Essay Questions

What is Aristotle's "first philosophy” and how does it relate to Plato's theory of forms?

According to Aristotle, “first philosophy” is the study of being itself. It includes questions such as: “what is the fundamental nature of being?” or “what is the shared essential quality of all being?” Aristotle acknowledged two types of being: matter and form. He called matter potential being. He called form actual being. Matter can arrange itself in many different patterns. It contains many possibilities or potentialities. Form, on the other hand, is matter that has already arranged itself into a particular pattern. It is “actual being.” Like Plato, Aristotle uses a binary that splits all types of being into two categories. However, Aristotle argues against Plato's notion that matter in the real world is a shadow or distortion of true form. For Aristotle, the primary realm of existence is physical material, not an idealized world of non-material platonic forms.

What is the unmoved mover?

The unmoved mover is the source of all movement, change, and being itself. Aristotle is prepared to call the unmoved mover “God.” The unmoved mover is a pure, eternal substance of actual being. It contains no potential being, because the unmoved mover does not have the potential to change at all. Rather, the unmoved mover is the ground from which all beings and all phenomena arise. In Aristotle's cosmology, God does not have a mind that thinks different thoughts from moment to moment. Thus, while the unmoved mover is the cause of all existence, it does not have particular desires, wishes, or intentions for mankind.