Aristotle Philosophy test

What is Aristotle's theory of hylomorphism?

A theory explaining how substances are composed of form and matter, demonstrated through examples like an unmusical man becoming musical.

What distinguishes natural substances from artifacts?

Natural substances have intrinsic principles of action and behave according to their nature, while artifacts require external power/control and have extrinsic causes.

What are Aristotle's four causes?

• Material Cause: What something is made of (enables existence)

• Formal Cause: Shape/form that makes it what it is

• Efficient Cause: Source of form/change

• Final Cause: Goal/purpose of action

What is Aristotle's definition of soul?

"Soul is the first actuality of a natural organized body that is potentially alive". It is the primary source/cause of life that makes living things alive.

How does Aristotle's view of the soul differ from Plat

Plato saw soul and body as separate entities artificially fused together. Aristotle viewed the soul as the form of the body, not separate but an integral part that makes human matter actually human.

What are the two types of actuality in Aristotle's philosophy?

1. Having Capability (First Actuality) - e.g., having knowledge 2. Using Capability (Second Actuality) - e.g., actually using knowledge.

Which of these are proper principles of change and which is only a principle accidentally? Why?

Three principles of change

1. Privation ( absence/lack)

2. Potency/Matter

3. Actuality Form

What is Privation?

• Initial state: lacks musicality

• Required for change to occur

• Not the cause of change itself

• accidental principle

• Example: being poor isn’t what makes you able to become rich

What is Potency Matter

• ability/ potential to change

• Exists before and after change

• without this, no change is possible

• Makes transfomration possible

• Same individual throughout

Actuality/ form

• Final state: musical ability

• what is gained through change

• Realization of potency

• things exists because of this

• Required for change to occur and become complete

What are the key characteristics of primary matter?

• Is the most fundamental kind of matter

• Can exist as different substances

• Always exists with some form

• Can gain/lose forms to become different things

• Cannot be sensed directly

• Is not independent - always part of a substance

What is the key difference between accidental and substantial change?

In accidental change, matter is an individual substance (like a man) and form is just an attribute (like musical ability). In substantial change, matter is primary matter and form is substantial form (what makes something uranium or lead).

What is the role of substantial forms?

• Give matter its specific nature

• Determine what the substance is

• Together with primary matter, constitute substances

Aristotle’s definition of nature in Physics 2.1

a principle and cause of motion, intrinsic in thing to which it belongs primarily in virtue of itself and not in virtue of a concomitant attribute or not accidentally.

Natural Substances

• Form generated internally

• Self-powered (e.g., breathing, eating)

• Acts from internal principles

• Grows and develops naturally

Artifacts

• Form imposed externally

• Requires external power source

• Depends on external causes

• Assembled/arranged by force

• Have extrinsic causes

• Require external power/control (e.g. car needs to be started)

Why is form considered more fundamental than matter in nature?

Form is more fundamental because it determines what something actually is and makes things behave in characteristic ways. It gives things their actual nature rather than just potential.

What is matter's secondary role in nature

Matter is secondary because it only enables movement and change. It only acts in specific ways because of the form - for example, human matter only acts in human ways because of its human form.

How does form's role in generation demonstrate its primacy?

Form passes directly from parent to offspring, exists in parents before the new individual, and is responsible for originating new natures. This shows form's fundamental role in determining what things are.

How is the material cause necessary for a statue to come into being?

The marble (material cause) enables the statue's very existence and provides the physical basis needed to hold its shape. Without the appropriate material, the statue couldn't exist at all.

How is the formal cause necessary for a statue to come into being?

The shape/form makes the marble exist specifically as that statue rather than just being a block of marble. The form determines what the object actually is.

How is the efficient cause necessary for a statue to come into being?

The sculptor (efficient cause) is necessary because the marble requires an agent to create the statue. The sculptor must both have the idea of the statue and the ability to produce that form.

How is the final cause necessary for a statue to come into being?

The purpose/goal explains why the agent acts at all. It explains why the sculptor chooses to carve rather than do something else, and why they choose that specific shape.

What an example of two things being cause of each other in different ways?

Walking and health can cause each other in different ways: Walking is the efficient cause of health (it produces health through action), while health is the final cause of walking (the goal of health motivates the walking).

How do different types of causes work distinctly?

Each cause operates differently - for example, a final cause (goal) influences action differently than an efficient cause does. This allows for different relationships of dependency between causes.

: How do form and matter demonstrate reciprocal causation?

Form and matter are interdependent causes: Matter enables the form to exist, while form makes the matter into a specific thing.

What’s Aristotle defintion f soul in De Anima 2.1 & 2.2?

the first actuality of a natural organized body that is potentially alive

Why can't the soul be a composite substance?

Because some bodies are alive while others are not, and living things must be alive due to a part of themselves rather than the whole composite.

Why can't the soul be matter?

Because all natural things are made of matter, but not all matter is alive (like a desk). Matter only has the potential for life, it doesn't actually cause life.

What is meant by "first actuality"?

refers to having a capability (like having knowledge) without necessarily using it. The soul belongs to this category as it enables life activities even when we're not performing them.

How does this definition show that soul must be form?

As the first actuality of a living body, the soul makes human matter actually human and enables life activities. It is not a separate entity but the form that makes the body alive and functional.

What is the relationship between soul and body for most activities?

Most life activities require both soul and proper organs working together - the soul works with body parts to enable functions. Examples include playing piano, seeing, and walking, which all require both soul and physical organs.