Aristotle Flashcards
He also believed that forms were present…
Within objects
Aristotle believed at the natural world is the…
Real world
He believed that matter =
Substance
He believed that a Form…
Makes a thing what it is
Explain potentiality and actuality
A girl is a girl - actuality
A girl has the potential to be a woman - potentiality
Name the four causes
- Material Cause
- Formal Cause
- Efficient Cause
- Final Cause
What is the material cause?
What the thing is made of
e.g a snowman is made is snow, carrots, sticks and h2o
What is the formal cause?
What determines the object and makes it be what it is
e.g a child wanting to build a snowman
What is the efficient cause?
What makes the thing that is caused
e.g the rolling of snow
What is the final cause?
Why it has been made, it’s purpose
e.g for a child to play with
What does teleology mean?
It is something concerned with the final end or purpose of something
What is the prime mover?
Self moved being that causes all movement by drawing things towards it.
Aristotle did not believe the world had a beginning and so believed in the prime mover.
List four qualities of the prime mover
- Never changes nor has the potential to change (pure actuality)
- Immaterial, the perfect form
- He did not create the world
- Disinterested
Name two problems with the theory of four causes
- They seem to be assumed
- The final cause does not comply with modern science
Name two problems with the theory of the Prime Mover
- What moved the Prime Mover?
- Newton’s first law shows a particle would tend to stay at rest or continue moving at a constant velocity if no external force was applied to it. Hence it is natural for the body to move, eliminating the need for a Prime Mover
