Descartes and Aristotle: Philosophy Deep Dive
Descartes: Existence of God and the World
Descartes discards the contents and thinking of the present in two dimensions:
- Objective Dimension: Ideas are pictures of things, representing real objects.
- Subjective Dimension: Ideas in themselves cannot be false.
Descartes establishes three kinds of ideas:
- Adventitious Ideas: These come from outside the subject.
- Fictitious Ideas: These are created by the subject, being fabulous and formed by the subject.
- Innate Ideas: These are inherent in the subject but are not built by it, nor do they come from outside. They are born with the subject and do not originate from experience.
Descartes: Anthropology and Morality
Soul and Body
Descartes posits that the characteristic signal of bodies is extension, while the soul is an unextended substance. Therefore, body and soul are different realities with non-coincident natures. He exposes a dualistic conception, with the soul as a thinking substance (res cogitans) and the body as an extended substance (res extensa). The human being is a union of both substances, which are independent.
Moral Rules
Descartes derives four moral rules from his method:
- First Rule: One must be subject to the customs and rules of the country, preserve the existing religion, and follow the more moderate opinions. This rule has been accused of conformism, but it is rather a matter of prudence.
- Second Rule: Be firm and resolute in action, following even dubious opinions once accepted.
- Third Rule: Personal desires must yield to the order of the world, which cannot be reasonably imposed upon.
- Fourth Rule: Choose the best possible occupation, which is to dedicate one’s life to cultivating reason and progressing in the knowledge of truth.
In conclusion, the fulfillment of these moral rules contributes to achieving happiness.
Aristotle: Physics
Motion
Aristotle analyzed changes, believing that “movement does not exist outside of things.” For example, an acorn has the potential to be an oak tree. There is a being in potential and a being in act. The act is what a being currently is, and the potential is what it can be. The acorn is an acorn in act, while it is potentially an oak tree.
Potential, being a sort of intermediary between non-being and being, explains movement. Movement is the updating of a potential as long as it is potential, or the step from potential to act. Since all natural beings are in motion, they are all becoming and could be something else; that is, they all consist of potency and act.
Classes of Motion
Aristotle distinguished between substances and accidents. With substance and accident, he differentiated two classes of motion: substantial and accidental. Substantial motion involves a change of substance, where a new substance arises and another disappears. Accidental motion maintains the substance but varies the accidents. There are three classes of accidental motion: quantitative, qualitative, and local.
Hylomorphism
Aristotle’s account of the constitution of beings through form and matter is called hylomorphism. All things consist of matter and form. Matter is the indeterminate principle and, therefore, determinable. Form is the determining principle, and by joining with matter, it makes things be what they are. Primary matter is the subject of all permanent changes, pure indetermination, pure potential susceptible to receiving updates, and cannot exist separate from form. Secondary matter is already a formal determination on the matter and is a precise reality. Form is substantially the principle that determines raw materials, constituting substance and authorities, making them what they are, while accidents determine how they are.
Causes
Aristotle identifies two types of causes: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic causes are inherent in objects, namely the material and formal causes. Extrinsic causes are involved in everything from outside, the efficient and the final causes.
Aristotle: The Unmoved Mover in Metaphysics
The study of movement culminates in the theory of the Unmoved Mover. According to Aristotle, if movement is eternal, there must be a mover that is also eternal, which moves everything that moves on the other.