Hylomorphic Teleology in Aristotle’s Physics II

• Authors: Peters Catherine
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

This study draws attention to the ordering of matter and form argued for in Aristotle’s Physics II, 8 (199a30–32). This argument for hylomorphic teleology relies on the presentation of nature earlier in Physics II, 1. In this way, it highlights the connections between chapter one’s account of nature as matter and form and chapter eight’s defense of final causality. Grounding final causality in the principles of nature reveals its central importance for Aristotle’s view of nature. To clarify the meaning of hylomorphic teleology I contrast my interpretation of Aristotle with that of Wolfgang Wieland regarding the scope and foundation of the final cause, countering his claim that chance and universal final causality are mutually exclusive. I contend that the presentation of teleology in chapter eight supports a diverse interpretation of the final cause, one that admits chance events while not sacrificing the intrinsic ordering of matter to form.

Keywords

EN

Aristotle; nature; matter; form; hylomorphism; teleology; hylomorphic teleology; Wolfgang Wieland; chance; final causality

• Publisher: International Étienne Gilson Society
• Journal: Studia Gilsoniana
• Year: 2019
• Volume: 8
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 147-168

Dates

published

2019-03-20

Contributors

author

Peters Catherine

References

• Aquinas, Thomas. Commentaria in VIII libros physicorum aristotelis, Leonine Edition, vol. II. Rome: Commissionis Leoninae, 1882.
• Aristotle. Physics, translated by R. P. Hardie and R. K. Gaye. In The Basic Works of Aristotle, edited by R. McKeon. New York: Random House, 1941.
• Charlton, William. Aristotle’s Physics: Book 1 & 2. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1970.
• Copleston, Frederick. A History of Philosophy, vol. I, part II: Greece & Rome. New York: Image Books, 1962.
• Wallace, William. The Modeling of Nature: Philosophy of Science and Philosophy of Nature in Synthesis. Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 1996.
• Wieland, Wolfgang. “The Problem of Teleology,” translated by Malcolm Schofield, 141–160. In Articles on Aristotle, vol. 1: Science, edited by Jonathan Barnes, Malcolm Schofield, Richard Sorabji. London: Duckworth, 1975.

Identifiers

ISSN

2577-0314

ISSN

2300-0066

DOI

10.26385/SG.080105