AS Philosophy Aristotle Flashcards
who was Aristotle?
Plato’s pupil.
Disagreed with Plato.
Believed that the world is the only place we gain knowledge from and we gain knowledge empirically (making him an empiricist).
The truth can be discovered through the senses.
what is Potentiality?
The ability to become something in the future. E.g a tadpole has the potential to be a frog
what is Actuality?
When something has fulfilled its full potential
what are the Four Causes?
Material cause
Efficient cause
Formal cause
Final cause
What is the material cause?
What is it made of?
Refers to the matter or substance that something is made out of
What is the efficient cause?
How did it happen/how was it made? The cause of existence.
Refers to what gives the matter its ‘form’ or ‘structure’
What is the formal cause?
What are its characteristics?
Refers to the cause of an thing or thing existing
What is the final cause?
What is it for? What is its purpose?
Concerned with the reason why something is the way it is (most important)
What can the material cause be divided up into?
Prime matter (has no properties) and Proximate matter (has some properties)
What did Aristotle believe about prime matter?
He believed that it doesn’t exist, but thought it was theoretically necessary.
What else did Aristotle believe about the material cause?
Even f we know what something is made of, it doesn’t help us understand what that thing is
Give an example to back up the formal cause?
A smartphone isn’t just pieces of glass, metal and plastic. But rather glass, metal and plastic arranged in a certain way and programmed to work the way it does
Give an example to back up the efficient cause?
A smartphone exists because someone had the idea to build one and put all the pieces together to make it work.
Is Aristotle’s four causes deontological or teleological??
It is teleological as it is concerned with a reason an action is taking
What is the Prime Mover also known as?
god
