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Aristotle's "Hylo-Morphism"

Aristotle's "Hylo-Morphism". I. A Metaphysics of "Two-in-One". Substance (Hyle) & Form (Morph) are united 1. Matter, or substance, is passive -- and is "shaped" by Form 2. Form is active and is the actual determinant of a thing - it defines the nature of a thing

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Aristotle's "Hylo-Morphism"

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  1. Aristotle's "Hylo-Morphism"

  2. I. A Metaphysics of "Two-in-One" • Substance (Hyle) & Form (Morph) are united • 1. Matter, or substance, is passive -- and is "shaped" by Form • 2. Form is active and is the actual determinant of a thing - it defines the nature of a thing - it determines its FUNCTION

  3. EX. -- the IKEA chair If you purchase a chair from the world-famous IKEA store, prior to taking it home to assemble, is it actually a chair? It is really only a potential chair, isn’t it? (considering how everything from that store is pre-packaged for assembly) It is only an real chair after it is actualized in the process of assembling it according to its design!

  4. An Epistemology of Change To know a thing one needs to know • not only WHAT it is (its Form & Matter) • but also its goal and HOW it gets there (it’s ‘Telos’)

  5. Thus any thing can have Four Causes • Final • Efficient Cause • Material Cause • Formal Cause

  6. Example of the Oak Tree • Formal Cause: • the pattern ingrained in Nature for the acorn to grow into an oak (and not a pine or an apple tree!) • this pattern actualizes (and limits) the substance

  7. Material Cause: the "acorn stuff" (!) the physical components of the initial seed Example of the Acorn/Oak tree

  8. Efficient Cause: what we usually call Cause & Effect the progressive environmental and nutritive factors that promote daily-change in the object from acorn, to seedling, to sapling, etc. Example of the Acorn/Oak tree

  9. Example of the Acorn/Oak tree • Final Cause: the "telos" or goal of a thing the mature 40-ft. Oak tree

  10. Only physical maturation? Only reproductive actuality? What about the other functions of the mature tree? What about the ecological chain?

  11. The ultimate “ends” of the object or intricately inter-related to the “ends” of others, and that’s all part of ‘the grand design… thus "Final" and "Formal" are connected, for and individual object, and for reality as a whole!

  12. Does EVERYTHING have this structure? Yes! Trees, (organic things) Statues, (inorganic things) Corporations & Colleges… (complex things!) How about…. - The UNIVERSE...?

  13. Does EVERYTHING have this structure? • Yes: Like Trees, Statues, Corporations & Colleges, according to Aristotle the UNIVERSE as a whole is certainly no exception

  14. Does EVERYTHING have this structure? • Yes: Like Trees, Statues, Corporations & Colleges, according to Aristotle the UNIVERSE as a whole is certainly no exception • The “Prime Mover” This is the name Aristotle gave for the Formal Cause of everything

  15. Does EVERYTHING have this structure? • Yes: Like Trees, Statues, Corporations & Colleges, according to Aristotle the UNIVERSE as a whole is certainly no exception • The “Prime Mover” • Prime Matter This is the name Aristotle gave for the Material Cause of everything

  16. Does EVERYTHING have this structure? • Yes: Like Trees, Statues, Corporations & Colleges, according to Aristotle the UNIVERSE as a whole is certainly no exception • The “Prime Mover” • Prime Matter • Evolution This is OUR name for what Aristotle would refer to as Efficient Causality

  17. Does EVERYTHING have this structure? • Yes: Like Trees, Statues, Corporations & Colleges, according to Aristotle the UNIVERSE as a whole is certainly no exception • The “Prime Mover” • Prime Matter • Evolution • “The End” Aristotle presumed that as with everything else, reality has an ultimate goal --

  18. According to Aquinas... • Aquinas was one of the first to translate the lost works of Aristotle… • This provided Aquinas a rational explanation for what he already believed by Faith. • Faith and Reason coincide, not conflict!

  19. Prime Mover = Prime Matter = Evolution = “The End” = The Eternal Law The Natural Law The Human (Civil) Law The Divine Law According to Aquinas... The “hidden structure” of things is now revealed

  20. The Eternal Law The Natural Law The Human (Civil) Law The Divine Law According to Aquinas... The “hidden structure” of things is now revealed This is God’s Unalterable Rule over the Universe

  21. The Eternal Law The Natural Law The Human (Civil) Law The Divine Law According to Aquinas... The “hidden structure” of things is now revealed This is the design of what is Good imprinted in Material itself

  22. The Eternal Law The Natural Law The Human (Civil) Law The Divine Law According to Aquinas... The “hidden structure” of things is now revealed If Civil Law is based on what is Natural, it is then Just law (Re: Martin luther King)

  23. The Eternal Law The Natural Law The Human (Civil) Law The Divine Law According to Aquinas... The “hidden structure” of things is now revealed If Civil Law is Just then we will be acting according to God’s Ultimate End

  24. So, the order is divinely ordained: • Yet, as long as even an atheist accepts the “natural order of things” then • Natural Law Ethics should be employed to create Human Laws

  25. The “Good” intrinsic to Nature includes... • Life • and Procreation • Knowledge • and Sociability

  26. Principles derived from these include... • Non-Maleficence • (above all “do no harm”) • Beneficence • Totality of the Body • Double Effect

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