ARISTOTLE'S “ON THE SOUL”

Aristotle's “On the Soul”

Aristotle's “On the Soul”

Matter and Form

Aristotle values his well renowned matter/form distinction to response the inquiry “What is soul?” At the starting of De Anima II.1, he states that there are three kinds of substance:

Matter (potentiality)

Form (actuality)

The aggregate of issue and form

Aristotle is involved in mixtures that are alive. These - plants and animals - are the things that have souls. Their spirits are what make them dwelling things.

Since pattern is what makes issue a “this,” the soul is the form of a dwelling thing. (Not its form, but its ...