Ancient Philospophical Influences: Aristotle
Strengths
Aristotles understanding of reality
Aristortle's 4 causes
Aristotle's Prime Mover
quotation form physics
marble/statue example
"Knowledge is the object of our inquiry, and men do not think they know a thing till they have grasped the 'why' of it"
for Aristotle, the word he used for the 'why' of something was aition, which has been translated as 'cause', although explanation could also be used
potency and act are distinct
potentiality vs actuality
he applies this to the process of change (or motion)
change is simply the process by which an object acquires a new form (very different from Plato's idea of Form). the object has the potentiality to become something different, and change is the actualisation of the potential of one form of matter to become another form of mattter
draws a distinction between potentiality and acuality
the block of marble has the potential to become an actual statue, th statue is latent within the block of marble - the block of marble has the capacity to become a statue
the marble cannot be both a block and statue at the same time
in another example a piece of wood cannot be both potentially on fire and actually on fire at the same time - so change is this movement between potential and actual
considered at the beginning of his Physics that we can only know something inasmuch as we can explain it
formal cause
final cause
efficient cause (how)
material cause (what)
the agent must be in a state of actuality, not potentiality. it must exist to be a cause of change in an object
you need actual water to affect the change if an acorn into an oak tree
from this we can see how Aristotle got the first two of his causes - there must be matter, which undergoes the change from one form to another. in other words, if someone asks for an. explanation of it, we can sat what it is made of - eg the statue is made of marble. this would then be the material cause
he wanted to know how we got the statue to its particular form, the 'how' = efficient cause
the sculptor acted upon the stone with his chisel to make the potential statue in the marble an actual statue
characteristics of it
need to add another cause to get a full explanation of a thing
eg a chair is more than some wood, it is an object with four legs and a space to sit
the formal cause is not as easily understandable as the other causes and has been seen as slightly controversial - much debate surrounds the notion of a form and many agree that Aristotle's notion is no less flawed than Plato's
the agent that moves from potential to actual
explanation
idea of purposive cause given because something's aim or goal is also an important part of an explanation of th thing
A gives eg of final cause of walking, medicine, purging, surgical instruments etc. as ask being for health
for A the aim of something can be seen as its greatest good
emphasis on telos (the goal of something)
key part of A's thought
change is the actualisation of somethings potential with respect to its potentiality -> something can only become what it has in it to be eg a piece of wood can become a bed but a human cannot become a bird
achieving telos
potential of something may be latent until something else acts upon it
uses of them
Modern science - efficient cause
Using teleological reasons
Modern science focuses on the efficient cause when explaining the physical world. In fact, the final cause is not considered.
when we are talking about the human world, it makes sense to talk about. why something happened in terms of a final cause -> eg why did you make that cake for Peter? I wanted to cheer him up
this is a teleological reason - makes sense in terms of what goal someone had in mind. we would not get a very good understanding of these actions if we left them out
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the cause of motion
the motion of heavenly spheres
Prime Mover vs Form of the Good
some things are not changing
rationalism vs empiricism
the logical result of the application of the final cause of the whole universe
the movement from potentiality to actuality is going on ina all things - in other words, change is happening to them
most things are changing (being generated and being destroyed), but sme things are not changing in that way
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thinks here of the devenbky spheres
the objects of desire moves other things to without itself moving (think of how a saucer of milk draws a cat to it) - in this way the prime mover is the cause of the motion of all other things
they are being drawn to it as to their own final end
both are linked in the domain of ethics:
PM is based on arguments that appeal to a posteriori (observed) evidence; the FoG on a priori argumenst
they are both 'ultimates', which might appeal yo non-theistic deists - impersonal sources of reality, arrived at through philosophical speculation rather than faith
PM: through the idea of everything being drawn to its own purpose
FoG: as the means by which everything that exists is known
how dependent on our sense are we for knowledge?
therefore it is a debate in the field if epistemology (philosophy of knowledge)
the empiricist Hume says that ideas do not exist in themselves independently from objects other than as a relation between objects
empircistics would arguetyhat sense experience is the ultimate source of knowledge
ratiinalists argue that concepts are independent of sense ecxperience
Weaknesses
4 causes
formal cause
final cause
efficient cause
goodness intrinsic
useful basis for knowledge
empirical
material cause is obvious. In order to exist and be observed , all things must be made of physical matter
explains the processs of change from potentiality to actuality
eg lump of metal has potential to turn piece of jewellery, silversmith needs to act on it to turn it into ring
helps understand what gives it shapes and characteristics
eg a bird that clucks and peck may help us idfentifyb a chicken
explains why everything has a purpose (telos). most important cause because it answers the questions about why the world ot its objects are as they are
if an object fulfils its purpose, it is good. Goodness is not found in another world, like Plato's form of the Good, but is intrsnsic to the object itself
the basis is applicable to life and scientific enquiry because we rely on sense, observation and experience
4 causes
disagreements of formal cause
issues of idea of purpose
cause and effect observed
but goodness may not be linked to a purpose
inanimate objects
sense deceive us
there is not a material cause of a colour/ concept such as beauty
Plato argues true knowledge comes from the non-physical World of the Form. we recognise the Form of Beauty in physical things
D Hume argues we may be able to observe these 2 processes but this does not mean that the effect was a result of the cause, simply that both are observed
how do we know which characteristics are essential to two an object to make it what is it - in a car, is it the engine, petrol, wheels, mirrors or a combination of factors?
purpose does not have to be intrinsic - purpose is given to the object by its creator. purpose is a human construct
some things have many purposes or purposes change
some things don't have a purpose
eg if a knife cuts my finger instead of the bread, it cuts well but is it a really good knife?
Plato would argue this, this physical world is a poor limitation of World of the Forms. We should use reason to know what is real
empiricism makes more sense of reality
empiricists say 'There is nothing in the mind except what was first in the senses' - we can use reason only after we have experienced and observed things in the world
if there is one absolute Form of the Good, why do we disagree over right and wrong or good? it is better to rely on observations - can observe whether something is good if it fulfils its final cause
no empriclcal evidence of the existence of another world outside of our senses so we should rely on our sense alone to find out more about reality
is knowledge innate as Plato suggests?
eg if I am burned by touching a hot pan, I can use reason to work out not to touch a hot lamp
eg the knife is good if it fulfils its final cause to cut
doesn't seem leaning seem much more difficult than simply remebering? empiricism gives a better understanding of reality because we learn from experiences and from our senses