1.

0 INTRODUCTION

Aristotle, one of the most influential philosophers in Western history, made significant
contributions to many fields, including metaphysics, ethics, politics, biology, and logic. Born in
384 BCE in Stagira, Greece, and a student of Plato, Aristotle developed a comprehensive system
of thought that has profoundly shaped intellectual history. Among his many philosophical
achievements, his exploration of the concepts of form and matter stands out as a foundational
aspect of his metaphysical framework.

In Aristotle’s philosophy, understanding the relationship between form (eidos) and matter (hyle)
is crucial for grasping his views on the nature of reality, change, and the essence of objects.
These concepts form the backbone of his theory of substance (ousia) and are essential for
comprehending his explanations of the physical and biological worlds. This paper aims to delve
into Aristotle's notions of form and matter, explain their relationship, and highlight their
significance within his broader philosophical system. By exploring these ideas, we can better
appreciate Aristotle’s profound insights into the nature of existence and their lasting impact on
later philosophical thought.

2.0 HISTORICAL CONTEXT

2.1 ARISTOTLE

Aristotle was not strictly Greek; he was a Macedonian, but he was certainly greatly influenced
by Greek civilization. He was born in Stagira, on the Chalcidic peninsula, in the year 384 B.C.
His father, Nicomachus, was a physician and a friend of Amyntas II, king of Macedonia. 1
When he was eighteen years old, he entered Plato's school in Athens; he remained there
nineteen years-until the master's death-in the capacity of student and also of teacher, all the
while very closely related to and at the same time in profound disagreement with Plato. In 334,
Aristotle returned to Athens and founded his own school. In the suburbs of the city, in a grove
that was consecrated to Apollo Lyceum and the Muses, he rented some houses which were to
constitute the Lyceum.
2.2 PLATO’S THEORY OF FORMS AND ARISTOTLE’S RESPONSE

1
Julian Maris, History of philosophy Trans from the Spanish by Stanley Appelbaum and Clarence C. Strawbridge
(New York: Dover Publications, 1967), p60.
Plato’s theory of Forms, or Ideas, states that the material world we perceive through our senses is
only a shadow of a higher, unchanging reality. According to Plato, true knowledge is about these
eternal and perfect Forms, which exist in a non-material realm 2. For instance, while we can see
many different trees in the physical world, they all share a common essence or Form of
"treeness" that exists beyond the physical objects themselves. This Form is perfect, immutable,
and can only be grasped through intellectual reasoning rather than sensory experience.

Aristotle, a student of Plato, acknowledged his teacher's influence but ultimately rejected the
notion of separate, immaterial Forms. Instead, Aristotle proposed that form and matter are
inseparable aspects of the same reality. He argued that the Forms are not independent entities but
are intrinsic to the objects themselves. According to Aristotle, every physical object is a
composite of form and matter. The form (eidos) gives an object its structure and purpose, while
the matter (hyle) provides the substance from which the object is made.3

Aristotle’s response emphasizes the real world, stating that we gain knowledge by studying the
forms within physical objects, not by thinking about abstract, separate Forms. This makes his
philosophy based on observing and analyzing the world around us, unlike Plato’s more abstract
and idealistic view.

3.0 CONTEXUAL CLARIFICATIONS

3.1 ARISTOTLE METAPHYSICS
Metaphysics as a branch in philosophy is the study of being as being (the crux). It is the
philosophical work in which he explores concepts such as substance, cause and effect, and
potentiality and actuality. In this work, Aristotle argues that all things have a fundamental nature
or essence, which he refers to as substance. “A substance has an essence, and this will be
expressed by the definition that tells us what it is, but the definition of a substance must include
both matter and form…These are merely two inseparable constituents of what a person is. A
body without a form, or soul, is a corpse; a soul without a body is what we call a spirit”4.
4.0 ARISTOTLE’S CONCEPTS OF FORM AND MATTER
4.1 DEFINITION OF SUBSTANCE

