L22-02-05-14-205

1. L22-02-05-14-205 One more time on On the Soul The complex position Aristotle reaches is this: In the matter of things is the potential to be alive; when that is realized, the result is the soul as actuality (entelechy). So from Physics, the potential is present in matter from the beginning, and almost in passing, Aristotle presents matter as yearning for form. Also from the Physics, he takes the view that all the steps by which matter is actualized (in nature) to achieve the form of a living thing, is purposive, in the second sense of telos: that for the sake of which. Thus, each successive step in the growth of a natural thing is for the sake of the next step. In ON THE SOUL, this particular cycle is toward the life cycle: from seed, to plant, from semen to child, to adult plant or animal—completing the cycle: the adult is now capable of producing more seed. So there are two problems: what guides development ? (that is where the TECHNE of nature comes in) and where did the first seed come from?

2. Review on motion If Aristotle presumes (as he does) that nature is purposive, and therefore is driven by art, he can for the moment take for granted that the step by step development that is empirically confirmable is the result of an intrinsic techne or art embedded in nature. Thus, all that has to happen (all?!) is an initial motion to start the processes. Where does that come from? His view is that it starts either from desire or from thought, and both can be resolved to a DESIRE FOR AND PURSUIT OF THE GOOD. The remaining puzzle: is there any reason to believe that the supposedly purposive art of nature could in any way be confirmed? What would make the case?

3. The link between Poetics and Metaphysics • The schematic answer is that you would need to show an example wherein an art (of the productive kind (poesis), where the four causes all fit neatly together) arises not from desire or thought of an agent, but rather, from nature itself. • Sidebar on human generation: the homunculus. At certain points, including On the Soul, Aristotle posits that everything that will develop is already in the seed: the mother provides only a damp garden bed, whereas the semen is the seed and the real point of origin. The homunculus is posited as a little tiny guy inside the semen: feed him and he will grow into a baby. If it is damaged, it’s a girl; if all goes right, it’s a boy.

4. The implication is still there Seek the origin. When Aristotle settles on motion—either desire or thought—he assumes that there will be a transcendent agent, which he eventually seeks in the “unmoved mover” of Metaphysics. The origin, in other words, is a circular, ever moving universe, with an unmoved mover at its circumference. But you can’t get there unless you have an example of an art that could have been in nature, such that it does not take motion by the unmoved mover to keep things going.