Aristotle
Terms
undefined, object
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- actuality
- The actual doing. For example walking in coontrast to the ability to walk.
- category
- Answers the Q, what is it? Contains particulars and universals. o In the sentence "Joe is human," "is human" is the predicate. Thus we say that human is predicated of Joe.
- substance
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o Substance is the bedrock of reality for Aristotle. Substances exist independently.
o Substances are things like you and me, human, Bootsy the cat, animal, mammal. - primary substance
- Things that are NEITHER said of NOR in a subject.
- universal
- something that applies to many things, such as "human" (there are many particular humans), "color" (there are many particular colors), "red" (there are many particular reds), etc.
- secondary substance
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Things that are said of a subject, NOT in any subject. For instance, human, mammal, animal are all secondary substances that are said of the primary substances you and me.
the species and genera in the category substance.
examples include human, plant, kangaroo, animal, flesh
Where should we put something like "gold"? - accident and essence
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your humanity is the essence of you; other aspects of you are accidents.
⬢ The essence of any object is its form (as in formal cause), the thing that makes it that kind of object.
⬢ Any quality of a thing that is not specified in the account of the essence of that thing is accidental to that thing. - teleology
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"Final" causation. often thought of as requiring an agent separate from the thing that has a final cause. For instance, if an oak tree has a final cause, must there not be something apart from the oak tree that uses the oak tree for some goal or end?
o The ultimate result of many teleological views is that there must be a God who designs the world: if things have a purpose, whose purpose? If things have a design that makes them FOR certain goals, there must be a designer. - differentia
- both species and genera are groups of things, and the members of any such group share a certain package of characteristics which are essential to membership in the group. Those essential characteristics are
- first actuality and second actuality
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1st = potential
2nd = actualization
ex. Knowing french but not using vs. thinking or talking in french. - causes: material, efficient,final, formal
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o Material cause: "that out of which" it is made.
o Efficient Cause: the source of the objects principle of change or stability.
o Formal Cause: the essence of the object.
o Final Cause: the end/goal of the object, or what the object is good for.
o A note about final causes: they always presuppose the formal cause: in order to explain the goal/purpose/end, you must use the formal cause.