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The Metaphysics of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas

Comparing & Contrasting The Natural Law Theory

Comparing and Contrasting Aquinas and Aristotle

- Both Aristotle and Aquinas believed that human beings are knowledgeable of the rules regarding natural law. All humans possess this basic knowledge.

- Although Aristotle and Aquinas had similar theories, they do in turn have some different ideas. Aristotle believed that what makes a human being good, depends on what is completing of a human being. Aquinas mentions that human beings can reasonably argue that many things are to be considered good such as protection of human life.

Comparing

Their

Definitions Of Metaphysics

Aristotle defines metaphysics as beyond the physical world. He states that metaphysics can also be described as "first philosophy". Metaphysics in a deeper context is the knowledge of immaterial being. This specifically includes topics such as substance, species, movement, and infinity.

Aquinas piggybacks on Aristotle's ideas in order to support and explain Catholic Beliefs. Thomas Aquinas used Aristotle's universal method of reasoning in order to understand the religious world.

Aristotle highly influenced Thomas Aquinas's way of thinking, resulting in them sharing similar views. In terms of Metaphysics, Aquinas used Aristotle's ideas and applied a twist in order to unite faith with reason.

Aristotle came up with the idea of accidents and substances. These accidents do not exist on their own, they only exist in relation to the substance. He explained this by using a horse as an example. The horse is the subject, meanwhile large and brown are words used to describe the horse. These descriptive words are defined as accidents.

Again, Thomas Aquinas piggybacked on Aristotle's theory in order to explain the change of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. He states that the accidents of the bread and wine do not change. It is the substances of both the bread and the wine that changes into the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

Comparing

The Accidents

and Substances Theories

Comparing

Their Theories on Matter and Form

Aristotle believed that everything is composed of both matter and form. The matter of a substance is what it is made up of, while the form is the actual structure itself. To explain this, Aristotle uses the example of a house. If the house is made of bricks, the bricks are the matter. The actual house itself is the form.

Thomas Aquinas shares a similar view, and therefore describes it with the example of a statue. The shape of the statue is the form, and if it was a marble statue, then the marble would be the matter.

Unlike Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas has an expanded view of matter. He believes mater can be both designated and undesignated.

The Prime Mover/Cosmological Argument

Comparing

Their Views On The Existence of God

Aristotle argued that there has always been something in motion and there always will be. Everything is caused by something. One thing causes another which causes another, which creates a chain effect.

Not only did Thomas Aquinas agree with Aristotle, but he also used his views to further this concept and create what is known as the cosmological argument. With the help of Aristotle's theories, Aquinas discovered 5 ways to prove the existence of God. His arguments are based on 1) Motion; 2) Causation; 3) Contingency; 4) Goodness; 5) Design.

Thomas Aquinas: What Is Metaphysics?

Thomas Aquinas's definition of Metaphysics

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Thomas Aquinas defines Metaphysics as what it means to "be" and what constitutes a human being. Aquinas's metaphysical views piggyback those of Aristotle's, however, Aquinas incorporates religion.

Thomas Aquinas's View of Reason And Faith

Reason and Faith

Thomas Aquinas believes that the teachings of the Catholic Church aren't based solely off of faith, but they include reason as well. He believes that God gifted human beings with the ability to reason. Thomas Aquinas applied Aristotle's theory of reason to religion. To Aquinas, reason and faith are compatible just like science and religion are. There are multiple ways to seek the same truth. He states that there is no conflict between what faith tells us and what reason tells us.

Thomas Aquinas once said, "Reason in man is rather like God in the world."

Aquinas and Natural Law

Natural Law Theory

Thomas Aquinas believes that human beings have the natural ability to reason, therefore they understand to pursue what is morally good. In the eyes of Aquinas, there are a variety of things that are to be considered good. These include the protection of human life, procreation, the pursuit of knowledge, development of society, and reasonable conduct. An action is good or bad based on whether or not reason is used. Reason is how we evaluate human acts. It is naturally good to use reason and help other human beings. For example, Aquinas believes that getting drunk is wrong as it affects a person's health and their ability to reason.

