PlatoMind, body

and soul

6.2 Philosophy of Religion

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GCSE: Arguments for the existence of God Key words: knowledge, theory

of forms, empiricism, a priori

Aristotle

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ARISTOTLE AND CAUSATION

384- 322 BCE

“ALL MEN BY NATURE DESIRE

TO KNOW”

Pupils this lesson will:

Have a background of Aristotle

Begin to examine Aristotle’s idea about cause and purpose in the world

Evaluate Aristotle’s ideas about cause and purpose in the world

WHAT’S THE BIG IDEA, PLATO?

Specification

WHO IS WHO?

SPOT THE DIFFERENCES

WHO IS WHO?

SPOT THE DIFFERENCES

Aristotle, holding a copy of his own Ethics, his

hand and his book are flat to represent the

Earth, on which both his feet are squarely

planted. This world, he seems to be saying, is

where the truth can be found- the physical

world under our feet, the world of sense

experience and of science

The light behind them

represents that they are

the most enlightened

Plato, holding a copy of his book Timaeus. The books

vertical stance represents that the task of Philosophy is

to seek ultimate truth not found in the everyday world.

Plato’s body language expresses his idealism. His hand

and his book, are vertical, pointing upwards to show

Plato’s belief in another, superior world ‘above’ this

one.

WHO IS WHO?

SPOT THE DIFFERENCES

Plato’s feet are in a state of motion, indicating

that this world is constantly moving, constantly

changing. Things in motion are necessarily

imperfect. The Universe is imperfect because it is

always changing. This contrasted with the

unchanging Forms which were outside time and

space and never altered at all

Aristotle’s hand is straight out ahead of

him. Flat parallel to the ground. He is

effectively saying to Plato ‘Forget your

heavenly realm of perfect ideas. This is

the real world where we have to work

out how to live and what is good and

bad.’

WHO IS WHO?

SPOT THE DIFFERENCES

In spite of their difference, Plato and Aristotle greatly admired one another

Aristotle was the brightest of Plato’s students at the Academy

He came from a well off Macedonian family and arrived in Athens at the age of 17 to study as a pupil of Plato

Following in the traditions of Plato and Socrates, Aristotle began to question the beliefs and assumptions he had always held- and also to question Plato’s beliefs

KEY TERMS

Cause- Aristotle is interested in knowing what makes a thing the way it is and what causes things to move from potential to actual. Cause for Aristotle is not so much what starts everything off, but how things change and what causes are involved in this process

Material Cause- the matter that things are made of- for example, a cricket bat has the material cause of a willow blade and a rubber grip on the handle

Efficient Cause- the agent that causes the thing to come about, for example, the cricket bat maker who shapes the willow and therefore causes it to be a bat rather than part of a tree

Formal Cause- the actual thing that the object is being shaped into; the arrangement of the pieces of the object that make it the thing it is designed to be (its form or pattern). A rubber grip, tapered shoulders, and a blade, which give it the characteristics, the Form, of a cricket bat

Final Cause- the function or purpose of the object’s existence. The other causes work together making something that will fulfil that purpose, which is the reason for which it is created; the cricket bat is made to score runs. This is its TELOS or end. Something is ‘good’ for Aristotle not when it takes part in the Form of Good, as Plato argued, but when it fulfils its function and reaches its TELOS.

KEY TERMS

Matter and Form- matter is what something is made out of. When it comes together, (through the FOUR CAUSES) in a particular way, the object has certain

characteristics, for example, the matter of a cricket bat is wood and rubber and

these come together to form a run-scoring piece of sports equipment. The Form is

the combined characteristics of that object (a run-scoring, ball-hitting bat) that

make it clear what that object is. If it breaks, the matter stays the same but the form

changes. Matter has potential to become different types of Forms depending on

what the four causes work towards, so the willow from the tree could have become

a bench rather than a cricket bat

KEY TERMS

Potential to Actual- when someone undergoes a change from one state to another,

e.g. the cricket bat is an actual piece of willow, but it has the potential to become another actuality, a cricket bat, when it undergoes the causes outlined

Telos- literally the end or goal; the end purpose or aim

Prime Mover- Aristotle’s concept of God, the Unmoved Mover. It moves everything

else from potential to actual; the Prime Mover causes all movement and change as

things move towards it. It is perfect and not changing, and therefore is pure

actuality

Metaphysics- the exploration of the fundamental nature of existence through questions such as, what is meant by ‘reality’?

HOW DID ARISTOTLE AND PLATO

DIFFER?

Plato believed the Forms were not separated from things but

present in them

Aristotle believed that Matter and Form could not exist separate

it, but are related

Plato is dear

to me, but

dearer still is

the truth

ARISTOTLE’S RUDE COMMENT

ABOUT PLATO

KEY CONCEPTS THAT INTERESTED

ARISTOTLE

WHAT’S THE CAUSE OF THIS?

