Aristotle’s Core Philosophical Concepts
Aristotle’s Method: Logic and Syllogism
Aristotle was a methodical thinker. He argued that most philosophical problems arise from the absence of method. This includes a method for designating everything with its proper name and a method for correctly using these names in arguments. Aristotle identified four basic types of judgments:
- Affirmative
- Negative
- Universal
- Particular
A combination of judgments sharing a common term (middle term) can often lead to a conclusion connecting the terms of the initial premises (extremes). This combination of three judgments is called a syllogism. Only certain forms are valid, specifically where the first two statements (premises) logically entail the third (conclusion). The validity of reasoning is linked to its form or structure, regardless of its content.
Aristotle on Substance: Primary and Secondary
For Aristotle, the individual is the real substance. Substance is defined in opposition to accident (a quality that can only exist in something else). In contrast, for Plato, Ideas were the real substance (meaning substance is not part of this world). Aristotle argued the opposite: individuals are primary substances, while ideas (or species and genera) are secondary substances.
Aristotle’s Hylomorphism: Matter and Form
Aristotle sought to overcome dualistic problems (Hylomorphism). The starting point must be individuals in their concrete existence. Aristotle defines form as what things have in common. Every individual, every primary substance, is a composite of matter and form. While Plato believed that forms in the physical world were mere imitations of pure Ideas (recollection reminding us of the original), Aristotle argued that we do not recollect anything. Instead, we are able to abstract the common form from the concrete materiality of individual things through abstraction.
Aristotle on Change: Potentiality and Actuality
Aristotle introduced the concepts of potentiality and actuality:
- Potentiality (or Being in Potency): This represents the capacity or ability to become something else. This is a real quality inherent in a thing.
- Actuality (or Being in Act): This is the present reality, the state of being fully realized or active.
This distinction was essential for Aristotle to address the problem of change posed by Parmenides. Change is understood as a process where a subject, possessing a certain form actually and another potentially, loses the actual form and actualizes the potential one.
Aristotle’s Degrees of Knowledge
Aristotle outlined different levels or degrees of knowledge.
Level 1: Sensory Knowledge
This is the source of all knowledge and includes:
- Sensation: The immediate perception provided by the senses.
- Imagination: The ability to form mental images of objects not present.
- Memory: Which allows us to retain and reproduce images of perceived objects.
This leads to experience (knowledge of particular instances or substances).
Level 2: Intellectual Knowledge
This level arises when we are able, through abstraction, to grasp the universal form (concept) from the images supplied by repeated similar experiences. This allows for judgments and reasoning, leading to:
- Technique (Art): Involves knowledge of principles but operates within the realm of contingency (what can be otherwise). It is not by chance and responds to certain principles.
- Science: Knowledge of necessary and universal principles and the causes of things.
- Philosophy (Wisdom): The highest and most worthy form of knowledge. It seeks to understand the ultimate truths, thereby fulfilling the highest aspirations of human knowledge and contributing to happiness.