2
Julia Annas, An Introduction to Plato's Republic (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1981), 210
3
Christopher Shields, Aristotle (London: Routledge, 2007), 143
4
Gerard and Joseph, Aquinas and Modern Science: A New Synthesis to Faith and Reason (Kettering, OH: Angelico
Press,2016)P18
In Aristotle's philosophy, he describes substance as the initial form of anything that is being. He
posits that it is the core of our being, it becomes the fundamental principle in everything and it
articulates being as being.5 Aristotle differentiates between primary substances and secondary
substances.
Primary Substance: This is the individual entity that exists in itself and are not predicated of
anything else. They are the most important stage or level of anything that exists. Each primary
substance is a unique kind, it possesses specific characteristics or identity, and this is because
they possess ultimate reality6. That is to say, a goat is a goat and is not the same as a dog, Mango
trees are not the same as orange trees. Primary substances are concrete and particular.
Secondary Substance: These are group of individuals that share common characteristics or
properties. They are not concrete individuals but rather the categories that define groups of
primary substances. Secondary substances depends on primary substances because they are not
as fundamental and individuated as primary substance, this is because secondary substances are
abstractions derived from the individual entities7
4.2 FORM
In Aristotle's Metaphysics, form is a key concept used to explain the nature of things. According
to Aristotle, everything in the natural world consists of both matter and form. Matter refers to the
physical substance that composes an object, while form refers to the specific characteristics or
properties that this matter possesses. For Aristotle, form means any structure, organization, or
pattern imposed on that matter, which gives the thing its specific nature. Form is the principle of
determination that defines the kind of thing something is. It is also the principle of actuality,
meaning it accounts for the thing being the sort of thing it actually is. For example, the form of a
chair includes its shape, size, and structure, which makes it a chair and not something else.
4.3 SUBSTANTIAL FORM
Substantial form is what makes a thing be what it is, be one, and be intelligible. First, substantial
form makes a thing what it is. The substantial form of a cat, for instance, is what makes it a cat.
A cat is an ordered whole with different biological systems such as the cardiac system, digestive
system, and nervous system. In order for the system to work, the cat needs parts—not just parts
but certain kinds of parts. The cardiac system needs a heart and blood; the digestive system

5
Sr Mary Christine Ugobi, IHM, Class note Introduction to Metaphysics, (DU Hall 1 10th April, 2024)
6
Sr Mary Christine Ugobi, IHM, Class note Introduction to Metaphysics, (DU Hall 1, 11th April, 2024)
7
Sr Mary Christine Ugobi, IHM, Class note Introduction to Metaphysics.
needs the throat and stomach; the nervous system needs a brain and spine; and more. The
substantial form of the cat is the order of the whole organism, but that order includes the order of
all the subsystems, all the parts of all the subsystems, and all the parts of all the parts. Substantial
form is not just the plan of a thing. It is also the inner source of the whole, all the systems, and all
the parts. Substantial form is the source of the beating of the heart, the firing of the nerves, and
the active digestion going on. The substantial form fixes the developmental sequence of the
whole cat from beginning to end, and the substantial form is the very-being-at-work of the cat,
driving it on its development to its end, that is, to full development and operation in the optimal
state of flourishing. All of this goes into the little expression that substantial form makes a thing
what it is .In order to assert that the substantial form of a whole thing accounts for the parts, not
the parts for the whole, the whole cat is what accounts for the parts and the parts of all the parts
all the way down, as well as the activities or operations of the parts. This is known as a top-down
or whole-to-part explanation by philosophers.
Substantial form makes a thing intelligible. Understanding the essentials consists of reading the
forms of things in nature. It is like when a person is engrossed in reading a novel. The reader
becomes the book, so to speak, and mentally lives the story. Human beings who study the things
of nature become engrossed in reading the book of nature and mentally live the very forms of
things in nature. If thought is one thing and things are another, is there really knowledge?
Aristotle realized that for there to be know knowledge of a thing, the form in the thing and the
form in our mind must be one and the same. And that is what knowledge is—oneness of mind
and things according to their forms8.
4.4 ARISTOTLE MATTER
Matter, according to Aristotle, is one of the two basic principles of the universe, with the other
being form. Matter is the material or substance of things, and form is the structure or
organization that gives things their specific characteristics and functions. Matter is the principle
of potentiality—of the ability to become other than it is. In the order of essence matter is
potency. Makes is what makes a thing particular the principle of individualization. Matter or
stuff is what is unique. The term “matter” in modern English corresponds to the word “stuff”.
For instance, when the stuff that Mary eats turns into Mary, Aquinas would say that, “the same

