Aristotle’s concepts of potentiality and actuality

John Vespasian explains that 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). 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. 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. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/aristotles-concepts-of-potentiality-and-actuality/