Abstract
The present paper aims at examining the characteristics that determine the essential nature of the homogeneous bodies in Aristotle, from an analysis of Meteorology IV.12, which would at the same time establish a certain relationship with other treatises of natural philosophy and also in particular with books VII and VIII of Metaphysics. With this investigation, I will delineate a certain line of argument that goes against a reading perspective considered as traditional, with certain interpretive variants, according to which Aristotle would have adopted the idea of a universal teleology, in the general sense that all natural bodies would be generated for a specific goal, or for a natural purpose. According to a certain view, linked to this perspective, the teleological character of functional type of vital activities, notably expressed by the compositional arrangement of the non-homogeneous parts in the living being's complexion, would be somehow involved in the constitution of the homogeneous bodies considered in themselves and for themselves. In contrast to such a view, I will examine, in a precise way, to what extent the homogeneous bodies would comprise a certain formal factor directly involved in the characterization of their constitutional particularities, taking into account a comparative examination with other kinds of natural compositions, namely, elemental aggregates and living organisms. Thus, through this examination, I will explore the question of whether, in function of this formal factor, such bodies could present some teleological character trait, distinct from the functional type, characteristic of organic-animate constitutions.
Highlights
The present paper aims at examining the characteristics that determine the essential nature of the homogeneous bodies in Aristotle, from an analysis of Meteorology IV.12, which would at the same time establish a certain relationship with other treatises of natural philosophy and in particular with books VII and VIII of Metaphysics
Just as the goal of each animal is fully to realize its own form, independently of the purposes of other animals, and (I suggest) with plants, so too we should recognize that even inanimate matter has goals of its own
Seeing that the organic compounds formed from the elements can very clearly be assigned goals too, Aristotle is led to extend the hypothesis to inorganic compounds, such as bronze and silver, as well
Summary
The present paper aims at examining the characteristics that determine the essential nature of the homogeneous bodies in Aristotle, from an analysis of Meteorology IV., which would at the same time establish a certain relationship with other treatises of natural philosophy and in particular with books VII and VIII of Metaphysics. Mesmo que ainda preserve, por algum tempo, certas propriedades essenciais de um corpo homogêneo após a morte do animal, ele não seria mais, propriamente, um composto homogêneo animado, pois deixa de atuar como parte de um organismo vivo, em relação ao qual veio a ser de uma maneira essencial gerado como tal. Dada a incorporação do πνεῦμα (pneuma) na matéria putrefata em processo de cocção por uma causalidade absolutamente necessária e espontânea (αὐτομάτη), e não por uma necessidade “sob hipótese” (ἐξ ὑποθέσεως) (Física, II.9), isto é, sob um princípio causal anterior e regulativo de caráter formal, segue-se a formação e a ordenação das partes orgânicas que irá compor o organismo vivo gerado espontaneamente, as quais não deixariam de apresentar certas propriedades funcionais, ainda que de uma maneira imperfeita e indeterminada. Freudenthal escreve: the movements inhering in blood, semen, etc. embed the program for all the distinctive parts of the animal in question; by virtue of these movements the semen has an, informational power allowing it to transmit to the offspring the ‘program’ scribed in the sire's blood (1995, p. 28)
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