EN
In the philosophy inspired by Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas there are some controversies concerning the animation of human embryo. This is connected with a lack of clarity as to its potentiality, and in particular the so-called inner potentiality. In clarifying these difficulties what is essential is to understand what the soul itself is. And here there appear some differences between Aristotle and Aquinas. In the paper, the author explains this issue and proposes an original concept of inner potentiality of embryo. It consists in two interdependent dynamisms: synchronic and diachronic.