Key words:

Potentiality- is when something contains the ingredients to become something else

Actuality- is when an object fulfils its potential and becomes

something else

WOOD

THE PERSON

A LARGE AND STABLE FLAT

SURFACE TO WORK ON, WITH

STURDY LEGS THAT WILL HOLD THE

WEIGHT OF A COMPUTER

THE DESK EXISTS IN ORDER

TO FULFIL A PURPOSE.

PEOPLE NEED DESKS SO

THEY DO NOT NEED TO SIT

ON THE FLOOR

The desk has a function, an ultimate purpose to perform, which is

why anyone bothered making one at all

A girl is a potential woman

The actuality is always present in the potentiality

A woman can be an actual woman or a potential grandmother

The actuality is always present in the potentiality

The baby is a potential woman but an actual girl

Aristotle thus concluded that the same entity has an actual being

and the potential being of another entity

ARISTOTLE ON CAUSE AND PURPOSE

One question that fascinated Aristotle was the question of cause.

Why are things the way that they are- what caused them?

What is the essence of this thing or that thing?

Why does it exist in the world at all?

WHY DO YOU THINK ARISTOTLE WAS

INTERESTED IN THE QUESTION OF WHAT

CAUSES SOMETHING TO EXIST?

Like other Philosophers Aristotle was trying to understand the

purpose of life

This is why he was trying to discover the essence of an object

In contrast to Plato, Aristotle began with the world around him,

the world of experience

ARISTOTLE CONCLUDED THERE WERE

FOUR CAUSES

What material is this made of?- material cause

How was it made? – efficient cause

What are the characteristics of a table?- formal cause

What is it for?- final cause

Aristotle & Causality

Material Cause Efficient Cause Formal Cause Final Cause

The matter from which the thing is

made.

The agent that brings something

about.

The kind of thing that something is

(Its Form).

The goal or purpose that a

thing moves towards.

The bronze that the statue is made of.

The sculptor and his chisel.

The shape or design that the bronze is

being sculpted into.

The purpose of the sculpture.

(Aitiai = causes)

PURPOSE AND TELEOLOGY

Teleology is concerned with the final end or purpose of something. Aristotle believed that “nature does nothing without purpose, or uselessly”.

Objects in nature he believed are driven by a striving or direction towards a goal

The matter of each kind of object has the potential for achieving a form proper to the object

Is it this that is the end goal or telos in Greek?

This purpose may be either unconscious or deliberate

Aristotle thought that the teleological goal for humankind was to live a life of certain nature- to be reasoning creatures

IDENTIFY THE FOUR CAUSES USING A

WOODEN CHAIR

Draw a chair and around it identify the four causes

What material is this made of?- material cause

How was it made? – efficient cause

What are the characteristics of a table?- formal cause

What is it for?- final cause

HOW CAN THIS LEAD US TO THE IDEA

OF GOD?

Aristotle said everything in existence can answer those four

causes- we might not actually know the answers ourselves

What is the purpose of a slug?

What is the purpose of cancer?

Is it to replicate itself as quickly as possible.

If it succeeds it has achieved its final cause

HOW CAN IT LEAD US TO AN IDEA OF

GOD?

Aristotle wanted to know what was causing this

movement

‘The series must start with something, since

nothing can come from nothing.’

Aristotle, Metaphysics

ARISTOTLE’S PRIME MOVER

Aristotle commences his metaphysics from empirical evidence, through which he observes the four causes, and moves from there to the Prime Mover

Because Aristotle has noticed that there is ongoing continual change/ motion in the universe

Things are moving from potential to actual

What makes things change in the first place?

How is the entirety of the universe changing and FULFILLING ITS PURPOSE?

Aristotle wants to know, is there an efficient cause? Something to which everything is moving, which is not moved and who does not need to change?

ARISTOTLE’S PRIME MOVER

This necessary something, Aristotle calls the UNMOVED MOVER

It cannot be just the same as any other thing moving towards its

telos as that would cause a further problem

This things for Aristotle is the PRIME MOVER

This for Aristotle is an eternal ‘God’ not a personal God (A

Demiurge)

ARISTOTLE’S PRIME MOVER

Aristotle’s God is pure intelligence, non-physical, unconcerned

with the world- CONCERN WOULD CHANGE IT, AND IT DOES NOT

NEED TO CHANGE- there is nothing for it to grow into, learn,

improve or move towards

Perfection- cannot think of anything but itself- thinking involves

moving through ideas and God is unmoved- God can only know

God “thinks about thinking”

God is totally outside of our world in terms of time and space- it

knows nothing about it, has no plan for it and never intervenes in

it

WHAT QUESTIONS ABOUT OUR WORLD

WOULD ARISTOTLE’S GOD ANSWER?

The idea of

the Prime

Mover avoids

the

traditional

problem of

evil.

There is no

issue of evil

and suffering

in the world.

Why?

