Aristotle's "Hylo-Morphism"

I. A Metaphysics of "Two-in- One" Substance (Hyle) & Form (Morph) are united 1. Matter, or substance, is passive -- and is "shaped" by Form 2. Form is active and is the actual determinant of a thing - it defines the nature of a thing - it determines its FUNCTION

EX. -- the IKEA chair If you purchase a chair from the world-famous IKEA store, prior to taking it home to assemble, is it actually a chair? It is really only a potential chair, isnt it? (considering how everything from that store is pre- packaged for assembly) It is only an real chair after it is actualized in the process of assembling it according to its design!

An Epistemology of Change To know a thing one needs to know –not only WHAT it is (its Form & Matter) –but also its goal and HOW it gets there (its Telos)

Thus any thing can have Four Causes Final Efficient Cause Material Cause Formal Cause

Example of the Oak Tree Formal Cause: –the pattern ingrained in Nature for the acorn to grow into an oak (and not a pine or an apple tree!) this pattern actualizes (and limits) the substance

Example of the Acorn/Oak tree Material Cause: the "acorn stuff" (!) –the physical components of the initial seed

Example of the Acorn/Oak tree Efficient Cause: what we usually call Cause & Effect –t–the progressive environmental and nutritive factors that promote daily-change in the object from acorn, to seedling, to sapling, etc.

Final Cause: the "telos" or goal of a thing the mature 40-ft. Oak tree

Only physical maturation? Only reproductive actuality? What about the other functions of the mature tree? What about the ecological chain?

The ultimate ends of the object or intricately inter-related to the ends of others, and thats all part of the grand design… thus "Final" and "Formal" are connected, for and individual object, and for reality as a whole!

Does EVERYTHING have this structure? Yes! Trees, (organic things) Statues, (inorganic things) Corporations & Colleges… (complex things!) How about…. - The UNIVERSE...?

Does EVERYTHING have this structure? Yes: Like Trees, Statues, Corporations & Colleges, according to Aristotle the UNIVERSE as a whole is certainly no exception

Does EVERYTHING have this structure? Yes: Like Trees, Statues, Corporations & Colleges, according to Aristotle the UNIVERSE as a whole is certainly no exception The Prime Mover This is the name Aristotle gave for the Formal Cause of everything

Does EVERYTHING have this structure? Yes: Like Trees, Statues, Corporations & Colleges, according to Aristotle the UNIVERSE as a whole is certainly no exception The Prime Mover Prime Matter This is the name Aristotle gave for the Material Cause of everything

Does EVERYTHING have this structure? Yes: Like Trees, Statues, Corporations & Colleges, according to Aristotle the UNIVERSE as a whole is certainly no exception The Prime Mover Prime Matter Evolution This is OUR name for what Aristotle would refer to as Efficient Causality

Does EVERYTHING have this structure? Yes: Like Trees, Statues, Corporations & Colleges, according to Aristotle the UNIVERSE as a whole is certainly no exception The Prime Mover Prime Matter Evolution The End Aristotle presumed that as with everything else, reality has an ultimate goal --

According to Aquinas... Aquinas was one of the first to translate the lost works of Aristotle… This provided Aquinas a rational explanation for what he already believed by Faith. Faith and Reason coincide, not conflict!

According to Aquinas... The hidden structure of things is now revealed Prime Mover= Prime Matter= Evolution= The End = The Eternal Law The Natural Law The Human (Civil) Law The Divine Law

According to Aquinas... The hidden structure of things is now revealed The Eternal Law The Natural Law The Human (Civil) Law The Divine Law This is Gods Unalterable Rule over the Universe

According to Aquinas... The hidden structure of things is now revealed The Eternal Law The Natural Law The Human (Civil) Law The Divine Law This is the design of what is Good imprinted in Material itself

According to Aquinas... The hidden structure of things is now revealed The Eternal Law The Natural Law The Human (Civil) Law The Divine Law If Civil Law is based on what is Natural, it is then Just law (Re: Martin luther King)

According to Aquinas... The hidden structure of things is now revealed The Eternal Law The Natural Law The Human (Civil) Law The Divine Law If Civil Law is Just then we will be acting according to Gods Ultimate End

So, the order is divinely ordained: Yet, as long as even an atheist accepts the natural order of things then Natural Law Ethics should be employed to create Human Laws

The Good intrinsic to Nature includes... Life –and Procreation Knowledge –and Sociability

Principles derived from these include... Non-Maleficence –(above all do no harm) Beneficence Totality of the Body Double Effect