Aristotle’s views on the nature of reality

Aristotle used a systematic method for drawing conclusions from empirical observations. His concept of reality revolves around the idea of “substance,” which actually means “entity” in the sense employed by Aristotle. Every entity, he taught, is composed of matter that takes a certain form, configuration, or shape. For Aristotle, the “form” is what characterises each entity, what defines the nature of an entity, what makes it what it is. A material (“matter”) such as wood can take different forms. For instance, it can be an element in trees, but also in furniture, in a building, etc. In addition to speaking about matter and form, Aristotle employed the concepts of potentiality and actuality. He argued that most entities have the potential to become something else, and reach actuality when it fulfils its potential. Modern psychology employs the term self-actualisation to denote the process of human achievement. A man who pursues goals that fulfil his potential is driven by self-actualisation. For plants, a seed has the potential to become a plant. When a seed grows into a plant, it attains actuality, but psychologists don’t employ the term self-actualisation for plants and animals due to their inability to formulate complex goals. Aristotle’s theory of potentiality and actuality helps us grasp change and causality. The world is driven by entities that try to achieve their full potential; they generate relationships of cause and effect. Plants grow. Animals look for food. Human beings build homes and roads. Aristotle only managed to outline his philosophy of reality after he had abandoned Plato’s theory of forms. Plato believed in a mythical realm populated by perfect, immutable ideas or “forms.” According to Plato, the objects we perceive are just a reflection of the realm of forms. After rejecting Plato’s theory of an invisible realm of perfect forms, Aristotle simply pointed out that “forms” are part of the entities themselves. Each entity is made of matter and form. You cannot have one without the other. By using reason, humans can identify relations of cause and effect between several entities. There are four different types of causation, according to Aristotle, that is, four possible types of cause-and-effect relationships. Aristotle named them the material, the formal, the efficient, and the final cause. Let us take a bed as an example. What is the material cause? The wood that has been employed as material to make the concerned item. What is the formal cause? The carpenter’s design or idea of a bed. The efficient cause is the carpenter himself. The final cause is the purpose of the bed, that is, a place to sleep. By employing the Aristotelian concepts of matter and form, potentiality and actuality, and the types of causation (material cause, formal cause, efficient, and final cause), we can assess reality systematically, draw conclusions and gather knowledge. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/aristotles-views-on-the-nature-of-reality/