Aristotle’s concepts of potentiality and actuality

If you walk the streets of any large city nowadays, the sheer number of homeless, confused people will make you wonder if Aristotle’s theory of potentiality and actuality has been totally forgotten. While most people today believe that self-development and self-actualisation are almost impossible, Aristotle had already observed twenty-five centuries ago that all creatures have the potential to actualise a better version of themselves. Aristotle defined “potentiality” as “the capacity for change that creatures and entities possess.” In contrast, he defined “actuality” as the realisation of their potential. From this perspective, the whole dynamics of the world can be explained by the activities of creatures and entities to attain their potential. Thus, change of any sort (chemical, mechanical, biological, or psychological) can be regarded as potentiality turning into actuality. If you take clay and make a cup, you have actualised its potential. In doing so, you have applied your purpose (final cause) to a material to give it a specific shape (formal cause). Human creativity and vision play a major role in developing new products, features and markets; only humans can conceive complex goals (final cause) and organise materials, shapes and labour to bring projects to fruition. In contrast to prior philosophers, and also in contrast to later philosophers, Aristotle applied the concepts of potentiality and actuality to morality. He regarded happiness (“eudaimonia” in Greek) as the ultimate goal of human life and self-actualisation as the primary path to happiness. If you want to improve your life and achieve happiness, the best way is to develop your potential. This means learning new skills, making ambitious plans, and working steadily to pursue your dreams. It is up to you to actualise your potential. Do not leave it to chance. For Aristotle, the concept of self-actualisation goes together with the concept of happiness, flourishing or thriving. Human happiness is a dynamic process whereby individuals become better versions of themselves. You cannot become happy by doing nothing and meditating the whole day. You cannot attain self-actualisation by repeating some mantra and brainwashing yourself; happiness needs to be earned by means of focused action. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/aristotles-concepts-of-potentiality-and-actuality/