Aristotle’s Core Philosophy: Nature, Ethics, Politics
Aristotle’s Philosophy: Nature and Change
While Plato possessed a mathematical mind, Aristotle approached philosophy with a biologist’s perspective, focusing on the nature and causes of phenomena. His conception of nature defines it as an internal principle of motion inherent in natural beings, distinguishing them from artificial ones. This perspective emphasizes the origin and teleology of natural processes, which appear to be preceded by an internal plan or finality that directs and manages their movement.
Understanding Change: Potency and Act
Aristotle posited two ways of being: absolute non-being or relative non-being. What is not, can exist in potency, while what currently exists is in act. This distinction is crucial for understanding change:
- Substantial Change: The generation of a new substance or the destruction of an existing one.
- Accidental Change: Modifications to existing substances without altering their fundamental nature.
Components involved in change include: something that remains, something that disappears, and something that appears.
The Four Causes and Hylemorphism
For Aristotle, the form is the essence and nature of substances, determining their specific activity. Natural substances are composed of both matter and form, a concept known as hylemorphism. Matter and form are considered intrinsic causes of natural substances. Beyond these, Aristotle identified other causes:
- Material Cause: That out of which something is made.
- Formal Cause: The essence or structure of a thing.
- Efficient Cause: The primary source of the change or rest.
- Final Cause: The purpose or end for which a thing exists or acts.
Natural processes involve an efficient cause, which initiates the change, and a final cause, which is the ultimate goal.
The Living Substance and the Soul
Aristotle conceived of the soul as the vital principle, the principle of life itself, defined as both the form and the act of a living body. The union of soul and body is natural and essential, forming a single, living substance.
From Physics to Metaphysics
Theology: The Unmoved Mover
Aristotle’s theology posits God as the Unmoved Mover of the universe. This prime mover is the ultimate beginning of all movement, yet is itself not subjected to any movement.
Ontology: The Study of Being
Ontology, for Aristotle, is not a specialized science dealing with a specific part of reality. Instead, it is a discipline that universally studies “what is” – the entity of being. This science investigates the most general properties of reality.
Ethics and Politics: The Pursuit of Human Good
Human Behavior and Happiness (Eudaimonia)
The ultimate goal of all human beings, according to Aristotle, is happiness (eudaimonia). Happiness consists in the excellent exercise of one’s characteristic activities. However, this ideal of happiness can be a practically challenging aspiration, as humans are also conditioned by biological needs.
Aristotle’s Moral Virtues
Aristotle distinguishes two types of virtues in human beings:
- Intellectual Virtues: These perfect knowledge and understanding.
- Moral Virtues (Virtues of Character): These perfect one’s character and dispositions.
Intellectual virtues are excellences that make our knowledge superior and refined.
The Golden Mean
Aristotle defines moral virtue as a habit of choosing a mean relative to us. This “golden mean” is a stable disposition that avoids extremes of excess and deficiency. Virtues are stable dispositions that guide us towards appropriate actions and feelings.
Justice: A Cardinal Virtue
Aristotle granted a prominent place to justice. He considered it not merely a particular virtue, but rather a virtue encompassing all other virtues, as it characterizes the person who possesses them all. Justice regulates interpersonal relationships by imposing equal treatment, which can be understood in two ways:
- Arithmetic Justice: Enforces equal treatment for all, regardless of individual merit (e.g., in contracts).
- Geometric Justice: Distributes goods or honors in proportion to individual merit (e.g., in political office).
The Good and the Polis: Aristotle’s Politics
Aristotle’s conception of justice highlights the profound link between ethics and politics. For him, ethics and politics are not separate but rather two aspects of the same practical knowledge concerned with the human good. Human nature is essentially social; sociability is an inherent feature, as humans naturally tend towards community life within the polis (city-state).