Aristotle On Distinction Between Substance And Matter Essay

ARISTOTLE ON DISTINCTION BETWEEN SUBSTANCE AND MATTER INTRODUCTION Aristotle was both a political thinker and a philosopher. So, we can see their effects on his writings. Moreover, he was hugely influenced by his great teacher Plato, who was in turn a disciple of the great thinker Socrates. He discussed about Substance and Matter in his book ‘Metaphysics’ mainly, apart from discussing them in his book ‘Ethics’. Generally, substance and matter are understood to be the same thing. But philosophically, they are different. ON SUBSTANCE Epistemologically, from the definition of substance it follows: 1. that substance is its own cause 2. that it is infinite 3. that it is the only substance 4. that it is eternal e.g., idea, soul, consciousness, God, respectively have been revered as substance by different philosophers. For Aristotle, substance (ousia), i.e. what is in the fullest sense, is an individual person or thing. Or rather, he normally describes the individual as substance in the primary sense. But logically and epistemologically, the individual is less knowable than the species to which it belongs; this is because the individual is a concrete whole, a combination of form and matter; and only the formal element is constant and definable, and therefore knowable. Hence he often identifies substance with the form or essence of a thing; and this seems to be the outcome of his long and careful discussion in Book 7 of the ‘Metaphysics’. He has been accused of notShow MoreRelatedForm and Matter in Aristotle Essay1585 Words   |  7 Pages Aristotle defined nature â€Å"as an internal origin of change or stability†1. Natural substances are things such as animals, plan ts and inanimate matter like earth, water, fire and air. Each natural substance according to Aristotle has its own nature, which is what gives rise to its natural behaviour/characteristic. The nature of a natural substance is its inner principle/source of change.2 Therefore natural substances are capable of motion i.e. growing, gaining qualities, losing them and lastlyRead MoreEssay on St. Thomas Aquinas’ On Being and Essence1002 Words   |  5 Pagesfound in composite substances. â€Å"Form and matter are found in composite substances, as for example soul and body in man. But it cannot be said that either one of these alone is called the essence.’ Aquinas argues that in a composite substance, not only is the form but also matter in the essence of a thing. However, in Metaphysics, Aristotle says that essence is in the form, which acts upon matter. He writes, â€Å"The form or the thing as having form should be said to be thing, but matter by itself must neverRead MoreEssay about Aristotle vs Plato1665 Words   |  7 Pages Aristotle is considered by many to be one of the most influential philosophers in history. As a student of Plato, he built on his mentor’s metaphysical teachings of things like The Th eory of Forms and his views on the soul. However, he also challenged them, introducing his own metaphysical ideas such as act and potency, hylemorphism, and the four causes. He used these ideas to explain his account of the soul and the immateriality of intellect. Prior to Aristotle, philosophers likeRead MoreDistinctions and Comparisons between Aristotle and Plato Essay1681 Words   |  7 PagesThe ideas introduced by Plato on the theory of forms, where deducted and critiqued by Aristotle. Both philosophers can be viewed as having opposing ideologies. Nonetheless, Plato and Aristotle are in agreement on certain factors of their philosophy. Many have scrutinized and compared the dissimilarities and similarities of Aristotles doctrine of categories and Platos theory of forms. The observations found are of an interesting nature. The beauty behind the writings of Plato is to not acceptRead MoreMetaphysics Essay example1838 Words   |  8 Pagesis concerned with beings as such. According to Aristotle, there is no such thing as mere being; to be is always to be a substance or object, a quantity, a quality, or a member of some other basic category. I. Substance and Accidents Substance is the primary mode of being according to Aristotle. The world is not one of atoms or particles, even though they have a place in the world. The basic notion of Aristotles logic reflects a distinction in the way reality is structured and reflects theRead MoreConceptions of the Soul Essay1161 Words   |  5 PagesPlato (in Phaedo) and Aristotle (in De Anima) present two fundamentally different conceptions of the soul. Through an analysis of their frameworks and genre, and whether their methods are plausible, it can be concluded that Aristotles formulation of the soul is more compelling than that of Plato. According to Plato, the body and the soul are separate entities. The soul is capable of existing before life of the body and after death of the body and it is constant, unchanging and non-physicalRead MorePlato s Theory Of Life And Life Essay1786 Words   |  8 Pagesperpetual and so then it must be pre existent before birth and existent post death. Now for Aristotle in De Anima, he explores what the soul really is by making the distinction between matter and form, and this is called hylomorphism. He uses hylomorphism as a defense to claim that observable objects cannot be described by their material components, but must be explained by their natural foundations and Aristotle believes that the soul is a particular kind of natural element to life, specifically itRead MorePlato s Theory Of Forms1629 Words   |  7 Pagesdiscussion in Phaedo and criticized in Parmenides and Timaeus thereafter. (These works will be further discussed later throughout the essay.) Plato’s theory of Forms, (sometimes referred to as the theory of Ideas) states basically: that which is made of matter and can be physically perceived by a human through one of his five senses does not represent true reality. The realm of ideas and abstract thought is in fact the ideal representation of reality. (When used in this manner, the first letter of formRead MoreThe Body And Soul Essay882 Words   |  4 Pagesthinks that the soul must be thought as the form of the man. There is much debate between philosophers on how the body and soul exist amongst each other. Aquinas believes that the soul is in the body, however it is not contained by it but rather containing it. To elaborate on this, Aquinas believes that the soul is not a substance in a living human because it is not a complete thing. In other words, the soul is matter. Therefore, in a living human, the soul must exist in the body. This means that theRead MoreKant vs Aristotle1314 Words   |  6 PagesThinking Philosophical Inquiry Section ON22 Erich Grunder Jim Cook 3/2/2007 During the 17th and 18th century two philosophers, Plato and Aristotle, arose carving for themselves a trench in the philosophical world. We can see the biggest distinction between the two in their theories of how we know things exist. The traditions of Plato and Aristotle have been dubbed rationalism and empiricism respectively. Under these traditions many well known philosophers have formed their own theories of