Aristotelian metaphysics and science

1. The nature of objects

Aristotle has an organic view of objects, they exist through time and have a birth, life span and death.

Organisms are the paradigm object for Aristotle.

Substances (objects) = form + matter

• Form defines the object. And as long as the object exists it has that form.
• When an object changes through out its lifespan, its form remains the same.
• Form of a human being is to be a rational animal.
• Nature of change the role of potential

2. Why and how do objects change?

“Form actualizes potential.”

When I eat pizza, the pizza and I join together, but the pizza becomes me, I don’t become a pizza, why?

• Pizza has the potential of providing me with nourishment, my form actualizes this potential.
• Human beings are not the kinds of things that have the potential to become pizza.

Where do babies come from?

• Man provides the form, woman provides the matter
• form actualizes potential
• for guys, the potential of the matter is more fully actualized. In ohter words according to Aristotle, women are not fully formed men.

This potential is a real property that Aristotle used to explain things.

Notice here that we explained what happens when I eat pizza and where babies come from, using the concept of potential.

Four kinds of causes

Material what the object is made of

Efficient: the events that brought it into being

Formal what kind of thing the object is or its form

Final the purpose of the object in the world.

So for George,

Material: the carbon and hydrogen,… that he is made of.

Efficient: his parents getting busy

Formal: a rational animal form of human beings

Final: George’s or humanity’s role in the universe in general.

Teleology

• Formal and final causes guide the way that change happens.
• There is an order to the universe, teleology, telos, which describes where things are and ought to be and how they ought to and do work.

• Examples:
• The telos of an acorn is to grow into an oak tree
• The telos of a person is to be rational

Aristotle’s universe

• The telos of earth is to fall to the center of the universe of
• water is to be above the earth
• air is above the water and fire is on the outside.
• Aristotle used this to explain why stones fall and flames rise

• The heavenly bodies are lodged in perfect crystal spheres.

• Formal and final causes guide how things change.

Goal of science:

• Figure out formal and final causes of things
• We can figure this out by observation
• We can observe the essence or definition of an object and observe what an object is for
• The goal of science is to explain things that we observe in terms of other observable properties.