Aristotle's Monism

What is monism?

Humans are made up of one substance; mind + body are inseparable; the mind is a product of the brain (physical organ)

What is monism also known as?

Materialism

What view of the soul does Aristotle have?

Monist/soft materialist

What do Artistotles beliefs about the soul reflect?

Empirical approach to reality + the 4 causes

What is the soul included in (according to Aristotle)?

The matter + structure of the body -> essential essence of the body

What is the body (in terms of the 4 causes)?

The material cause (bones, muscle etc)

What is the soul (in terms of the 4 causes)?

The formal cause -> capabilities + characteristics to be what it is meant to (animates the body)

How is the soul technically the efficient cause?

Animates the body + gives it life/actualises its potential

What is the final cause?

Eudaimonia

What souls do plants have?

Vegetative souls -> can feed themselves

What souls to animals have?

Perceptive + vegetative souls -> can interact with the world, distinguish between pain + pleasure, can move, sexual desires

What souls do humans have?

Intellectual + perceptive + vegetative souls -> can reason, distinguish right from wrong, have memory + can reflect

What does the intellectual soul enable us to to?

Reach the final cause (eduaimonia)

What did Aristotle believe we had?

Body-soul unity

What is body-soul unity?

The soul cannot be separated from the body -> no life after death (the soul is one feature of the whole person)

What example does Aristotle use to demonstrate body-soul unity?

Wax with a stamp in it -> shape is made by a stamp + is inseparable from the wax

What does matter need?

The soul to animate it

Why is Aristotle's view soft materialism?

The soul is the capacities the body has to do what it is meant to -> not a complete separation