What Else Is Contrary To Natural Law?

Aquinas's Views on Catholic teachings

Natural Law is based on both faith and reason. Thomas Aquinas states that artificial contraception is contrary to natural law because it goes against a human being's natural ability to procreate. We are to remain open-minded regarding the act of natural procreation.

Homosexuality is contrary to natural law because it takes away the ability for a couple to procreate naturally. It closes this sexual act. Our person at birth is to grow and procreate when the time comes. According to Aquinas and the Church, anything that is contrary to the natural law is not right.

Aquinas's View On Substance And Accident

Substance and Accident

Aquinas states that substances have existence, and all change is either one substance becoming another, or that already existing substance is undergoing modification. Substances exist in themselves and can be both material and immaterial.

Accidents modify substances in one way or another, they cannot simply exist on their own. For example, if we say that an object is brown, brown becomes the accident.

Matter and Form

Matter

And

Form

Aquinas explains the idea of matter and form with an example of a statue. If it's a marble statue, the marble would be the matter. The shape of the statue itself would be the form. The matter has the structure it has because of the form. According to Aquinas, matter can be designated and undesignated.

The designated matter is the type of matter in which one can make use of. The undesignated matter is the type of matter in which we consider through our use of reason. For example, the flesh and bones that make up an individual are designated matter, while the notions of the flesh and bones are notions of certain types of matter.

What is

Metaphysics?

images from

https://free-images.com/search/?q=aristotle&cat=st

Aristotle's definition of Metaphysics

Aristotle states the term "metaphysics" translates to first philosophy. First philosophy or metaphysics is defined as the knowledge of the causes of things. He also defines it as the "knowledge of immaterial being".

What is discussed in Metaphysics?

What does metaphysics consist of?

Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that addresses questions about reality, knowledge, reason and existence. Metaphysics helps us define and understand our own reality.

The word Metaphysics comes from Ancient Greece - Meta, meaning over and beyond – and physics. There are many subjects within the branch of metaphysics that are discussed including Religion, Philosophy and Astrology.

Metaphysics challenges science and tries to answer the deeper questions of life that lie beneath science. It is a deep exploration of reality and all it has to offer.

Causality, substance, species, movement, and infinity are all topics that are analyzed in metaphysics.

Questions such as "what is the nature of ultimate reality?", "What is the structure of the world in which we live?" and "Is everything in the universe determined by outside causes or are humans, at least, freely able to choose for themselves?" are all related to the idea of metaphysics.

The Concept of Change

The Concept of Change

Aristotle defines change as the actualizing of a potentiality of a subject. In order to be able to truly understand something, we have to know what it is made out of, what its purpose is, etc.

Aristotle developed four causes that describe change and represents it through a clay bowl.

The bowl is made of clay. This is the Material Cause of the bowl.

The shape of the bowl or the way it is sculpted is the Formal Cause.

The Material Cause is the person who made and sculpted the bowl.

Finally, why the bowl was made or the purpose behind it is known as the Final Cause.

In regards to the forms, Aristotle, unlike Plato, argued that if the universal

exists then at some point In time something to which the universal can be

attached.

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Substance As Matter and Form

Potential to Actual Theory

Aristotle famously rejected Plato's theory of forms, which discusses how properties such as beauty exist independently, separate from the objects themselves.

Aristotle believed that substances are a combination of both matter and form. The matter is the substance, what it is made out of, while the form is what the substance actually is. What the substance is composed of is its potentiality, and the form of the substance is its actuality. Aristotle believes they are one in the same.

Substance constitutes the reality of each living thing.

Aristotle's View on Non-Material Substances

Non-material substances

Aristotle states the differences between substances that are physical or material and ones that are movable or changeable. Physical substances are capable of being changed. The other kind of substance, non-physical, is immovable and unchangeable. Examples of non-material substances can range anywhere from numbers to our own human ideas.

