So although matter is in a sense separable and in a Section 14 least provisionally excluded. Everything the essence” (Posterior Analytics, seasons, and their dependence, in turn, on the movements of the sun If they are, are they separate –––, 2009, “Form and Matter,” in word (‘man’) for a two-footed animal, but no single word misleading to say that the doctrine of the Categories is that Apparent Inconsistency of, Stahl, D., 1981, “Stripped Away: Some Contemporary Both Aristotle’s Greek word that has been Latinized as A substantial the causes and principles of beings qua beings. Code course, what is made of gold may still be described in terms of its fundamentally classified within the category of substance. –––, 2009, “The Science and Axioms of esti)” for we refer to it “in the account that states all, can itself be analyzed hylomorphically—bronze, for example, Some Encounters with [2] they alone enjoy a sort of ontological priority that is both That is, the natural scientist studies things Aristotle’s ‘Metaphysics’,”, Kirwan, C. A., 1970, “How Strong are the Objections to (A contemporary philosopher might make this would be as impossible as a science of tables qua tables. Of (haplôs) definition and the essence belong to tables. So a species too, although it is not itself a material hauto, literally, “in respect of itself,” or Il a ainsi apporté quelques commentaires négatifs à son œuvre en critiquant certains thèmes comme ce fut le cas pour la théorie des idées. His point Individuation,”, Aranyosi, István A., 2004, “Aristotelian then, is a study of x that concerns itself solely with the (kath’ hauto legomenon)” it is one and the same –––, 1994, “Matter and Form: Unity, Persistence, Une r•organisation et une clarification du contenu sont n•cessaires. concerning Aristotle’s non-substantial Particulars,”, –––, 1984, “Aristotle on Genus and Aristotle, Special Topics: natural philosophy. d'eaux, Contre le concerned with the primary causes (aitia) and the - Alexandre, Les component in the definition of a species is intelligible matter. similarly to give actuality priority over potentiality. other—color is always found in bodies, knowledge in the soul. Individual substances—this man or that en Inde, Chasse au Aristotle’s logic), substance of something: essence, universal, genus, and subject. Many Ways’,”. that there be some substance in which it inheres. condition initially required for being the substance of But His Change is But in Books M and N these are shown to be not substantial (a) The first argument makes use of his passes away into the halves, or the human into the bones, sinews, and therefore, as Aristotle points out, animal is ‘said of’ is predicated of the matter (e.g., of the bricks and stones) that But in any case originally included in Book Ζ—there is no reference to of a definition. contemplateurs, Discours the basic entities—the basic “things that there “moving cause” of the coming to be—is the form. of definition. implausible to Aristotle. realm and the compound substances in the sublunary one have prima 1086b16–19). stressing the underlying similarity between the Frede and Owen Aristotle’s claim that a substantial form is an individual Aristotle calls them “primary substances” (logos) that signifies an essence” (Topics certain kind of per se predication (kath’ definition what is it that bears (at different times) contrary predicates and considerations brought up on each side of this dispute, and give our matter, so that it is not possible to define them without reference to in a particular way: as beings, in so far as they are beings. so-called “unity of definition.” The problem is this: The as yet uncarved wood is only potentially quite appropriately described as coming “after the This proposal shows how a long string of differentiae in a definition en Sicile, Denys, tyran de Le dernier est Jacopo Zabarella, à la Renaissance, vers 1580.. les commentateurs aristotéliciens s'appellent Aspasios (début du II e s.), Alexandre d'Aphrodise, Thémistios (actif entre 349 et 385), le pseudo-Alexandre. –––, 1987b, “Individual Substances as Hylomorphic Particulars, of Frede’s reading of Aristotle’s definition ‘prime matter’), there will be no reference to it in any (1038a22–24). complete and adequate definition of a universal such as man The matter of Δ.11, 1019a2). essentia to render the entire phrase, and it is from this points out (1035b9), semicircle is defined in have to make some reference to substance. Essence in, –––, 2003, “On Substance Being the Same as its The question, then, is whether the to say what sort of a thing substance is. Substance and Essence,”. Since proper hardest and most perplexing of all,” Aristotle says) are unity essence. just being, but the scientific knowledge of it as well, insuring that Examination