ARISTOTLE’S PRIME MOVER

The Prime Mover is the thing towards which everything moves by

attraction or desire- the movement from potentiality to what is

ultimate actuality; (Like moths drawn to light)

Just as the cat moves towards the milk bowl without the milk bowl pushing the cat from behind

The Prime Mover is perfectly good in that it has full ACTUALITY,

which means it lacks nothing, cannot change and is wholly

simple. This influential idea is very different to the God of the

Judaeo-Christian tradition

ARISTOTLE’S GOD

Aristotle's God is not, unlike the Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Islam, Judaism), the efficient cause. That is to say, God did not actively create the world like the Christian God did. Aristotle's God is the teleological cause of the universe. The three defining characteristics of Aristotle's God are that he is:

1. Indestructible

2. Eternal

3. Unmovable

This is because Aristotle considers the idea that the world had a beginning incoherent and nonsensical; movement and time cannot have come into existence, "For there could not be a before and an after if time did not exist," and movement and time are the same thing (there would be no movement without time, and vice versa). The First Mover must also be immaterial, since only then will it be entirely actual (it has no possibility of falling into non-being).

God, for Aristotle, is the Prime Mover. God is needed to create movement in the heavenly spheres (these circled the earth which was at the centre of the universe).

Aristotle’s God is not personal (hence a demiurge) and is beyond the world.

God does not DO anything- Aristotle’s God neither creates nor sustains. However, God is a cause, acting as the great attractor; God Attracts all things and thus has a causal influence- albeit without doing anything! God's very existence causes the movement of the outermost heavenly body; the "Firmament."

The firmament moves in a circular motion, enlightened by its proximity to God.

All movement in the universe is hierarchical, i.e. it comes from a higher sphere. So the sphere of Saturn could not move without the Firmament moving first. The question of why the Firmament moved in the first place was an important one for Aristotle, and led to his conception of God.

Thus, while God is not the efficient cause of the universe, his very existence is the teleological cause.

NB

Aristotle did not suggest that

the Prime Mover starts

everything off like a firework. For Aristotle the Prime Mover

is the originating cause of all

motion eternally that

sustains the pattern of change from actuality to

potentiality in the physical

world

WHAT STRENGTHS CAN YOU FIND?

The idea of a Material, Efficient and Formal Cause for objects is very accessible to many observers, especially in a scientific age.

‘What are things made of’? How things come to be

Commencing with the empirical and suggesting that an object’s Form is something that belongs to this realm

Dismisses Plato’s argument about a separate, NON-PHYSICAL REALM OF Forms, which is not accessible by our senses

When we look at everyday objects, we can agree that there is a plan to which they have been made, in order for them to fulfil a purpose? The chair you are sitting on fulfils its purpose

WHAT WEAKNESSES CAN YOU FIND?

Can it be really argued that the universe has a ‘TELOS’? It might

be difficult to see how the universe has a end goal in mind.

Russell argued that the universe simply exists and does not have

an overriding purpose. Even if things within the universe have a

purpose, can we move to the universe has a whole?

Dawkins argues that through the process of natural selection, it is

difficult to argue that things have a TELOS

Dawkins argues that there is no purposeful design behind

evolution, or reasoning on the part of the animals

WHAT WEAKNESSES CAN YOU FIND?

Why do inanimate objects such as chairs have a ‘purpose’? The

purpose has been given to it by the maker of the chair rather

than the chair having its own purpose

The Prime Mover is irrelevant because it has no interaction with

the universe, is not affected by it and is so unlike the universe or human beings that there is no shared experience between

human beings and the thing which they ultimately desire

It is difficult to comprehend an infinite series of causes, however

this is not a valid enough reason to reject it

How can the Prime Mover be powerful, yet be unable to know it

Using your notes:

Create a table Plato (rationalism- Forms, a

prori knowledge) vs Aristotle (empiricism-

Forms, a posteriori knowledge) include their

separate ideas

Create a mind map with key ideas- Aristotle’s

Prime Mover and Plato’s Form of the Good

ARISTOTLE’S VIEW ON THE SOUL- HOW

DID ARISTOTLE DIFFER TO PLATO?

According to Aristotle a living creature is ‘substance’ .

Body = matterSoul = form

Aristotle thought that the soul is the Form of the body. The soul is simply the sum total of the operations of a human being.

For Aristotle, the body and soul are not two separate elements but are one thing. The body and the soul are not, as Plato would have it, two distinct entities, but are different parts or aspects of the same thing.

Aristotle does not allow for the possibility of the immortality of the soul. The soul is simply the Form of the body, and is not capable of existing without the body. The soul is that which makes a person a person rather than just a lump of meat! Without the body the soul cannot exist. The soul dies along with the body.

Aristotle appears to make one exception – reason (nous). However, he is not clear about how this reason survives death or whether or not it is personal.

QUESTIONS

1. What is the difference between

Plato’s and Aristotle’s use of the

word ‘Form’?

2. Is the Prime Mover anything like the Judaeo- Christian tradition?

3. Whose definition of the soul do

you have more sympathy with,

Aristotle’s or Plato’s?

4. Explain

EXAM MAT

To what extent does Aristotle’s

understanding of purpose lead to a

better understanding of reality than

Plato’s forms?