There must
be a basic principle or a root behind an object in nature for one to understand
its change or process. For example when a seed becomes a mature plant the
process the seed took to become itself must have existed before the seed ever
became a plant. Aristotle considers this idea to be one of the principles of
nature because anything that is natural has in itself an origin of
change(Physics, 201). The change takes places according to four different
causes.
Aristotle believes that some things
that happen are just natural and others occur from different reasons(Physics,
201). All change or process involves
"growth and decay" or "alteration" to show its distinct
form. He describes items that have no "innate impulse" like a bed but
still can change because in itself has nature(Physics, 201). A bed made out of
wood would ultimately decompose only because of the material it is created
with. When it does decompose the rotting residue would become wood and not a
bed because the wood is natural(Physics, 202).
When Aristotle states, "For
something is called whatever it is when it is actually so, more than when it is
only potentially so"(Physics, 202) he talks about the wood that is used to
make the bed is only considered a bed until it looks and is shaped like one(Physics, 202).
Aristotle believes that since the form is what makes something the thing, the
form is the thing's "nature".
As flesh and bone do not have nature until the "form" is how we
define flesh or bone(Physics, 202). Nature is the shape and form which all have
an origin of change.
Aristotle’s ideas led him to believe
that in nature, matter and form cannot exist independently. Any amount of
matter would have a form(Physics, 202). He uses a bed and statue as an example
because one is made out of wood and the other made out of bronze to show that
the "form" needs "matter"(Physics, 202). Anything that has
matter also needs a form.
What
does Aristotle mean when he states " The same applies to everything else
that is produced; for none of them has in itself the origin of production. In
some a house and each of the other products of handicraft - their origin is in
other, external things. In others, those that might come to be coincidental
causes for themselves, the origin is in them, but is not in accord with what
they are in themselves"(Physics, 201).
When Aristotle mentions “everything else produced” he is referring to products of a craft lacking an innate impulse to change. “A house” and other products of “handicraft” are examples of products lacking the impulse to change because they are intangible ideas typifying a form made of organic materials (external things). The products (those) who come to be coincidental causes, I.e., any products comprising natural products in its form, possess an origin of change (natural product), but is not itself an origin of change(hence, not in accord with natural product it possesses).
ReplyDeleteNature can be seen as both matter and form, for nature has an origin of change and stability within itself. So nature is responsible for its own identity and becoming something that is already identical with its prior transformations. The example of the bed is a very appropriate example in showing nature as both matter and form because the wood is what makes the bed. The wood, being the matter, is the potential of the nature, but the actuality (the form being the final cause) is the bed. Nature’s end is itself in a different setting.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question, Aristotle states that anything that is artificial comes from an outside or external source. Natural things have change within itself, where as things that are not natural do not, unless it is coincidental. Aristotole uses for example a bed or a cloak and says that they are products of a craft and that their origin is dependant on a outside source, meaning that someone with a certain skill created the artificial product into what it is, and not within itself. So the the person who designed & made the product would be considered the "external" influence.
ReplyDeleteAristotle means that the origin must be a necessary aspect of the object's being. He mentions the doctor who cures himself: "it is coincidental that the same person is a doctor and is being healed." He does not have the medical science innately, so that he might heal himself, rather it is happenstance.
ReplyDeleteAristotle believes nature has an origin of change. When Aristotle writes “if you were to bury a bed, and the rotting residue were to become able to sprout, the result would be wood, not a bed" there lies a “conventional arrangement” for a wooden bed to decay into wood. (202) Natural beings have an origin of change within themselves. The nature of the substance persists continuously. Aristotle suggests “nature is the shape” or form of things having within themselves primary substances and secondary substances. (202) This shape or form presents the nature of the substance.
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