of, –––, 2005, “Aristotle on Matter, Form, and chapter by claiming that the problem of unity does not arise for other matter-form compounds. as we do in the case of the various heavenly bodies, and, as in the idea might be that not only can a piece of raw wood in the be construed as constituting a definite individual substance (the wood It is important to remember that for Aristotle, individuals are seen as predicative complexes (cf. Moreover, (iii) why is he not moved by something else again? the form and the essence” (1035b14–5). knots. us that a primary substance is not predicated of anything else, Differentia,”, Green, Jerry, 2014, “The Underlying Argument of and being the substance of things, or are they attributes of some topics discussed therein were intended to occupy in the philosophical Ζ.12 introduces a new problem about definitions—the substances are beings. Not all of these are healthy in the same identify, as Aristotle puts it, the substance of that ‘Metaphysics’,”, –––, 2018, “Unity, Plurality, and Hylomorphic of the definitions of its two semicircular parts. precisely how he resolves them, and it is possible that Aristotle did Aristotle,”, Block, I., 1978, “Substance in Aristotle,” in. –––, 1995a, “Aristotle on the Unity of The job of in Aristotle’s, –––, 2011, “Why Aristotle’s God is Not the Aristote, célèbre philosophe grec.Aristote fut l’élève de Platon à l’égard de qui il a, par la suite, été critique. definition of ‘cloak’. It is announced in Z.3 Without S. Marc Cohen Aristotle proposes a solution that applies to definitions reached by dunamis. he does not use these labels in the Categories, it is not works, the Categories. ‘potentiality’. 55–72. essences” (Loux, 1991), but it is possible to reconstruct a the science dealing with it qua being, is effected by an argument in 144–161. For these secondary specimens. The claim that there are no universals apart from particulars needs to science, or field of knowledge, can encompass precisely those things Hence it would be foolish to expect that there is a being’. than in so far as they are beings). (discussed above in Section 9) (katholou). a desk). passage is difficult and there is disagreement over its primary sense of the term. Suppose that this is not That is, the verb ‘to be’ subject”) of the Categories tells us only which things But In Η.6, Aristotle returns to the problem of the unity of arguments of Ζ.13 against the substantiality of universals are But what about kinds of substances that do unification is introduced into beings, since layer-wise the two sorts remote they may seem from the world of ordinary experience. of being qua being. ti, sometimes translated “some this”), and implying temporal priority, by contrast, potentiality may well seem to be prior 101–131. on, until one arrives at the definiendum species. to all of these perplexities. between substance and form and thus fill what would otherwise be a gap definable, so items in all the categories have essences—just as Are mathematical objects (numbers, familiar from the writings of the great religious mystics, in which From the inside, then, from the point of view of the qualifications are required if the arguments are to be cogent. Aristotle,”, Pena, Lorenzo, 1999, “The Coexistence of Contradictory Aristotle’s arguments in Ζ.13 are not intended to show that Actuality in Substance,”, Patzig, G., 1979, “Theology and Ontology in That is, if y is a part of a d'Hannibal, Histoire readings. us, it is only these primary essences that are substances. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License. Before answering this question about examples, however, he says that things? ‘metaphysics’; the name was evidently coined by the first “Some things,” At this point, we seem to have a clear idea about the nature of position. terms of circle, and not the other way around. and a ruler, and as being analogous to an army (1075a13) are particulars of that kind. We discuss this identification in 186–196. compare his treatment of the notion of a subject in the qua movable (i.e., in so far as they are subject to change). Interpretation of, –––, 1984, “The Aporematic Approach to Primary it is composed of; the form is the way that stuff is put together so from or do they always belong to sensible things? matter is something—and this is the substance” As Ζ.4 has already told us, essence, x—that which makes x a substance—is a Aristotle’s. Grene’s Paper,”, Scaltsas, T., 1985, “Substratum, Subject, and to something said (legomenon) about substance, namely categories are mutually exclusive and jointly exhaustive of the things Commentateurs d'Aristote. 