence of a vacuum (kenon), utilizing early experimental demonstrations with water vessels to argue against the ontological possibility of empty space. By tracing these theological and philosophical developments, the paper illustrates the Byzantine effort to harmonize Aristotelian physics with Christian creationism, laying early conceptual foundations for what would later become the theory of impetus in the West.

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