Physics and Metaphysics
In the area of theoretical, or speculative, philosophy Aristotle explores the meaning and properties of being and of nature. He himself never employed the term "metaphysics," which arose from the analysis of what he called First Philosophy. The 10 books of his study of causation, which have come to be known as the Metaphysics, were placed by an early editor after (Greek meta, after) the works on physical phenomena. Physics may be described as the science that has for its subject the study of phenomena that are changeable, insofar as they possess a source of movement. These phenomena, such as are found in the study of the biological and natural sciences, may increase and decrease in growth, may come into being and pass away; yet they all are subject to certain established laws in the universe involving matter and motion. Motion that is to be found in natural objects effects the transition from potentiality to actuality. Motion, therefore, along with the actualization of potentiality in matter, defines the natural universe into a great scale of being, ranging from the most inorganic substance to the most highly developed being or form of reality. While this is not to be conceived of as a scale of evolution, it does provide an effective analysis of scientific phenomena in a universe that is forever changing. The responsibility of the scientist or the philosopher is the evaluation of matter within this scale with regard to the teleological questions : "What is the purpose of a physical phenomenon?" "What is its end?" "In what form will its development occur? Like most ancient philosophers, Aristotle was concerned with causation. He attempted to identify causation with the substance of matter itself. In First Philosophy, Aristotle seeks to isolate a principle of causation, and this he defines as a universal that is real and that is the formative principle of being. This principle may exist apart from motion, for motion presupposes a moving cause. The First Cause in the universe Aristotle calls the Prime Mover, which may be identified with God; in the isolation of other causes the Prime Mover serves as the norm. Motion is eternal because the Prime Mover is eternal; a degree of perfection may be observed in the material universe because this is communicated by the Prime Mover, who is perfect. In nature Aristotle enumerates four causes: material, formal, efficient, and final. Thus a work of art as well as a phenomenon in the natural universe can manifest cause in these areas: the substance is the material, the architectural plan is the formal, the execution or creation is the efficient, and the purpose is the final. The physical world, then, for Aristotle represents an intermediate being between the Prime Mover, who is perfect form, and the formless substance of matter. In the development of this explanation of causation and being, Aristotle places the greatest emphasis on the mind of man as an interpretative and creative principle, but the reasoning of this interpretation derives largely from the principles of his logic. His concept of the Prime Mover has been severely criticized, for without this First Cause the regress into the rationalized universe would be endless.
Conclusion. The topicality of Aristotle’s philosophy.
I want to start my conclusion from summarizing the historical sense of Aristotle philosophy. There are:
He made a huge corrections to the study of his teacher – Plato.
He gave the materialistic treatment for the world’s and human’s beginning.
He distinguished 10 important philosophical qualifications.
He gave the definition of the being through these qualifications.
He determined the essence of matter.
He described 6 types of government.
He made great development of logic
His writings provide an account of many scientific observations, a mixture of precocious accuracy and curious errors. For example, in his History of Animals he claimed that human males have more teeth than females.[3] In a similar vein, John Philoponus, and laterGalileo, showed by simple experiments that Aristotle's theory that a heavier object falls faster than a lighter object is incorrect.[4] On the other hand, Aristotle refuted Democritus's claim that theMilky Waywas made up of "those stars which are shaded by the earth from the sun's rays," pointing out (correctly, even if such reasoning was bound to be dismissed for a long time) that, given "current astronomical demonstrations" that "the size of the sun is greater than that of the earth and the distance of the stars from the earth many times greater than that of the sun, then ... the sun shines on all the stars and the earth screens none of them."[2]
In places, Aristotle goes too far in deriving 'laws of the universe' from simple observation and over-stretched reason. Today's scientific method assumes that such thinking without sufficient facts is ineffective, and that discerning the validity of one's hypothesis requires far more rigorous experimentation than that which Aristotle used to support his laws.
The Aristotle’s philosophy is very topical, because his studying lies down on a base of many sciences, such as Ethics, Aesthesis and Logic.
Aristotle become the top not only of the Ancient Philosophy, but also of the whole Ancient World. His achievements are unremarkable: he had complete and develop all studying and theories of his time into the complicated philosophical system, which gave the branches of foundation for plenty of knowledges.
References
J. L. Ackrill, “Aristotle the philosopher” (Oxford, 1981).
R. D. McKirahan, “Aristotle's subordinate sciences”, British J. Hist. Sci. 11 (39, 3) (1978), 197-220.
Jules Evans, “How people follows Aristotle today?”
The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle, ed. by Jonathan Barnes (Cambridge, 1995)
Aristotle, Meteorology 1.8, trans. E.W. Webster, rev. J. Barnes
McLeisch, Kenneth Cole (1999). Aristotle: The Great Philosophers. Routledge. p. 5.
Suleyman Demirel University
Student’s self-work