Unity and Primary Substance for Aristotle
Primary substance for Aristotle is either the individual or form. These same two possibilities are the leading candidates for the source of unity in a substance. Thus, if we could determine what is responsible for the unity of a substance, we may well have located primary substance also. I consider...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2003
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| In: |
Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association
Year: 2003, Volume: 77, Pages: 159-172 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Primary substance for Aristotle is either the individual or form. These same two possibilities are the leading candidates for the source of unity in a substance. Thus, if we could determine what is responsible for the unity of a substance, we may well have located primary substance also. I consider the following possible sources of the unity of form and matter in a substance: 1) The unifier is a connector external to form and matter. (This connector may be itself a form, matter, or a relation that is neither formal nor material.) 2) There is no need for a unifier because form and matter are simply conceptual ways of understanding a single, already-unified, concrete being. 3) The unifier is an inherent aspect of form or matter. I proceed by a process of elimination and conclude that substantial form is both what unifies a substance and the better candidate for primary substance. |
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| ISSN: | 2153-7925 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: American Catholic Philosophical Association, Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.5840/acpaproc20037720 |