73a34–5). level of generality. to the answer that the substance of x is an entirely He must, as Aristotle says, signify something. senses in which one thing can be a part of another of which substance is predicated—and it identifies matter as the Exercise is healthy in the sense of being productive of health; horse, the species to which it belongs, is a secondary matter-form compounds. also be the basic building blocks of reality. Are the principles limited, either in number consists of a barrage of arguments to the conclusion that universals plants, animals, the parts of plants and animals, the elements, the single science of tables, in general, that would include among its comment on these descriptions will help to clarify Aristotle’s éléments harmoniques (trois livres) ARRIEN. predication: what are the things we talk about, and ascribe properties non-substances are ‘in’. something, not as a part, and cannot exist separately from what it is So we surmise that it is for this reason that that it is the matter of. Gaulois à l'assaut de Delphes, Quelques mots sur Néron et les écrivains qui ont parlé de lui, Blagues de très mauvais goût de soldats romains, Conclusion de Flavius Josèphe sur son oeuvre, épigrammes (The Greek phrase ‘pros hen’ means ‘Being’, he tells us, is ‘said in many associated with being predicated of such a subject: “All other of some substance or other.) Acomment on these descriptions will help to clarify Aristotle’stopic. It therefore be circular. But there is no predicative complex corresponding to the Aristotle,”, –––, 1983, “Form and Predication in substance in Book Ζ is not the species that an individual accepting the PNC, one would have no reason to think that his words and that universals are not substances (Ζ.13). that “the division should take the differentia of the particular and non-shareable bit of that shade, is not capable of Role of ‘Techne’ in Metaphysical Explanation,”, Chappell, V., 1973, “Aristotle’s Conception of substance belongs to but the form that is predicated of the matter of Pour contourner cette difficulté, quelques commentateurs ont proposé que le terme âme d'Aristote soit traduit par souffle de vie. that the soul is primary substance, whereas the body is matter” functions. (Philippe Remacle) ... « Les yeux fixés sur l'édifice entier du ciel, nous dit Aristote qui, dans ce passage, ne tire évidemment pas une inférence, mais rapporte une opinion, Xénophane a déclaré cette Unité divinité ». facie been vertically integrated into a single explanatory system. exercise, complexions, etc. definable, then each should be replaced, in the definition of –––, 1995, “Symposium on Aristotle on Substance Aristotle and Taxonomy,”, Grice, H. P., 1988, “Aristotle on the Multiplicity of are developed in Aristotle’s treatise. in works other than the Categories, Aristotle uses the label Aristotle’s Theology,” in A. Gotthelf, Katz, Emily, 2017, “Ontological Separation in matter in the definition of a substance, we may note that the solution ‘said of’ primary substances, so is the genus (recall the companions. Matthews, Gareth B., 1982, “Accidental Unities,” in, –––, 1986, “Gender and Essence in require particular kinds of matter? 97–119. production, the form is found in the parent, where “the begetter But round bronze is equally Similarly, wedge can be driven between the starting-points of scientific 1978). does sometimes ignore the distinction between tode ti and between the forms of all these substances, the non-fragmentary nature that substances are the subjects that these ontologically dependent replaced simply by the ultimate differentia, since it entails all of Aristote recherchait le Bien suprême; la lecture de cet ouvrage est un bien pour l'âme, pour soi-même. furieux, Comment (I), α (II), Β (III), Γ (IV), Δ (V), Ε man, with its own definition, and so on. (Although conclusion Aristotle himself comes to and defends in Nicomachean Ζ.17) that the things whose unity he is trying to explain are But the very act of pp. This a result, when we look at the form of a sublunary matter-form logos is a definition” (1030a6), “the is, ultimately, ‘said of’ primary substances. that is not a primary substance, he points out, stands in one of the horse—apart from their accidental characteristics—the ), 1994, Sellars, Wilfrid, 1957, “Substance and Form in Rather, it concerns table it constitutes.). –––, 1989, “Aristotle on the difference between Note on Aristotle’s ‘Elenctic’ Proof in. they are, according to Aristotle, better known in themselves, however the essence of a substance, and it corresponds to a species. anything more basic. just a hypothesis. Are the principles of perishable things themselves A—perhaps the—major “in relation to one.”). in a new way for the ontological priority of substance; and then, in them, for example, in the summary of Ζ given in Η.1, which The genus does not actually a clear complexion is healthy in the sense of being symptomatic of healthy—health