Core Principles of Aristotle’s Philosophy
Aristotle’s Philosophy: Key Concepts
1. Theory of Ideas
Plato attempted to explain the world by proposing two realms: the world of Ideas and the world of sense. Aristotle criticized this dualism, arguing that the world of Ideas cannot explain the world of things. If the essences of things are separate from the things themselves, they cannot truly be their essences. While Plato suggested that things participate in or imitate the Ideas, Aristotle dismissed this as “empty words and poetic metaphors.” He also argued that eternal and immutable Ideas could not explain the origin, evolution, and changes of things. Aristotle’s primary criticism was that the essence of things cannot exist separately from them. However, he did not entirely reject the Theory of Ideas, only its separate existence. He believed that science deals with the general and universal, a common search for the essence that resides within things, not separate from them.
2. The Categories of Being
Being is said in many ways, but all refer to a primary form: the substance. There are multiple substances, each a different “self.” All other ways of being are modifications or accidents of the substance: quantity, quality, relation, place, time, location, condition, action, and passion. These are the supreme categories of being, representing the various ways something can relate as a predicate to a subject.
3. Substance
Aristotle observed that beneath the changing appearances of objects, something remains unchanged: the substance. He distinguished between two types:
- Primary Substances: Particular individuals (e.g., Socrates, a specific lamppost).
- Secondary Substances: Universal forms (e.g., “human,” “animal,” “vegetable”).
While only individuals are truly substances, species and genera are also real, not mere concepts, and thus considered secondary substances. The primary substance is the ultimate subject or substrate, existing independently.
4. Hylomorphism
Hylomorphism posits that physical reality consists of matter (hyle) and form (morphe). Only physical entities like trees or mammals possess both. Concepts like goodness or justice do not. Form is the essence, the secondary substance, the species, and is eternal, existing within the subject. Matter, like bronze or wood, is the perceptible substrate that supports the form.
5. Movement: Potency and Act
Aristotle understood movement as a transition from potency to act. He identified different types of changes:
- Substantial Changes: Generation (non-being to being) and corruption (being to non-being).
- Accidental Changes: Quantitative (growth, decline), qualitative (alteration, like a larva’s transformation), and locative (change of place).
6. Nature
Nature (physis) is the principle or cause of substantial movement in natural beings. It is the inherent principle guiding a being’s development and transformations.
7. Four Causes
Aristotle proposed four causes to explain any process:
- Material Cause: The material from which something is made (e.g., wood for a table).
- Formal Cause: The shape or form of the thing (e.g., the table’s design).
- Efficient Cause: The agent that brings something about (e.g., the carpenter).
- Final Cause: The purpose or end for which something exists (e.g., to support objects).
8. Four Characteristics of the Universe
Aristotle’s view of the universe is:
- Essentialist: Explanations rely on the “nature” or “physis” of beings.
- Teleological: Natural movement aims to fulfill a being’s “form” or “nature.”
- Dualist: He replaced Plato’s dualism with one between the supralunar (perfect, incorruptible) and sublunary (imperfect, corruptible) worlds.
- Deductive: He affirmed that the sky is a sphere because it is the most perfect shape for heavenly bodies.
9. Soul and Body
Aristotle defended the unity of soul and body, asserting that the soul is present throughout the body, not just in specific parts. Soul and body constitute a single substance, related like matter and form. The soul cannot be the form of just any body, and it is inseparable from the body’s functions. A body without a soul would cease to be a living organism, and a soul without a body would be nothing. This excludes the pre-existence or existence of the soul beyond death.
10. Aristotelian Soul Functions
- Nutritive/Vegetative: Growth, nutrition, and reproduction.
- Sensory: Perception, desires, and motor function.
- Rational: The ability to think and understand.
11. Elements of the Theory of Knowledge
Aristotle’s theory of knowledge is empiricist. He admits only the world of experience, known through our senses.
12. Key Elements of Ethics
All animals possess an ethos, a character shaped by tendencies, appetites, and instincts that enable survival. Humans, however, possess reason and language, opening a wider range of actions involving deliberation, choice, and rational decision-making.
13. Aristotelian Ethics
Ethics deals with the purpose or aims of individual humans. Aristotle’s ethics is teleological, focusing on ends. He believed that just as there are many beings and actions, there are many purposes and goods. The question is, which is the most perfect?
14. The Perfect End
The perfect end is that towards which all other purposes are geared, the ultimate aim of human life, that which should bring humans their perfection. Aristotle believed this perfect end, sought for itself and no other reason, is happiness.
15. Virtues
- Ethical Virtues: Related to behavior, acquired through practice, such as generosity, truthfulness, and justice.
- Dianoetic Virtues: Concerned with knowledge and the cultivation of science. Sciences are categorized as:
- Theoretical (Physics, Mathematics)
- Practical (Politics, Economics, Ethics)
- Productive (Grammar, Dialectic, Rhetoric, Poetics, Music, Medicine)
16. Human Inequality
Aristotle believed that not all humans are equal. Some are free by nature, others are slaves. Even among free men, some, like farmers and artisans, are not truly free because they must work to live. He also separated men and women, considering women, due to their different nature, not part of free human beings.
17. Man as a Political Animal
Only free men, those with sufficient means to live without working, can dedicate themselves to intellectual pursuits, lead a virtuous life, and achieve happiness. Since this is only possible within the city (polis), Aristotle considered man a political animal.
18. Origin of the State
From a genetic standpoint, the individual precedes the family, which breeds. The union of families creates the village, and finally, the city or state. The state is the fruit of a long evolution.
19. Function of the State
The state’s purpose is the moral perfection and happiness of its citizens. It allows individuals to develop their human faculties, living a life governed by virtue and reason. Political activity is meaningless without ethics.
20. Aristotle’s Ideal State
Aristotle favored the small city-state. While Plato’s ideal city was just, Aristotle’s was happy. He considered the Cynical ideal of “naturalness” or the imperialist universalism of Alexander absurd.
21. Forms of Government
Aristotle adopted the Sophists’ classification: monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy, with their respective degenerations into tyranny, oligarchy, and demagoguery. In the first three, the best and most virtuous govern for the common good. Degenerate forms arise when rulers prioritize their particular interests.