In the theory developed by Domingo Báñez and other 16th and 17th century Thomists, physical premotion (praemotio physica) is a causal influence of God into a secondary cause (especially into a will of a free agent) which precedes (metaphysically but not temporally) and causes the actual motion of its causal power (e.g. a will): it is the reduction of the power from potency to act. In this sense, it is a kind of divine concursus, the so-called concursus praevius advocated by the Thomists.

More broadly, according to this Thomistic theory, physical premotion is the causal influence of any principal cause upon the respective instrumental cause (such as the influence of a scribe upon his pen) by which the instrumental cause is elevated so as to be capable of producing an effect which is beyond its natural powers (e.g., the pen is enabled to write a poem).

In Thomism, the theory of physical premotion helps to explain divine providence (foreknowledge) and universal rulership; on the other hand, it is seen by its critics (chiefly Jesuits defending the alternative theory of Molinism) as leading to theological determinism. Because the proponents of physical premotion are, as Catholics, committed to the freedom of will, their position can be viewed as a form of compatibilism. Whether they really are determinists depends on how strictly the necessity of the connection between a divine decree, the resulting premotion, and the ultimate free act is conceived. The proponents of the theory generally try to avoid resorting to unqualified necessity, their term of choice being "infallibility".

The theory of praemotio physica was applied (1) on natural level, serving both as a theory of concursus ordinarius and as a theory of instrumental causality; (2) on supernatural level, serving as a theory of actual grace.