History of Philosophy Course: https://hotm.art/historiadafilosofia-... Learn about our courses: https://filosofiatotal.com.br/ ----------------------------------------- Aristotle - Metaphysics ----------------------------------------- Aristotle (384 – 322 BC), along with Plato, is the great reference of ancient Greek philosophy that will influence the construction of the Western world. He was the thinker who analyzed all Greek thought and improved it; he wrote about almost everything, from metaphysics to biology. Therefore, we must study Aristotle as the spokesperson for the educated Greeks, because that is how he considered himself. Aristotle was a great systematic thinker, who divided knowledge into: Productive - which is intended for the production of things that are useful to men. Ex: arts, architecture, carpentry, etc. Practical - which deals with the practices that men maintain among themselves. Ex: politics, ethics, economics, etc. Theoretical – deals with contemplative knowledge of reality, of things that exist independently of man. Ex: physics, mathematics, astronomy, etc. Metaphysics According to him, while particular knowledge reflects on particular beings subject to movement (becoming), there is a knowledge that reflects on all these beings together, that studies what is common to all of them, and that structures them into an organized whole. He called this knowledge First Philosophy, which later became known as Metaphysics (meta + physical = beyond the physical). It is this that analyzes the principles and the ultimate essence of the world, of the universal, contained in all beings. It is this that says whether the object (this world that surrounds us) of particular knowledge is real and true. In his investigation of what reality is, in order to establish a true knowledge of things, Aristotle surpassed Heraclitus and Parmenides, and gave a different answer from Plato, criticizing his master's position. For him, this material world that surrounds us and that is changeable, is not an illusion or an imperfect copy of something (Parmenides and Plato), but it is also not all of reality (Heraclitus). Change is not something that makes things illusory or imperfect, but is in fact their essence. And if Parmenides and Plato say that it is not possible to build true knowledge about it, Aristotle states that they are wrong, that it is possible to obtain true knowledge of this world, this knowledge is Physics. A critic of Platonic dualism, he did not believe that we should first know an intellectual world in order to know the material world. Aristotle turned philosophical investigation to matter, stating that being (the real/intelligible) is found in it, in matter, and that the possibility of understanding and apprehending the real (being) must come from it. He believed that there is an order (intelligence) governing all beings (matter). Every object that exists has this order within itself, which constitutes it, which makes it what it is, and which can make it become something better, always aiming for a purpose. In other words, the intelligible is in things and not separated from them in an external world. What makes each being what it is, Aristotle called Substance/essence, and because man is endowed with (rational) consciousness, he can know the essence/substance of things. This knowledge occurs, according to him, when we investigate various particulars until we abstract an essence common to all, in which we can generalize through the general/universal concept. This method of going from the particular to the general is induction. According to Aristotelian metaphysics, every physical being has a matter of which it is made and a form that individualizes it. This matter has the capacity to become something different, to assume another form, updating itself. And it is the movement that is inherent, essential, that makes this change happen. Thus, the concepts that Aristotle developed in his metaphysics to understand reality are: Matter – is what the being is made of. Form – is what individualizes it, making it what it is. Potency – is the capacity/possibility that matter has to change. Act – is the form that it is assuming now. Substance – is the essence of the being, that which makes it what it is. Accident – ​​are the non-essential characteristics of the being, which, whether it has them or not, do not prevent it from being what it is. Example: big/small, yellow/blue, light/heavy, etc. But what are the causes of this change, of movement? Aristotle says that there are four, namely: Material cause – refers to its matter. A stone will never become a grown man. Efficient/motor cause – refers to that which acts on matter so that it acquires another form. Formal cause – refers to that which matter tends to become. Final cause – refers to the purpose for which matter underwent all the movement to become what it is.