Assignment #5 Aristotelian Philosophy Portugal, John Vincent V.

How did Aristotle surpass the presocratic philosophers?

Aristotle's treatise entitled Physics deals with the nature of the physical world, or the cosmos,
from where we got the word "cosmology," which in present parlance means the "philosophy of
nature." The interest in the workings of nature did not begin with Aristotle. This interest first
sparked the first Greek philosophers, starting from Thales to Plato.

There are several reasons or ways on how Aristotle surpassed the Greek philosophers before
him regarding the explanation of the physical universe and the "coming to be" of things. In the
Physics, he gives an account of the opinions of the philosophers before him and, more
importantly, orders them into their respective categories or divisions (Aristotle, Physics, I, 2). In
the same chapter he is also able to distinguish which of these opinions belong properly to
"natural science" (or physics), and which do not. For some of the opinions of the presocratic
philosophers are not required of the philosopher of nature (the "physicist") to take into
consideration or to resolve. He even refutes and corrects the opinions of his predecessors. In this
regard, he already surpasses them.

Furthermore, Aristotle also surpassed the presocratics in his discovery that in every "coming to
be", there are three principles found, viz., the subject, the terminus of the production, and its
opposite. More importantly, Aristotle discovers that there are two "per se" principles that
account for the being and the becoming of things in nature, namely, matter and form; and one
"per accidens" principle, which is privation (Physics, I, 7). Moreover, he attributes the errors of
his predecessors to their ignorance of matter, resolving it by the truth of the principles stated
above. Specifically, the distinction of matter and form in nature is not clear to the ancients. In a
sense they considered either one or the other, but never both. This ignorance accounts for the
errors in their teachings. Aristotle clarifies the explanation of the physical universe in terms of
the "hylomorphic theory," which states that every real, material being is composed of two
elements, viz., prime matter and substantial form (hyle - "matter"; morphe - 'form"). The prime
matter limits the substantial form. Aristotle calls the resulting material composite "second
matter." This theory explains two physical phenomena that we observe in nature: (1) the
multiplicity of beings within a species, and (2) substantial change (O'Donnel, 46). In this way,
Aristotle surpasses the presocratic philosophers regarding the explanation of the physical
universe and things in nature.

One key description or characteristic of Aristotelian philosophy is its realism. This does not
mean that the philosophers before him were not concerned in giving a "realistic" account of
nature and the universe. Indeed, all philosophers attempt to explain reality. However, Aristotle
surpasses the presocratics (and even a number of modern and contemporary philosophers) in
terms of the level of realism found in his philosophy, making clear the distinction between the
knower (human person) and the thing known (the real world). This is also the reason why his
greatest disciple, St. Thomas Aquinas, has given him the title "The Philosopher". No other
philosopher, then and now, is deemed worthy of that title.

Sources:

Aquinas, Thomas. Commentary on Aristotle's Physics. Trans. Richard J. Blackwell, Richard J.

Spath and W. Edmund Thirkel. Notre Dame, Indiana: Dumb Ox Books, 1999.

O'Donnel, Robert A. Hooked On Philosophy: Thomas Aquinas Made Easy. Manila, Philippines: St.
Pauls, 1997.