Aristotle Flashcards
Who was Aristotle?
Aristotle was Plato’s student and he was known the first Empiricist
Did Aristotle follow a priori or a posteriori knowledge?
What does it mean?
Aristotle followed a posteriori knowledge
A posteriori knowledge is based on experience and observation of the material world
What was Aristotle’s reality and observations of the material world ?
change and decay and observation of cause and effect in the world
What are the 4 causes ?
Material cause : the substance the subject is made of
Efficient cause: the creator or maker of the subject
Formal cause: the shape of the subject how it’s recognised to be what it is
Final cause : the purpose of the existence of the subject
What idea did Aristotle reject?
Because of this, what theory did he create ?
Rejected infinite regression, chain of cause and effect
Founded the theory of a prime mover
What’s a Prime Mover?
- Known as an uncaused cause / unmoved mover - the first mover and the final cause
- causes movement of others towards it through desire and attraction
- It’s a necessary being who’s immutable and eternal (timeless and unchanging)
- because immutable - can’t think of things that change ‘PURE THOUGHT’
- has no potential ( because unchanging) but has actuality
What cause is the Prime mover of the universe ?
How can the Prime Mover be ‘entirely actual’ ?
The teleological cause.
If the Prime mover was immaterial only then would it be entirely actual
What’s Potentiality and Actuality?
Potentiality: can become something, has the potential to change into what they want to be or has potential to do what they want to do - not yet though
Actuality : disposition and activity - is capable of doing something - can do something doesn’t have to do something
What is a Firmament ?
What causes it to move ?
Firament is the outermost heavenly body
God’s existence (PM) causes movement of the outermost heavenly body, the Firmament.
How does the Firmament move?
Moves in circular motions enlightened by proximity to God
Prime mover (God) is the Teleological cause not the …
Efficient cause
Why did the Firmament move in first place?
- due to idea of God
- movement in the universe is hierarchical
Features of Aristotle’s God
- not personal, transcendent
- doesn’t create or sustain - great attractors have causal influence
What was the world’s beginning like ?
- non sensical and incoherent, movement and time can’t have come into existence
- time didn’t exist, there was no beginning or after - movement and time are same thing
