phorá

Phorá is a term with origins in ancient Greek philosophy, often translated as "bearing" or "carrying." It is most famously associated with Aristotle, who used it to describe the motion of an object from one place to another. Aristotle distinguished phorá from other types of change, such as alteration (change in quality) or growth (change in quantity). He considered it a fundamental category of motion, encompassing all instances of locomotion. For Aristotle, phorá was not simply about movement, but about a directed displacement, a change in spatial location. He analyzed the causes of phorá, attributing it to an external mover or an internal principle of motion. The concept of phorá played a significant role in the development of physics and cosmology in the ancient world, influencing thinkers for centuries. Later philosophers, particularly during the Scientific Revolution, re-examined and often revised Aristotelian ideas about motion, but the term phorá itself reflects a foundational attempt to categorize and understand movement.