Aristotelian Concepts: Substance, Happiness, and Cause
Substance
From Latin substantia, translation of Greek ousia. Etymologically, “what’s underneath,” but it has a complex meaning. It means:
- The subject in the resting properties: being Socrates, for example, which predicts certain features such as being an Athenian, being a teacher of Plato…
- What remains in an accidental change: being the same person, Socrates, but changing appearance over time.
- Being independent: having its being not in another but in itself. We must distinguish the level of attributes (being white, small, and intelligent, for example, are properties that cannot exist by themselves but are based on something else) and the level of the substance (which has its own independent existence, like being Socrates, a stone, or a tiger…).
Primary Substances
Primary substances are individual subjects, matter and form compounds. Socrates, Plato, this table, that chair, my dog, the plant that decorates the living room, God… are substances because they are individual entities with independent existence. They are primary substances because other generic determinations lie within them (like being men, chairs, dogs, plants…).
Secondary Substance
Or the genera and species. When asked “What is this?” we want to know the nature of something, to clarify what type of substance it is. We can indicate a primary substance (the particular book I just bought) or a secondary substance (a book). The notion of “secondary substance” describes the nature of things understood as species and genera. In the case of Socrates, Socrates himself is a primary substance, and being a man is a secondary substance.
Happiness
Since happiness (or pleasure) is that which accompanies the realization of the real purpose of every living being, human happiness occurs when performing the activity that is proper and perfect. It is more proper to the human soul than the body, so human happiness has more to do with the activity of the soul. The activities of the soul correspond to the most typically human aspect, the intellect or rational soul. As in the intellectual soul, we find understanding or intellect and will (called virtue and perfection of a natural disposition). Human happiness corresponds to the theoretical life or knowledge (hence the happiest man is the philosopher, especially when directed to the most perfect knowledge of reality, God) and virtuous life. From a realistic standpoint, Aristotle agrees that being happy requires a moderate amount of external goods and human affection. In short, Aristotle’s happiness consists in the acquisition of excellence (virtue) of character and intellectual faculties.
Cause
The Aristotelian notion of cause is broader than the present one because we understand just what Aristotle called the efficient cause and final cause. For Aristotle, cause is any principle of being, that on which the existence of an entity depends, or any factor we refer to explain a process. To understand any entity, we should look at four main aspects (four causes):
- The material cause: that of which something is made.
- The formal cause: what an object is.
- The efficient cause: what has caused this thing.
- The final cause: that for which something exists, tends, or can be.
Aristotle gives the example of a sculpture: a statue of Zeus made of bronze by a sculptor to beautify the city. The bronze is the material cause, the god Zeus is the formal cause, the sculptor is the efficient cause, and the reason for its existence (to beautify the city) is the final cause. We can divide the causes:
- Intrinsic: the material and formal causes, as these principles rest on one’s own body.
- Extrinsic: the efficient and final causes, as they are outside the body.
However, natural beings suggest or tend toward what is naturally the final cause, but in this case, it is intrinsic (remember the basic principle of Aristotelian physics by which all natural beings are characterized by intrinsic purposes). The idea, image, or sketch that the sculptor had in mind when making the sculpture is also a formal cause. In this case, the formal cause is extrinsic.