Gâbor Betegh
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199639984
- eISBN:
- 9780191743337
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199639984.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
This chapter examines the way Aristotle describes in A 3–4 (984b8–985a29) the reasons and motivations, which, on his interpretation, lead his predecessors to introduce a new type of principle that ...
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This chapter examines the way Aristotle describes in A 3–4 (984b8–985a29) the reasons and motivations, which, on his interpretation, lead his predecessors to introduce a new type of principle that could function as the efficient cause. By bringing in parallel texts from Physics I and On the Parts of Animals I, it is argued that, for Aristotle, the trajectory of the discovery of the truth is after all less deterministic than what the language of Metaphysics A 3 might suggest. The paper aims to show, moreover, that what is discovered is not so much new types of Aristotelian causes but rather distinctions among types of principle.Less
This chapter examines the way Aristotle describes in A 3–4 (984b8–985a29) the reasons and motivations, which, on his interpretation, lead his predecessors to introduce a new type of principle that could function as the efficient cause. By bringing in parallel texts from Physics I and On the Parts of Animals I, it is argued that, for Aristotle, the trajectory of the discovery of the truth is after all less deterministic than what the language of Metaphysics A 3 might suggest. The paper aims to show, moreover, that what is discovered is not so much new types of Aristotelian causes but rather distinctions among types of principle.
Shams Inati
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231166164
- eISBN:
- 9780231537421
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231166164.003.0007
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
In this Class, Ibn Sina discusses existence and its causes. Ibn Sina argues that there is an uncaused being that causes the existence of all other things. He first asserts that existence in an ...
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In this Class, Ibn Sina discusses existence and its causes. Ibn Sina argues that there is an uncaused being that causes the existence of all other things. He first asserts that existence in an absolute sense, the sense beyond the existence of this or that thing, is predicable of the caused and the uncaused existence, as well as the universals, quiddities, or primary realities of things that are intelligible and beyond the sensible. He then differentiates between quiddities and existence and between their causes, taking triangularity as an example of quiddities and considering its surface and lines as if they are its material cause (what makes a thing in potentiality) and formal cause (what makes a thing in actuality). He also elaborates the nature and function of the efficient and final causes, their relationship to other causes (whether or not embodying form and matter), and to each other.Less
In this Class, Ibn Sina discusses existence and its causes. Ibn Sina argues that there is an uncaused being that causes the existence of all other things. He first asserts that existence in an absolute sense, the sense beyond the existence of this or that thing, is predicable of the caused and the uncaused existence, as well as the universals, quiddities, or primary realities of things that are intelligible and beyond the sensible. He then differentiates between quiddities and existence and between their causes, taking triangularity as an example of quiddities and considering its surface and lines as if they are its material cause (what makes a thing in potentiality) and formal cause (what makes a thing in actuality). He also elaborates the nature and function of the efficient and final causes, their relationship to other causes (whether or not embodying form and matter), and to each other.
