Philosophy

Philosophy Study Guide

to understand it. There is no separate supernatural reality as in Plato’s world of being and its eternal forms. Aristotle was convinced that Plato’s epistemology was flawed because Plato was never able to provide an intelligible account of the way the physical dimensions of this world participate in the eternal forms. Aristotle believed there is a human soul but it cannot be separated from the body and we are entirely creatures of nature, just as are all forms of life. We are unique because of our ability to reason, but beyond that, there is no other reality than this world, either before birth or even after death. Metaphysics is not the study of non-physical realms or entities; rather, it is the study of the natural world and the study of humans as an integral and inseparable part of the natural world. Like Plato, forms are an important part of Aristotle’s metaphysic and he believed forms were embodied in physical objects existing completely within the natural order. Everything that exists has both a material element and a formal element, and although we can separate these two in thought, they cannot be separated in reality. For Aristotle, this was Plato’s fundamental mistake, believing that formal elements of things could be abstracted and then elevated to a superior status of ultimate reality. In Aristotle’s metaphysical system, there are two basic categories of things: Matter, which refers to common stuff that makes up the material universe and form, which refers to the essence of a thing, that which makes it what it is. Matter and form together combine to create formed matter or substance that is all the familiar things we see in the universe and require each other to exist. The general conceptual framework for Aristotle’s work has come to be known as hylomorphism, which means that an individual organism consists of both matter and form. Hylomorphism claims that structure, organization, or form is a basic ontological and explanatory principle. Some individuals consist of materials that are structured or organized in various ways. Human beings are not mere collections of physical particles; we are collections of physical particles (matter or body) with a certain organization or structure (form or soul). The structure or organization that distinguishes living things form non-living ones is what Aristotle called the soul. Aristotle insisted that living things were composed of the same materials as non-living ones, and that what distinguished the former from the later was the way those materials were structured or organized. Entelechy is one of the core concepts Aristotle bases his entire philosophy on and it is the creative drive or inner urge that impels all things to achieve their purpose in life-everything in the universe has its own unique purpose to fulfill. Aristotle believed each person has a potential to fulfill in people the formal element is the soul which gives shape and purposeful direction to the body, for every part of the living body is an organ the soul. The soul is not immortal, as it ceases to exist once the matter in which it is embedded (the body) stops functioning. Aristotle believes that there is a good life for each of us to aspire to and achieve a life of balance, fullness, and happiness. They are described below: ● The four causes: A complete understanding for why something happens. It entails addressing all of these causes which he explains in his metaphysics: material cause, formal cause, efficient cause, and final cause. ● Material cause: The matter of which a thing is made, which is the basic “stuff” of the universe. Matter requires form in which to shape it into something useful and purposeful. ● Formal cause: The embedded form that gives shape and purpose to the matter. ● Efficient cause: The triggering action that sets the thing in motion or the cause that initiates

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