In order to fully understand Aristotle's views on a natural system, it
is necessary to first explain some general principles of his philosophy. It is
in his work the Categories that Aristotle presents the concept of substance, a
concept which will serve as the foundation for much of his philosophical system.
Substance, for Aristotle, is not a universal, but rather, it is the particular;
substance is not a "such," but a "this." Thus, substance is neither in nor is
it said of a subject (as are qualities). Rather it is that which makes the
subject numerically one; it is that which makes the subject the individual.
Substance is "an individual man and [or] an individual horse." Aristotle still
classifies universals as substances, for they define what constitutes the
substance, and without these universals, a substance would not be what is.
There are four characteristics of substances: a substance is a "this", not a
qualification or a 'such' (which stresses individuality); a substance has no
contraries to it (there are no opposites of a substance); a substance does not
admit more or less (there are not degrees of a substance); and a substance can
admit contraries while remaining numerically one.
In the Physics, Aristotle addresses that which constitutes Natural
Objects as substances. He states that all Natural Substances consist of both
form and matter. Matter is that out of which the substance arises and form is
that into which the matter develops. In building a table, the wood, nails, etc.,
are the matter, and the idea of a table, what the end result will be, is the
form, according to Aristotle. Matter and form are inseparable from each other;
there is no 'form' apart from concrete things. Aristotle explains that all
substances contain within themselves the origin of their change and movement.
He continues by stating that the change which can occur is due to four possible
natural causes: formal cause,...
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