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Book Gamma & Delta. That which is, and that which ain’t . Being qua Being “being as being”. Being understood as being, being in the capacity of being
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Book Gamma & Delta That which is, and that which ain’t.
Being qua Being“being as being” • Being understood as being, being in the capacity of being • Remember Parmenides (there is that which is and that which ain’t) and where his metaphysical system took him? – there must be more than that … • Aristotle sets himself to the same task, “What is really real, and how is it real.”
Things that are • “Some things are called things that are because they are substances, other things are called things that are because they are affections of a substance.” (page 81 – 1003b) • What’s a substance? • What’s an affection?
Substance • Matter + Form • Matter : what is it made of • Form: Essential properties
Affections • Non-Essential properties • Healthy • Bald • Blue • Tall Think of your junior high grammar studies, there is a subject and predication about the subject.
Back to being as being • Unlike Parmenides Aristotle recognizes plurality as well as unity • Many sciences that study the various things that are, but philosophers study “areness” ,subtances and and their properties. • Not just (1) substance, (2)but that which lies behind all substances [first principles] and (3) the properties of substances. • Philosophy is the queen of the sciences because it is over-arching and all-embracing
What is philosophy • “There must be some one science that gives an account of all these items and that also gives an account of substance…. And the philosopher should be able to engage in the study of all these items.” (page 83; 1004b) • “…it is the task of philosophy to get to know both their essence and their accidents.” (pages 83-84; 1004b)
Philosophy is concerned with … • Primarily with substance • Unity and Plurality • Fundamental Principles of Demonstration and Logic (Gamma 3) • A philosopher is able to say something meaningful and truthful • Not like a sophist
Aristotle assumes you are familiar with his Enumeration of Opposites (page 82)
Law of Non-Contradiction is Axiomatic • An axiom or postulate is a proposition that is not proved or demonstrated but considered to be either self-evident, or subject to necessary decision. Therefore, its truth is taken for granted, and serves as a starting point for deducing and inferring other (theory dependent) truths. • To deny it is self-refuting, because you have to use it to deny it. • And how would you deny it, by use of the elenchus (page 90), that is proving it’s opposite is true, but isn’t its opposite non-non-contradiction
The Law of Non-Contradiction • Aristotle’s definition: page 88 • A cannot be both B and non-B at the same time and in the same sense. • The two propositions A is B and A is not B are mutually exclusive. A may be B at one time, and not at another; A may be partly B and partly not B at the same time; but it is impossible to predicate of the same thing, at the same time, and in the same sense, the absence and the presence of the same quality.
Questioning the Axiom #1 • Can a man be both alive and dead?
Yes, alive today and dead tomorrow • Qualified by “at the same time”
Yes, physically alive and spiritually dead. • Qualified by “in the same sense”
Questioning the Axiom • B= Socrates and non-B= non-Socrates • B includes everything in the universe other than Socrates • To assert that B = non-B is to be a pantheist • So Hindus and others have no problem denying the law-contradiction, but they cheat by using it to deny it.
If the Law of Non-Contradiction isn’t binding, then … • There is no difference between going South to my house, or going non-South • There is no difference between drinking water and drinking Drano • There is no difference between sin and non-sin • There is no difference between you and God (Aristotle says everything becomes accident [page 93] and we get monism [page 94]. • This is what happens when you adopt this crazy view [page 95].
What About… • The Trinity • The Hypostatic Union • Sovereignty of God and Man’s Capacity For Significant Action
What is True? • What you believe can be true for you and what I believe is true for me. • Can Christianity and Islam and Buddhism all be true? Can they be different paths up the same mountain? • Protagorean relativism [Gamma 5] • What sin did Dr. Mohler commit (according to the world) with his recent article on Yoga.
