Autor: Vertin, Michael -- Mehrere Autoren: Lonergan Workshop, Volume 8

Buch: Lonergan's "Three Basic Questions" and a Philosophy of Philosophies

Titel: Byrne, Patrick H., Insight and the Retrieval of Nature

Stichwort: Aristoteles: Natur; Form; eidos - morphe (intelligible Einheit)

Kurzinhalt: Even though Aristotle did occasionally use morphe interchangeably with eidos, he explicitly defined both as "what is known through the formula of a definition," and this is not known through sense perception ...

Textausschnitt: 11c The meaning of "form" has suffered a similar distortion. This is partially due to the fact that, in addition to the technical Platonic term, eidos, Aristotle also used the more common Greek term, morphe, meaning "shape." Ask someone what the form of a purple finch is, and invariably they will draw you a diagram of its visual, side-view shape. Nor is the problem restricted to the realm of common sense; a similar confusion preponderates throughout philosophy. In the history of philosophy, even when the more obvious mistakes are avoided, the tendency to think of form as shape appears in more subtle ways. Galileo's arbitrary preference for "primary qualities," Descartes's for res extensa, and Hume's criteria for impressions are all mistakes of this kind. (Fs) (notabene)

12a Even though Aristotle did occasionally use morphe interchangeably with eidos, he explicitly defined both as "what is known through the formula of a definition," and this is not known through sense perception-as shape is-but through acts of nous, intelligence. The circle as defined literally has no shape, because it cannot be pictured. Only the combination of matter and form-say a phonograph record-has a shape. (Fs) (notabene)

12b Moreover, the absurdity of thinking of form as shape becomes particularly striking in the context of Aristotle's science of nature, because there form was supposed to be a principle of motion. In what sense is the visual shape of a purple finch explanatory of its movements? In the first place, detailed knowledge of those movements (its embryological development, physiological maturation, patterns of flight and migration, breeding behaviors, territorial habits, feeding habits, muscular and skeletal coordination, digestive, respiratory, and circulatory motions) must be assembled. Only after this type of detailed description has been obtained can one meaningfully raise the question seeking "natural" scientific knowledge, namely, "Why does it move in these ways?" The formula or definition of a purple finch consists in the formulation of the integrated understanding which grasps the interrelationships of all these motions.1 Only then does the relevance of "shape" enter in: the shapes of its body, wings and tail relate its protein-synthesizing pathways to the patterns of its flight behaviors; the shape of its beak to its feeding behaviors, and so on. Finally, it may be noted that, roughly speaking, the animal's shape (of the whole body and its parts) stands as matter to its form. They are among the "x's" employed and organized by the characteristic forms of behavior (for example, the form of a purple finch's feeding behavior is primarily that of a "seed eater," and the shape of its beak is determined by, adapted to, that form). (Fs)

13a To employ another illustration, what does knowledge of the definition of a circle contribute to the science of the motion of a wheel? Nothing, it might seem, since the circle as defined is ever unchanging. However, if one meticulously describes the motions of wheels-their smoothness on flat surfaces, their paths over various bumps-it can be seen that the parts of those motions are made intelligible by one and the same definition: the center is always the same distance from whichever extremity is in contact with the surface. (Fs)

Grafik ...

13b And if one objects that there is more to a radial tire than the definition of "circle" because one needs a great deal of engineering education in order to be able to design one, the point can be readily admitted because a radial tire's form, its definition, includes, but is more complex than, that of a circle; not because the something more is "stuff," "matter" in the modern sense. (Fs)