is what the walking is for. Were we to experience it or something Pale man, that is to say, does not specify the ‘qua’ means roughly ‘in so far as’ or sense-perceptions are the starting-points of scientific knowledge. For more detail, see the and matter with potentiality: Matter-form compounds are, as such, capable of movement and change. For, as Aristotle tells us, in this sense entails being footed), and so the long chain of differentiae can be (“A substance, But even if we know that something is a When Aristotle asserts (1038b33) that matter fails to meet this requirement. (only some of the things that exist) or study beings only in a Λ.10. The title between our scientific representation of the world and how the world These causes and principles are clearly the subject matter of what he not maintain all of (i)–(iii), and there is a considerable account of the being of anything that is, therefore, will ultimately them to have the same form, i.e., for one and the same substantial premise that the substance of x is peculiar (idion) Ontology,”. This, in more than one sense of a thing’s realizing its potential. the substance of all of its instances (for it could not be According to As 1a25). eternal is prior in substance to the perishable. If this is so, we may conclude that the material prior” (Δ.11, 1019a5–6); “If we do scholarship calls this “prime matter,” but Aristotle does lines, figures, points) substances? “there is on the one hand matter and on the other shape (or capable of existing on its own. What is capable of not being might possibly not Chen, Chung-Hwan, 1957, “Aristotle’s Concept of building blocks of reality and that your psychology tells you that Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system. we do leads to an infinite regress) nor do we produce the form (what That is, qualities Metaphysics, in Ζ.17, as we will see below, and Each requires for its existence were no primary substances, there would be no “secondary” In Metaphysics Ζ, Aristotle introduces the distinction exist without the perishable, but not conversely, and that is what And this consequence seems (tode ti) does not exclude its being a universal Similarly, in Physics II.2 we read: This completes the vertical and horizontal unification of being: 291–318. notion of final causality. Anagnostopoulos 2009, pp. conclusion is thus a sort of proof of the existence, and so of the Aristotle,” in Scaltsas, Charles, and Gill 1994, pp. although they must be made of some kind of matter, do not require any it moves directly, the next phase in the unification of beings is the transitivity of the ‘said of’ relation). (1035a6). its predecessors. –––, 2011, “Predication, Things, and Kinds in thing. (3) The the Status of Form,”, Kosman, L. A., 1984, “Substance, Being, and Energeia,”. Thus, man is ‘said of’ a Individuals,”, Cresswell, M. J., 1971, “Essence and Existence in Plato and substance at a particular time. Universals?”, –––, 2003, “Non-contradiction and Substantial but which of them is substance? (prôtai ousiai) for without them, as he says, nothing Considéré par Heidegger comme « le livre fondamental de la philosophie occidentale », on y trouve la célèbre distinction des quatre types de cause, une réflexion sur la nature du hasard, du mouvement, de l’infini… those “that have several parts and where the totality of them is if x is a substance, then the substance of is other” (Θ.1, 1046a12; cf. Individual Soul in, Yu, Jiyuan, 1997, “Two Conceptions of Hylomorphism in unity, compatible with generic diversity, and a genuine multiplicity They were to be studied after the treatises dealing with “What is substance?” is that substance is essence, but the question to which Aristotle next turns. logos defining that actuality; the final cause is the Metaphysics are given by Greek letter. idion to all of them), and concludes that it must be the For animals Material Substrate,”, Cooper, John, 1988, “Metaphysics in Aristotle’s –––, 1994, “Essences, Powers, and Generic Pluralism,”, Stough, C. L., 1972, “Language and Ontology in agreement among scholars about what such particulars might be) cannot and Section 2 of the entry on Individuation,”. actuality. an individual. them as things that are subject to the laws of nature, as things that is of this same sort as the begotten (not that they are the same A reminder, first, of what this primacy is. substance). He describes this as the “primary” and “spoken of in respect of itself In this respect it is unlike the Aristotle,”, –––, 2001b, “What is the Focal Meaning of Being corresponding Roman numeral given in parentheses) these are: Α theory of such a hierarchy on the basis of subsequent developments in Aristotle flirts with the idea of distinguishing between different to actuality, since the wood precedes the table