ARISTOTLE - MIND

<BODY> <CENTER><FONT SIZE=5><B><FONT SIZE=6>ARISTOTLE</FONT><BR> THE REALIST</B></FONT></CENTER><P> <FONT SIZE=4><B>Mind over Matter</B></FONT><P> <FONT SIZE=4><B>MATERIALIST</B></FONT><BR> Aristotle did not abandon <A HREF="../04/04f01.html" TARGET="_top">Plato's</A> theory of Forms, but considered the Forms to be within the thing itself, not some separate existence. Characteristic of all nature is movement and change. In this world of change, any individual object has both <B>substance</B> (something that changes) and form or <B>essence</B> (something that stays the same). Where Plato believed that truth could be reached only through reason, Aristotle saw a reality in nature that, experienced through the senses and subject to rational analysis, could reveal universal truths. Where Plato was an <A HREF="../t03/g024.html" TARGET="_top">idealist</A>, he was a <A HREF="../t03/g030.html" TARGET="_top">materialist</A>.<P> <FONT SIZE=4><B>FINAL CAUSE</B></FONT><BR> Everything is in a state of movement and change, but the basic goal of everything is rest and permanence. Physical objects fall to the ground. Man, as a rational being, seeks permanence by conceiving of unchanging objects, pure forms. Since everything is trying to reach rest and unchangeability there must be a goal corresponding to what everything is trying to achieve. The cosmos has a final cause and an ultimate Good towards which everything is drawn.<P> <FONT SIZE=4><B>UNMOVED MOVER</B></FONT><BR> Moreover there could be no motion, he argues, unless there is an initiator of movement that is itself unmoved. The ultimate formal, efficient and final cause of the universe is an "Unmoved Mover". Aristotle's "Unmoved Mover" is eternal, intelligent and non-material. This is pure form thinking about itself. This is actuality without potentiality. This is perfection. This is God. But not a god that intervenes in the affairs of nature, which always follow their natural course. This is a god unmoved by both earthly and cosmic events. <BR clear=left><BR> <HR width=100%> <A HREF="http://www.creatorix.com.au"><IMG SRC="../creatorix.gif" WIDTH="85" HEIGHT="40" BORDER="0" ALT="Creatorix" align=right></A> </BODY>