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Single Idea 12084

[filed under theme 9. Objects / C. Structure of Objects / 2. Hylomorphism / a. Hylomorphism ]

Full Idea

Form is not an accidental property of matter, and it is not a necessary property of matter. These considerations make it unlikely that Aristotle holds form or essence to be a property of matter in the composite substance.

Gist of Idea

Essential form is neither accidental nor necessary to matter, so it appears not to be a property

Source

report of Aristotle (Metaphysics [c.324 BCE], ess) by Charlotte Witt - Substance and Essence in Aristotle 4.5

Book Ref

Witt,Charlotte: 'Substance and Essence in Aristotle' [Cornell 1994], p.129


A Reaction

I suppose form bestows the identity, and the identity gives rise to the properties. But you don't create identity on Monday, and add the properties on Tuesday, so forming an entity and giving it properties seem to coincide.


The 30 ideas with the same theme [general ideas about form specifying matter]:

Scientists explain anger by the matter, dialecticians by the form and the account [Aristotle]
Matter is potential, form is actual [Aristotle]
In 'Metaphysics' Z substantial primacy (as form) is explanatory rather than ontological [Aristotle, by Wedin]
The form of a thing is its essence and its primary being [Aristotle]
In 'Metaphysics' substantial forms take over from objects as primary [Aristotle, by Frede,M]
Essences are not properties (since those can't cause individual substances) [Aristotle, by Witt]
Essential form is neither accidental nor necessary to matter, so it appears not to be a property [Aristotle, by Witt]
Plato says changing things have no essence; Aristotle disagrees [Aristotle, by Politis]
Aristotle's cosmos is ordered by form, and disordered by matter [Aristotle, by Gill,ML]
Aristotle moved from realism to nominalism about substances [Aristotle, by Frede,M]
A substance is a proper subject because the matter is a property of the form, not vice versa [Aristotle, by Gill,ML]
Aristotle doesn't think essential properties are those which must belong to a thing [Aristotle, by Kung]
Forms of sensible substances include unrealised possibilities, so are not fully actual [Aristotle, by Frede,M]
Form, not matter, is a thing's nature, because it is actual, rather than potential [Aristotle]
The unmoved mover and the soul show Aristotelian form as the ultimate mereological atom [Aristotle, by Koslicki]
Substantial forms must exist, to explain the stability of metals like silver and tin [Albertus Magnus]
Hot water naturally cools down, which is due to the substantial form of the water [William of Ockham]
Forms must rule over faculties and accidents, and are the source of action and unity [Suárez]
Prime matter is free of all forms, but has the potential for all forms [Eustachius]
A chair is wood, and its shape is the form; it isn't 'compounded' of the matter and form [Hobbes]
Form is not a separate substance, but just the manner, modification or 'stamp' of matter [Boyle]
To cite a substantial form tells us what produced the effect, but not how it did it [Boyle]
Aristotelian essentialism involves a 'natural' or 'causal' interpretation of modal operators [Marcus (Barcan)]
Aristotelian essentialism is about shared properties, individuating essentialism about distinctive properties [Marcus (Barcan)]
If the substantial form of brass implies its stability, how can it melt and remain brass? [Alexander,P]
Modern emphasis is on properties had essentially; traditional emphasis is on sort-defining properties [Brody]
Form explains why some matter is of a certain kind, and that is explanatory bedrock [Wedin]
The form explains kind, structure, unity and activity [Koslicki]
The extremes of essentialism are that all properties are essential, or only very trivial ones [Rami]
Corpuscularianism rejected not only form, but also the dependence of matter on form [Pasnau]