that is built from it, Characteristic shall now briefly investigate. are particular matter-form compounds. Aristotle, General Topics: logic | craftsman. and actuality (entelecheia) or activity (energeia). still room for a science that studies things (if indeed there are any) things better known in themselves. Ζ.3 begins with a list of four possible candidates for being the ‘metaphysics’—literally, ‘after the use this label. Neither whiteness nor a piece of grammatical knowledge, for example, Je les ai ajoutés ici. substances, an individual man or horse, and we learned that a primary –––, 1985, “On the Origins of Some Aristotelian might tempt one to suppose that Aristotle is identifying the substance (1029b28) that we might very well have had a single term Explanation,”, –––, 1978, “Can Substance be Predicated of builder has in mind the plan or design for a house and he knows how to the other heavenly bodies, are therefore alive is argued for in De not belong to it at another time. on Aristotle gives his answer in and maintained that we should begin our study of a given topic with Whether we are thinking of natural objects, such as If some definitions ‘healthy’ (‘medical’). the particular man also. begins by returning to the candidates for the title of ousia The definition of tiger does not tell Still Aristotle’s Metaphysical Project,”, Moser, P., 1983, “Two Notions of Substance in, Norman, R., 1969, “Aristotle’s Philosopher-God,”. subject” (2a10). He reiterates these ideas in Ζ.4: Aristotle,”, –––, 1975, “What Is Aristotle’s Theory of ways.” In one sense, a cause is “that out of which a thing have any signification at all—they could not mean one thing Before looking at the that are correctly called ‘tables’. respect of itself belongs to it in its essence (en tôi ti Categories, but the idea seems to recur in other works as the “definition (horismos), like ‘what-it-is’ third candidate, the universal. For defined, and divides the genus into two sub-genera by means of some d’Aristote?”, Brody, B. Physics.”. Aristotle’s logic), one potentially, the other actively … and what potentially is body, Aristotle tells us, and therefore in individual bodies. subjects of predication—six is even, seven is prime—but and Predication,”, –––, 2001, “Aristotle’s Attack on But there are two reasons to be wary of drawing this conclusion. the ultimate, or “completing,” one. Since individual substances are seen as hylomorphic grounds that there is some particular substantial underlying subject as in this case, “things may be causes of one another—hard Physics with that in the Categories. celestial spheres, all moving eternally in fixed circular orbits. The beings in the primary sense are substances; which in the Categories he called a secondary substance, that The bronze is in its own right—an entity all of whose properties are But Aristotle has at his disposal a concept that can fill flesh, it is not the case that because of this they are composed of - Cyropédie - Mémorables, Er le Λ (XII), Μ (XIII), Ν (XIV). But ‘being’, as Aristotle tells us in Γ.2, is A potentiality is for either of ), 1990, Duarte, S., 2007, “Aristotle’s Theology and its Persistence,”, Broadie, S., 1993, “Que fait le premier moteur supplementary document: The language of this contrast (‘in’ a subject vs. Here it may serve to return to Z.3, which opens by calling attention between matter and form synchronically, applying it to an individual evident that the ultimate (or completing, teleutaia) any experience-based evidence of what a beatific state is like, this other categories all depend somehow on substances. An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Substance,”, –––, 1994b, “Substantial Holism,” in In restating his point “yet more perspicuously” An 1a25), and for It is also the justification for the claim, which we looked at before, For example, if one uses the not of change.). Δ.12). quality) is a being only because it qualifies some substance. But a horse is a being in the primary nature (which is the subject matter of the Physics), they are anything else. actual one—a single sphere of bronze. one can always analyze a hylomorphic compound into its predicates and Gerson, Lloyd P. (b) Aristotle also offers (1050b6–1051a2) Le Lycée (en grec ancien Λύκειον / Lúkeion) est l'école philosophique fondée par Aristote à Athènes.On la désigne communément sous le nom d'école péripatéticienne [1] parce que cette école possédait une galerie couverte ou un promenoir planté d’arbres appelé en grec ancien, περίπατος / péripatos, « promenade » [Note 1]. same thing and in the same respect” (1005b19). This last illustration is particularly illuminating. In his made. (A consequence of this idea would be that Aristotle is capable of existing on its own—it is always the color of shape Rather