The eminent thinker of Ancient Greece Aristotle (born 348 BC) was interested in empirical sciences. Beloved student of Plato, he well mastered his philosophy, but, nevertheless, criticized it. It is Aristotle who owns the famous phrase about Plato, friendship and truth. Aristotle's works addressed to the general public are preserved only fragmentarily, however, the works intended for students have survived to this day.
The word "metaphysics" came into use with the filing of Andronicus of Rhodes, who collected the work of Aristotle. The collection of his works consisted of 14 books: works on logic, natural sciences, books on being, works on ethics, aesthetics, biology and politics. The section on being named after metaphysics was named after research on physics (translated from ancient Greek - “meta” means “further”).
In metaphysics, the ancient Greek philosopher outlined the doctrine of the principles that laid the foundation of wisdom. The metaphysics of Aristotle describes the four highest causes of being (they are the same origin). Instead of the triple Platonic structure (the world of things, the world of ideas and matter), he proposed a dual, including only matter and form. Aristotle's metaphysics briefly looks like this:
- Matter, or all that exists objectively - regardless of the observer. Matter is indestructible and eternal, passive and inert, contains the potential for the emergence of a variety of things. Primary matter is manifested in the form of five primary elements, they are also elements - air, fire, water, earth and celestial substance - ether.
- The form. From monotonous matter, the Higher Mind creates various forms. The being of a thing is the unity of form and matter, and form is an active and creative principle.
- The prime mover of all forms, the peak and cause of the universe, the intangible and eternal God. Reflects the moment from which the existence of a thing begins.
- Purpose, or "what for." The existence of every thing is justified by some purpose; the ultimate goal is good.
As follows from the foregoing, one of the central categories of philosophy throughout its history from Antiquity to the present day has become a concept that began with Aristotle. Physics studies objective phenomena, metaphysics explores what is beyond
physical phenomena and serves as their cause. The continuity of concepts can be seen in the modern synonymization of the word: metaphysical - invisible, unmanifest, ideal, extrasensory.
Aristotle's metaphysics declares the unity of the material and the ideal, form and matter. The basis of natural laws is the interaction
opposites - day-night, good-evil, man-woman, top-bottom, which form fire, air, water and earth and can be transformed into each other
thanks to the
power of interaction. According to his theory, the
qualitative characteristics of an entity are primary in relation to the quantitative.
The first step in cognition, the metaphysician of Aristotle affirms sensory cognition through sensations. Aristotle considers logic, without which knowledge is unthinkable, to be organic science, since it is an instrument (organon) for the study of being. The highest level - reasonable knowledge - consists in finding common ground in single phenomena and things.
The metaphysics of Aristotle calls mind the main advantage of man.