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can come to be and can pass away, coming to be and passing away: of what can be carried
along, locomotion” (Physics 201a10-15). Aristotle’s comprehensive definition of motion
prompts the reader to reflect upon the sense in which Tocqueville uses the word. The
agitation and activity that Tocqueville so often notes may fall under the heading of alteration,
but the question of the fulfillment of what exists potentially highlights a very stark contrast
between Aristotle and Tocqueville. Tocqueville casts the fulfillment in terms of God’s plan:
“It is not necessary that God himself speak in order for us to discover sure signs of his will; it
suffices to examine the usual course of nature and the continuous tendency of events; I know
without the Creator’s raising his voice that the stars follow the arcs in space that his finger has
traced” (DA Introduction:6-7). In volume two in a discussion of poetry in democratic nations,
Tocqueville echoes this same sentiment: “Perceiving the human race as a single whole, they
easily conceive that one same design presides over its destiny, and they are brought to
recognize in the actions of each individual the tracing of a general and constant plan
according to which God guides the species” (DA II.1.17:462). Tocqueville does not suggest
that man is a pawn in a grand scheme, but recognizes his ability to act: “Providence has given
to each individual, whoever he may be, the degree of reason necessary for him to be able to
direct himself in things that interest him exclusively. Such is the great maxim on which civil
and political society in the United States rests” (DA I.2.10:381). This discussion of the
fulfillment of what exists potentially and whether it is God’s plan or by nature raises the
question of whether there is a purpose to people’s motion in a democracy. One of the
advantages of democracy may well be the motion that is permitted, which takes the form of
governing oneself through participation in political and social activities.
In Newton’s Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, more commonly known
as the Principia, motion is the beginning point of his inquiries. According to Newton, the
burden of philosophy seems to consist in “the phenomena of motions to investigate the forces
of nature, and then from these forces to demonstrate the other phenomena.” Based upon these
Convention