Physics

1. Physics Philosophy 1 Spring, 2002 G. J. Mattey

2. Nature vs. Artifice • Some things are by nature • They have a principle of change and stability within themselves • Artificial things have no such principle • A thing that is by nature has a nature • Only substances have a nature • It is evident that there are many things by nature

3. Matter vs. Form • The nature of a thing may be conceived as the matter that makes it up (e.g., bronze, or more generally, earth) • It may also be conceived as the form of the thing • The form is more the nature than the matter • We call a thing what it is (statue) when it actually has the form, not when it potentially does (as bronze)

4. Studying Nature • Unlike the mathematician, the student of nature studies matter • He studies its mathematical properties only insofar as it is natural • Since nature is conceived as form, form must also be studied • This is true in crafts as well, and “craft imitates nature” • There are ends and means in crafts, and these must be studied in nature

5. The Four Causes • In inquiring about natural change, we ask four kinds of questions about causes • What is the matter from which it arises? • What is its form or the account of its essence? • What agent produced it? • What is its end? • In many cases, the causes are the same (e.g., “what something is and what it is for are one”)

6. Luck and Chance • A dilemma: • Everything that happens can be referred to some cause • But we say that things come into being from luck • Another dilemma: • Chance is said by philosophers to be the cause of the world • But chance cannot account for the existence of animals and plants • We need to clarify what luck and chance are to overcome these dilemmas

7. Lucky Events • Luck is distinguished from what is always or usually the case (you win the lottery) • An event that is unusual may still be for something (intended to be, or by nature) • When a cause is coincidental to what something is intentionally for, it is called luck • For example, it is a matter of luck if I bump into you while I am on an errand, and you happen to have the money to repay a debt to me

8. Chance • Chance is a broader category than luck • Being lucky is the result of intentional action, which requires a decision • Chance applies to children, animals, and inanimate objects • A chance event happens for a reason coincidental to the natural end toward which it is directed (e.g., a horse when walking finds lush grass to eat)

9. Teleology and Necessity • Why say that nature acts for a purpose, rather than from necessity? • The end (e.g., the functions of animals) would then be brought about by chance • The reason favoring teleology is that chance requires an event to be unusual • Craft is teleological, and it either completes the work of nature or imitates nature • Plants and animals show evidence of teleology

10. In Defense of Teleology • Apparent irregularities in nature can be explained as the result of failure to achieve an end, rather than by chance • Moving toward an end does not require deliberation • The causes that are needed for the production of a thing are only material • Necessity is in the end, rather than in the antecedent conditions that produce an event