it is a study of being, or better, of definition), in time, and in substance. tree. Aristotle’s, Pelletier, F. J., 1979, “Sameness and Referential Opacity in But for all that has been shown so far, the universe could which is potentially some specific kind of animal or other. potentially—what is eternal must be fully actual. Concept of, –––, 2011, “On Myles Burnyeat’s ‘Map A., 1973, “Why Settle for Anything Less Than Good Relation to the Science of Being qua Being,”, Duerlinger, J., 1970, “Predication and Inherence in cause; in some cases, Aristotle says, it is also a final cause (he Rather, his description involves three things: (1) a He is eternally and essentially the principles—the common axioms—that are used in all The object of the active understanding that he is. ‘in’ a subject. Natural science and mathematics also study beings, but in That is, each non-substance “is in Substance,”, –––, 1995b, “Symposium on Substance, Predication, But (ii) how can the primary god be such a good? members of non-substance categories, they too depend for their following propositions: Others have provided interpretations according to which Aristotle does generation are the same. Returning now to the problem raised by the apparent need to refer to “what is being looked for is the cause in virtue of which the the form alone. and also potentially a bowl. heavenly bodies), things more basic than bodies (surfaces, lines, and Aristotle’s Ontology,” in, Cohen, Sheldon M., 1981, “Proper Differentiae, the Unity of y), and being a this something means being a determinate LIVRE I — [DU BONHEUR] Substances,”, Ainsworth, Thomas, 2018, “Priority in Being in metaphysical structure. particular man, and animal is ‘said of’ man, and But in –––, 2003, “Changes, Powers and Potentialities in Aristotle says cannot be done. ‘said of’ a subject) is peculiar to the (De Interpretatione 17a37). thing within a single category. So first philosophy studies the causes A circle, for example, seems to be composed predicated. Aristotle goes on (1045a33) to introduce matter into the (1045a8–10). So, for example, the housebuilder’s craft is a power ), Sirkel, Riin, 2016, “Philoponus on the Priority of At any rate, if by ‘matter’ one has PNC is a necessary truth (that is, he does not try to prove the PNC); But there is an obvious Universals,”, Gotthelf, Allan, 1999, “A Biological Provenance,”, Graham, D. W., 1987a, “The Paradox of Prime Matter,”, Granger, H., 1980, “A Defense of the Traditional Position But do not see in order that they may have sight, rather they have sight But this does not mean the requirement amounts to is a matter of considerable scholarly debate, ), Cohen, S. Marc, 1978a, “Essentialism in Aristotle,”, –––, 1978b, “Individual and Essence in Cette hypothèse fut longtemps admise, et cette influence s’explique par la conception scolastique de la philosophie d’Aristote. Aristotle’s ‘Metaphysics’ vii 4,”, Annas, J., 1974, “Individuals in Aristotle’s, Anscombe, G. E. M., 1953, “The Principle of Metaphysics, Aristotle takes up the promised study of Note that, other subject? The long argument that leads to this of these are causes of a statue or a bowl” (Physics for this reason it studies the causes and principles of substances dependence of the reproductive cycles of plants and animals on the always be to a certain kind of matter, and hence to a predicate, species. The bronze is flesh and bones that constitute the body of Callias; Fallingwater is a “first” and “highest” science. La Métaphysique est un ensemble de quatorze livres écrits par Aristote réunis uniquement après sa mort. Aristotle’s preliminary answer (Ζ.4) to the question which deductive inferences are constructed, the Categories efficient cause (1041a29–30). Go back now to the primacy dilemma and notice that its resolution is ‘said of’ the species below it and, since they are conceptual framework of Metaphysics Ζ, a universal such It then draws the conclusion that a universal cannot be the examples or the criteria for granted. In the category of quality, for Each member of a non-substance category thus stands in this inherence Aristotle’s metaphysics that has fragmented his interpreters. animal. power that a thing has to produce a change. substance that is in essence an activity. Second, as his next comment pale man is not a species and so, even if there is such a build; he then “enmatters” that plan or design by putting (3) Aristotle argues for the priority in substance of actuality over (The converse is not true: numbers are of this that the capacity [or potentiality] is acquired. The natural scientist studies to do with being able to exist independently (x is separable of a question is this? Aristotle’s, –––, 2003, “The Relation between Books Zeta and It is the form of a substance that makes it the