TASK ONE: Develop a 2-page essay on the metaphysics of Aristotle, include in your discussion the

concepts of substance, matter and form, the four process of change, potentially and actuality and the
unmoved mover.

Metaphysic’s a division of philosophy that is concerned with the fundamental nature of reality and being
and that includes ontology, cosmology, and often epistemology, metaphysics analyzes the generic traits
manifested by existences of any kind.

The Subject of Aristotle’s Metaphysics

Aristotle himself described his subject matter in a variety of ways as first philosophy or the study of
being qua being or wisdom or theology. If it is to be required that metaphysics begin with the
knowledge that its subject matter is distinct from natural philosophy’s, then natural philosophy’s proof
for the immaterial seems essential. For if, and only if, one can say that there is some being which is not
material, is it possible to claim that not all being is material and that being is separate from materiality.
Unless one knows that there is some immaterial reality, one will not know that “to be” is distinct from
“to be made of stuff.” The way in which Aristotle seeks to show that the universe is a single causal
system is through an examination of the notion of movement Within the four domains where genuine
change can occur, change always requires the existence of a potentiality which can be actualized. But
change is neither identical to this potentiality, nor to the lack of a property, nor, without further
qualifications, to the actuality which is acquired when the potentiality is actualized. All other changes
depend on locomotion, because any two entities involved in change, with their active and passive
potentialities respectively, need to come into contact in order for the interaction to occur Moreover
locomotion is the form of change which can occur in isolation of generation, perishing and the other
forms of change. Aristotle’s classification of motions into those contrary to nature and those according
to nature applies not only to the motions of the moved objects, but transfers also to the movers
effecting motions Aristotle’s part is that this division is exhaustive: there are no changes to which the
nature of the entity would be indifferent or neutral. The major consideration behind such a
presupposition is that natures regulate the behavior of the entities to which they belong in a
comprehensive manner, and not merely partially. Any influence the entity is exposed to interacts with
its nature in a substantive manner. The entity does not possess potentialities for change which would
not be directly related to the tendencies emerging from its nature. The material cause is what
something is made out of. The human body of made up of cells. Wooden boxes are made up of wood.
Computers are made out of transistors and other electronic components. The material cause also
explains the general sort of properties of something. Wooden boxes burn because they are made out of
wood. The human body needs oxygen because its cells need oxygen. Finally, the material cause can be
divided into two: prime matter and proximate matter. Proximate matter is matter that has some
properties, such as wood, cells and electronic components. Prime matter has no properties at all.
Aristotle believed that prime matter did not exist, but was theoretically necessary.
The formal cause is what makes a thing one thing rather than many things. The human body is human,
wooden boxes are boxes, and computers are computers. The difference between a mere collection of
cells and a human body is that a human body has properties and functions that come from a particular
arrangement of the right kind of cells doing the right kind of things. A mere collection of cells is not the
formal cause. A human body is the formal cause. The formal cause can also be divided into two: formal
cause and exemplary cause. An exemplary cause is the plan in someone’s mind that gave rise to a
computer. Things have either a formal cause or an exemplary cause not both.

The efficient cause is what did that. If a ball broke a window, then the ball is the efficient cause of the
window breaking. Every change is caused by an efficient cause. If your eye sees, then it sees because
light from the object strikes your eyes and causes you to see what is there. Efficient causes answer the
what did that question, but do not answer how it was done.

The final cause is why efficient causes do what they do and why formal causes do what they do. Why do
balls break windows? The final cause says that because balls are hard and windows are brittle, they
break. Why do rocks fall? Aristotle said that rocks fall because they are heavy. Air is light, therefore air
rises. These are all pointing out the final cause of efficient causes. To ask for the final cause of formal
causes is to ask why these things exist at all. Why do human beings exist? Aristotle says that they exist to
make more human beings, because they are alive. They also exist to be happy because they are rational.
Why pressure cookers exist? They exist because people made them. They wanted to use them as a tool
in cooking. Why do rocks exist? They exist because the wind, sea and rain break rock formations to
produce rocks. These things are also final causes.
TASK TWO: Outline the problem of the mind in philosophy. Choose either Dualism or Monism and
expound on the concept on mind as viewed by the school of thought

DUALISM.
.