Aristotelian Philosophy: Metaphysics, Ethics, and Physics

Metaphysics: The Science of Being

Metaphysics, rooted in the Greek tradition, utilizes concepts established by Parmenides. It is defined as the science of being. It addresses sensible principles, the nature of being, and the modes of existence, which constitute the central argument of the work. Historical testimonies from Greek predecessors, including Plato, affirm that for Aristotle, being is synonymous with life; to exist is to live.

Metaphysics is the study responsible for analyzing being as such and its attributes. It is considered first philosophy because it is universal, analyzing everything that exists and how it appears.

Substance and Accidents

• First Substance: The concrete individual, the subject that possesses accidents, belonging to a specific species and genus. These are the substances by excellence, as all other things are said of them or exist in them.
• Second Substance: Refers to the species and genera to which the first substances belong.

In the strict sense, only the concrete individual exists. The second substance, the genus, and the species constitute the nature of the individual.

Ethics and Politics

Aristotle explains that happiness does not consist of pleasure, wealth, or honors, but in the exercise of one's own activity, specifically that of the soul. This is what we translate as human excellence (arete).

Virtue and the Golden Mean

Aristotle defines virtue as a selective habit relative to us, situated as a mean between two defects: one of excess and one of deficiency. It is a disposition that tends toward the perfection of our being.

Dianoetic Virtues

These develop in the intellectual realm and concern things that cannot be otherwise. Aristotle distinguishes three types:

• Art (Techne): The capacity to create objects.
• Practical Wisdom (Phronesis): Relates to contingent actions and life.
• Theoretical Wisdom (Sophia): Knowledge of necessary truths.

Physics and the Nature of Movement

Movement is the process of any substance changing. Aristotle identifies the principles of change as the transition from privation to the acquisition of form. He classifies change into four types:

• Substantial: Generation and corruption.
• Qualitative: Alteration of an attribute.
• Quantitative: Increase or decrease.
• Locomotion: Change of place.

The Four Causes

To explain changes in nature, Aristotle proposes four causes:

1. Material: That from which something is made.
2. Formal: The structure that determines the matter.
3. Efficient: The original source of motion.
4. Final: The purpose for which something is done.