Aristotle's Substance

and Accidents Theory

Substance

and

Accidents

Accidents are dependent on the subject. If the subject didn't exist, the accidents wouldn't either. For example, let's look at a large, brown horse. The subject is the horse, and without it, the terms large and brown would not exist. The horse is the substance, and the accidents large and brown don't exist on their own. They only exist in relation to the actual subject. Accidents such as colour and weight only exist when they are the accident of some sort of substance. In this example, if there was no horse, there would be no need for the accidents (large and brown).

Natural Law

Natural Law Theory

Aristotle concluded that the existence of laws whose content were set by "nature." What makes us good is what makes us complete as human beings. For example, what is to be considered good for an oak tree depends on the kind of tree it is by nature, and the same goes for us.

All human beings contain basic knowledge of what it means to be good or rational by human nature. However, knowledge of the natural law or our instinct to do what is right can be clouded by strong emotions or evil caused by anger. We can come to an understanding of the natural law anyhow by reflecting on our practices.

Aristotle

The life of Aristotle

Aristotle was an ancient Greek philosopher and scientist (384 B.C. to 322 B.C.)

At the age of 17, he joined Plato's academy.

Many have considered him to be one of the greatest thinkers of his time and to this day, in subjects such as politics, psychology and ethics.

Aristotle made contributions to logic, metaphysics, mathematics, physics, biology, botany, ethics, politics, agriculture, medicine, dance and theatre.

Aristotle wrote a book titled "Metaphysics" where he talked about the difference between matter and form. He was the writer of many other books that discussed topics such as politics and rhetoric.

Major Works

Aristotle founded his own school named the Lyceum, where he wrote, studied and taught.

He wrote as many as 200 pieces of work which covered any and all topics in science and philosophy.

Some of Aristotle's most famous works are Nicomachean Ethics, Politics, Metaphysics, Poetics and Prior Analytics.

Aristotle made extremely important contributions to almost every aspect of knowledge. In Arabic philosophy, he is known as the "The First Teacher”

He essentially invented formal logic, descriptive biology, physics, psychology, and comparative political institutions.

Aquinas

The life of Thomas Aquinas

St Thomas Aquinas was a Philosopher, Priest and Theologian born in 1225 in Roccasecca, Italy.

He is known for uniting religion with philosophical reasoning. He is ranked one of the most influential thinkers of medieval Scholasticism.

Thomas Aquinas studied Aristotle's work at the Benedictine house in Naples, where he later completed his primary education.

Studying Aristotle's philosophies inspired Aquinas to explore his own ideas in philosophy, resulting in him incorporating Aristotle's theories with his own.

Thomas Aquinas is the author of ‘Summa Theologiae’, which is deemed to be one of his best works.

It is described as "one of the classics of the history of philosophy and one of the most influential works of Western literature”.

He wrote multiple commentaries on Aristotle's works, as many of his own theories came from his ideas.

Major

Works

Bibliography

“The Life and Accomplishments of St. Thomas Aquinas.” History Click, 14 Oct. 2016, historyclick.com/life-accomplishments-st-thomas-aquinas/.

“St. Thomas Aquinas.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 16 Jan. 2019, www.biography.com/people/st-thomas-aquinas-9187231.

Kenny, Anthony J.P., and Anselm H. Amadio. “Aristotle.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 11 Jan. 2019, www.britannica.com/biography/Aristotle.

“Free Public Domain Images.” Free Images - Millions of Public Domain/cc0 Photos and Clipart, free-images.com/.

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, www.iep.utm.edu/faith-re/.

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, www.iep.utm.edu/aq-meta/.

Cohen, S. Marc. “Aristotle's Metaphysics.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 8 Oct. 2000, plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-metaphysics/.

Kelly, Erin. “The Metaphysics of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas.” Prezi.com, 31 Jan. 2017, prezi.com/9iue8oz_ywld/the-metaphysics-of-aristotle-and-thomas-aquinas/.

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