Form and Matter in Aristotle Essay - 1585 Words

Aristotle defined nature â€Å"as an internal origin of change or stability†1. Natural substances are things such as animals, plants and inanimate matter like earth, water, fire and air. Each natural substance according to Aristotle has its own nature, which is what gives rise to its natural behaviour/characteristic. The nature of a natural substance is its inner principle/source of change.2 Therefore natural substances are capable of motion i.e. growing, gaining qualities, losing them and lastly being born and dying. In Book II of Physics and Parts of Animals Book 1, Aristotle goes on to contrast natural substances with artefacts, he states these are also capable of motion, but they move according to what they are made out of, he gives†¦show more content†¦It is also important to say that he also believes the soul is the form of the body in part, because the soul is the organization of the parts the body, the body is matter and it or soul is the form-the actual living body. To reiterate this point Aristotle offers us the example of a corpse and a bronze or wooden hand and states that these are not forms as they â€Å"lack the potentiality to perform the function of a hand†.7this would also suggest that once we are dead we undergo a material change which stops function and makes us akin to a statue. Aristotle then goes on to discuss matter which he says is â€Å"the matter that is the subject necessarily has a certain sort of nature....fire has a hot and light nature†8. He states that matter is what earlier philosophers focused on and it was how they explained the order of the world. Aristotle however does not believe that this is the way in which we should study nature, he believes we should ask what gives each natural substance its characteristic and we should look at â€Å"how each thing has naturally come to be, rather than how it is...then state their causes†9. Therefore he concludes that a prior observational investigation is best and that we should study the form. Aristotle goes on to discuss why he things it is important to study the form he gives an example of a bronze statue, bronze being the matter,Show MoreRelatedPlato and Aristotle on Form and Matter794 Words   |  3 PagesPlato and Aristotle on Form and Matter Plato: Form and Matter Platos idea of form is also called eidos the ideal, idea, or inherent substance of the matter. To Plato, the ideal was the immanescent substance in the matter. It was always there even when the matter had expired. It was something that the matter could cling to and, sometimes, become like. It was the potential of the matter. To exemplify: the acorn tree was the matter. 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