8
Cf. Thomastic Institute, Substantial Form (Aquinas 101), April, 17 th 2021. 8:45 to 9:25.
https://youtu.be/C6JhF1ySCHk. Retrieved on May, 22nd, 2024.
matter was first food and then became part of a human body” 9. Matter for Aristotle mean “any
content, any stuffing, filling, the ingredients, and the raw material whether be it the physical stuff
or for instance the stuff of a novel which could be which could be the episodes, the situations, the
character or the stuffing of a word which would be like the syllables or letters making it up of the
stuff of a person’s character for instance the his passions, his thoughts, his tendencies”10.
4.5 MATTER AS PRIME MATTER
When Aristotle tries to first answer the issue of change by Permenides with the idea that the
substance or subject underlying the change something always endures through any change that
occurs and the form or privation does not endure through the change, the discussion on prime
matter develops. Aristotle also adheres to the Empedoclean concept, which holds that everything
in the sublunary realm is ultimately made of the four elements (earth, air, fire, and water) in
varying proportions. Third, he asserted that the four elements are capable of changing into one
another and that when this occurs, these processes represent substantial changes as opposed to
merely modifications, which are qualitative, non-substantive changes. These perspectives taken
together make up what is known as prime matter. Aristotle prime matter is “a kind of matter
which, among other things, is capable of persisting through substantial change even at the most
basic elemental level and which has no perceptible qualities essentially”11
Aristotle's prime matter can be summed up as follows: it is what underlies the elemental
transformations; it is not in itself a specific thing or quantity, nor is it assigned to any other
category by which being is determined; it lacks an essence because neither positive nor negative
characterizations apply to it; it cannot exist on its own; and because it lacks an essence, it is
inherently unknowable. Prime matter, as described, is therefore much more "bare" than the
substratum proposed by bare particularists, as prime matter is also stated to be devoid of any
particularity in addition to lacking an essence or inherent nature.
5.0 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FORM AND MATTER
Aristotle's theory of forms, also known as hylomorphism, proposes that all physical objects are
made up of both matter and form. Matter is the physical substance of an object, while form is its
structure essence. When Aristotle begins to write on the Metaphysics, he carries with him a

9
Gerard and Joseph, Aquinas and Modern Science p17.
10
Leonard Peikoff, Matter, form and Causality: part 16 of 50, YouTube, May, 2020. 4:16 to 9:07
https://youtu.be/V93b2gWP5hg. Retrieved on May, 22nd, 2024.
11
Kathrin Koslicki, form, matter, substance (Oxford: oxford university press, 2018), p34.
variety of form-related ideas. These ideas comprise, the logical works: form as species? The
12
physics: form versus matter, biology form as goal and as inherited, the de anima: form as soul”
In the logical works; His basic scheme is that there are on the one hand particular things—e.g.
particular men, or horses, or trees—and on the other their forms (species), and their more general
types (genera). Thus animal is a general type (genus), under which fall many different forms
(species), such as man, horse, sheep, and so on 13. .In his works on biology, Aristotle argues that
we will not understand natural objects, in particular living things, unless we recognize that in
their case too, things happen for a purpose. The argument is applied in two ways: first, to the
parts of animals and plants, and second, to their natural behavior 14. On form as inherited.
Aristotle’s theory of how sexual reproduction takes place in animals is that the male parent
supplies the form (conveyed usually by the semen), and the female parent supplies the matter
(which he takes to be the menstrual fluid)15.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Annas, Julia. An Introduction to Plato's Republic. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1981.

Shields, Christopher. Aristotle. London: Routledge, 2007.

Lear, Jonathan. Aristotle: The Desire to Understand. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1988.

12
David Bostock, Space, Time, Matter and Form: Essays on Aristotle’s Physics (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2006), P80-95.
13
David Bostock, Space, Time, Matter and Form: p, 80.
14
Cf. David Bostock, Space, Time, Matter and Form: p, 87.
15
David Bostock, Space, Time, Matter and Form: p, 91.