Aristotle's Core Philosophy: Works, Causes, and Metaphysics

Aristotle's Major Philosophical Works

Aristotle's philosophical output is traditionally categorized into several major areas:

• Logic (The Organon): A collection of writings dedicated to the principles of reasoning and argumentation.
• Physics and Natural Philosophy: A wide range of writings devoted to the study of nature and biology, including works on the physical world, meteors, generation and corruption, and the soul (De Anima).
• First Philosophy (Metaphysics): A set of books devoted to the theoretical study of reality, later known as Metaphysics.
• Practical Philosophy: Works such as the Nicomachean Ethics, which address all that possesses an internal principle of movement.

The Dynamics of Change and Movement

In his study of nature, Aristotle analyzed the process of change, focusing on the elements necessary for something to be mobile.

Three Elements of Being Mobile

Change involves three fundamental elements:

1. The changing subject matter (the underlying material).
2. The principle of perfection toward which the change is directed (the form obtained).
3. Privation: The state from which the subject moves, lacking the form and perfection it is heading toward.

Aristotle's Four Root Causes (Aitiai)

Aristotle sought to understand the motives and purposes behind existence, leading to his finalist or teleological philosophy. He identified four root causes necessary for explaining any object or event:

• Material Cause: The subject or element affected by the process. It answers the question: "Which element or elements constitute this objective fact?"
• Formal Cause: The structure or definition of the form. It answers the question: "What is its structure or essence?"
• Efficient (Agent) Cause: The agent that makes and builds. It answers the question: "Who or what made it?"
• Final Cause: The purpose or end goal. It answers the question: "To what end does this exist?"

Metaphysics: The Desire to Know and First Philosophy

In Metaphysics, Aristotle famously states that all men by nature desire to know. He identifies multiple ways of knowing—through the senses, memory, and experience—but posits that the superior knowledge, as suggested in Physics, is attained through understanding the root causes.

This effort to understand the ultimate principles and causes is what Aristotle names First Philosophy. He considered it as important as mathematics (which studies number) and physics (which studies material and natural beings), but metaphysics specifically studies the entity (being) as such, by its principles and causes.

The Concept of Being (Ente)

The Ente (Being) is simply "what is." Metaphysics studies Being as such, considering reality as it truly is, regardless of whether it is material or spiritual. Metaphysics studies the entity by its principles and causes, and the concept of entity is analogous.

Four Senses of Being

Aristotle noted four primary ways in which "Being" can be understood:

1. Being according to Substance and Accidents.
2. Being according to Potency and Act.
3. Being according to the True and False.
4. Being according to the Categories.

Aristotle gave premium meaning to Being according to the substance, asserting that singular substances are the primary realities.

The Role of Substance

For Aristotle, Substance is the ultimate cause of everything that happens.