Natural causality and spontaneity in Aristotle
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31977/grirfi.v20i1.1342Keywords:
Natural cause; Spontaneous Cause; Matter; Form; Teleology; Aristotle.Abstract
In Aristotle, the process of constitution of natural beings involves a set of causes, delimited according to the theory of matter and form. Matter is cause as a compositional support by which beings are generated; and form is cause as a factor responsible for the essential characteristics of the natural being, as well as for giving rise to a series of coordinated movements, which will result in substantial composition. In this article, I intend, at first, to argue that between the two types of fundamental causalities, that is, on the one hand, (i) that associated with material nature, and (ii) on the other, formal nature, there would be an explanatory primacy relative to the second, because in a fuller explanation involving these two causal aspects, material causality would be subordinated and subsumed by causality in formal-final terms. In a second moment, I’ll try to establish a contrast between natural causes and spontaneous cause, examining cases in which causal relationships do not occur due to a teleological determination, but by a mere conjunction of concomitant factors. Spontaneous generation is an example of events such as this, for in this case the constitution of the organism would not be presided over by a formal-final causality which administered a set of interdependently related causal series.
Downloads
References
ANGIONI, Lucas. Física I-II. Campinas: Ed. Unicamp, 2009.
ANGIONI, Lucas. “As quatro causas na filosofia da natureza de Aristóteles”, in Anais de Filosofia Clássica, vol. V, nº 10, 2011, pp. 1-19.
ARISTÓTELES. Aristotelis Opera. BEKKER, I. (ed.). Academia Regia Borussica, Vols. I-II, Berlim, 1831.
ARISTÓTELES. The Metaphysics, Books I-IX. Trad.: Hugh Tredennick, London: The Loeb Classical Library, 1947.
ARISTÓTELES. Generation of Animals. Trad.: A. L. Peck, London: The Loeb Classical Library, 1953.
ARISTÓTELES. On the Soul;ParvaNaturalia, On Breath. Trad.: de W. S. Hett,London, The Loeb Classical Library, 1957.
ARISTÓTELES. Parts of Animals; Movement of Animals; Progression of Animals. Trad.: A. L. Peck, London: The Loeb Classical Library, 1961.
ARISTÓTELES. Reproduccíon de los Animales. Trad. e notas de E. Sánchez,Madri: Biblioteca ClásicaGredos, 1994.
ARISTÓTELES. Acerca del Cielo; Meteorológicos. Trad. e notas de M. Candel,Madri, Biblioteca Clásica Gredos, 1996.
ARISTÓTELES. As Partes dos Animais, Livro I. Trad. e comentários de L. Angioni,Cadernos de História e Filosofia da Ciência, 9 (3) (n. especial), 1999.
ARISTÓTELES. Partes de los animales; marcha de los animales; movimiento de los animales. Trad. e notas E. J. Sánchez-Escariche e A. A. Miguel, Madri: Biblioteca ClásicaGredos, 2000.
ARISTÓTELES. Física. Trad. e notas de G. R. de Echandía, Madri: Biblioteca ClásicaGredos, 2002.
ARISTÓTELES. Acerca del Alma. Trad. e notas de T. C. Martínez, Madri: Biblioteca ClásicaGredos, 2003.
ARISTÓTELES. Metafísica. Trad. e notas de T. C. Martínez, Madri: Biblioteca ClásicaGredos, 2006.
ARISTÓTELES. Física I-II. Trad. e comentários de L. Angioni,Campinas: Ed. Unicamp, 2009.
COHEN, Sheldon M. Aristotle on Nature and Incomplete Substance. NY: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
COOPER, John M. “Hypothetical necessity and natural teleology”, in A. Gotthelf e Lennox, J. (eds.), Philosophical Issues in Aristotle’s Biology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987, pp. 243-274.
FURLEY, David. “The Rainfall Example in Physics II 8”, in A. Gotthelf (ed.), Aristotle on Nature an Living Things. Pittsburgh, Brsitol: Mathesis publications, 1985, pp. 177-82.
JOHNSON, Monte R. Aristotle on Teleology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
KULLMANN, Wofgang. “Differents Conceptions of the Final Cause in Aristotle”, in A. Gotthelf (ed.), Aristotle on Nature and Living Things. Pittsburgh, Bristol: Mathesis publications, 1985, pp. 169-175.
LENNOX, James G. “Material and Formal Natures in Aristotle’s De Partibus Animalium”, in Aristotle’s Philosophy of Biology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001a, pp. 182-204.
LENNOX, James G. “Teleology, Chance, and Aristotle‟s Theory of Spontaneous Generation”, in Aristotle’s Philosophy of Biology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001b, pp. 229-249.
NUSSBAUM, Martha C. “Aristotle on Teleological Explanation”, in Aristotle’s De Motu Animalium. Princeton University Press, 1978, pp. 59-106.
PELLLEGRIN, P. Aristote: Physique - II, Éditions Nathan, Paris, 1993.
PUTNAM, Hilary. “Philosophy and Our Mental Life”, in Philosophical Papers, Volume 2: Mind, Language and Reality, Cambridge University Press, 1975.
SEDLEY, David. “Is Aristotle‟s teleology anthropocentric?”, in Phronesis 36, 1991. 179-96.
TAYLOR, Charles. “The Explanation of Purposive Behavior”, in Explanation in the Behavioral Sciences, ed. R. Borger and F. Cioffi, Cambridge University Press, 1970.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
The authors who publish in Griot: Revista de Filosofia maintain the copyright and grant the magazine the right of first publication, with the work simultaneously licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, allowing sharing and adaptation, even for commercial purposes, with due recognition of authorship and initial publication in this journal. Read more...
