Aristotle’s Core Philosophical Concepts Defined
Form (Morpho): Essence and Distinction
Discussing how we perceive the features of an object and its forms. Aristotle distinguishes substantial form from accidental form. Substantial form is the essence of a thing. Aristotle’s position on forms differs significantly from Plato’s. For Plato, the forms or ideas of things are separated from them, existing in a ‘World of Ideas.’ In contrast, for Aristotle, forms are inherent in individuals. This concept of composition accounts for the metaphysics of matter and form.
Act: Being in Reality and Potentiality
The actual being, the reality of a thing. Aristotle established two methods for understanding being in relation to time:
- If you consider the characteristics, properties, or determinations of an object as it is now, you are thinking of its being in act. This is the most important way of being, sometimes defined as the reality of a thing.
- Conversely, if you consider the future, what is not yet but could be under a condition that already exists, you are thinking of being in potentiality.
Aristotle defends the supremacy of act over potentiality.
Cause: The Four Aristotelian Principles
The origin upon which a thing depends. Aristotle believed that to truly understand natural beings, one must know their causes, as scientific knowledge, in the Aristotelian sense, is knowledge of causes. His notion of cause is much broader than the current understanding. He distinguished four types of causes:
- Material Cause: That out of which a thing comes to be and persists.
- Formal Cause: The form or essence of a thing.
- Efficient Cause: The primary source of the change or rest.
- Final Cause: The end or purpose for which a thing is done.
This leads into his ethical theory of Eudaemonism, which identifies happiness as the supreme good or ultimate end. Aristotelian ethics is an ethics of happiness, but it is also an ethics of virtue, as virtue is the means to achieve happiness.
Happiness (Eudaimonia): The Ultimate End
This is the supreme good or ultimate end that we seek for its own sake and for nothing else, while other goods are sought for the sake of happiness. Differences arise in determining what constitutes happiness and the supreme good. For Aristotle, happiness consists in the activity of the soul in accordance with virtue.
End (Telos): Purpose in Physics and Ethics
A fundamental concept in Aristotelian Physics and Ethics. The final cause predominates over the other causes in Aristotle’s formulation, as it represents the ‘good’ of a thing. In ethics, happiness is stated to be the ultimate end of human activity.
The Mean (Mesotes): Virtue as a Balanced Habit
A selective habit that is a mean relative to us, determined by reason, and by which a prudent person would decide. For Aristotle, virtue is an “excellent addition to something like perfection.”
Habit (Hexis): Cultivating Virtue Through Practice
In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle maintains that virtue is “the habit of deciding well, as a rule,” meaning it “points to the mean.” Virtue is developed through exercise and habit. For a person to be just, it is necessary to practice justice.
Matter (Hyle): The Constitutive Element of Being
That out of which something is made. It accompanies form and is a constitutive element of individual substances. From a dynamic point of view, matter is that which is susceptible to determination or form, and thus to movement or potentiality. Any change or modification can be considered a substance. The problem of movement is the common thread of Aristotelian physics, understanding movement as the passage of being from one state to another. For Aristotle, movement is primarily the passage from being in potentiality to being in act.
Movement: From Potentiality to Actuality
The problem of movement is the common thread of Aristotelian physics, understanding movement as the passage of being from one state to another. For Aristotle, movement is primarily the passage from being in potentiality to being in act.
Nature (Physis): The Principle of Self-Movement
The essence that beings have within themselves, as such, it is the principle of their own movement. The study of nature was the focus of the Presocratics, and Aristotle, unlike Plato, granted it scientific value. It concerns beings composed of matter and form, which are endowed with their own movements.
First Mover: The Unmoved Origin of Motion
According to Aristotle, “whatever is moved is moved by something else.” We cannot have an infinite series of movers. Therefore, there must exist a First Mover that transmits movement to all natural things, and which itself is not moved by anything else. This First Mover is understood as eternal, immutable, and identified with Pure Act, or God. This demonstration of the existence of God is known as “the argument from motion” and is presented in Book VIII of Physics and Book XII of Metaphysics, serving as a foundational argument for motion.
Prudence (Phronesis): Guiding Virtuous Action
Prudence is the intellectual virtue by which we know how we ought to behave; it helps us discover the right means for achieving happiness and a virtuous life.
Wisdom (Sophia): Knowledge of First Principles
The knowledge of first principles and the consequences that follow from them. Aristotle identified wisdom with philosophy and considered it the most perfect knowledge.
Hylemorphism Theory: Composition of Matter and Form
This theory is based on the idea that all sensible beings, both natural and artificial, are composed of matter and form.
Teleology: Understanding Reality Through Purpose
A doctrine that considers the understanding of reality essential by referencing the purpose or end for which something exists or happens.