13. The Soul as First Act and the Definition of the Soul

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

First Act vs. Second Act #

Definition of First Act: The substantial form itself; the principle that makes something actually what it is and capable of operations.

Definition of Second Act: The operation or activity that flows from the first act; the exercise of a capacity.

The Soul as First Act: Aristotle proves the soul is a first act, not a second act, by observing that animals sleep without ceasing to be alive. During sleep, vital operations cease (no second act), yet the animal remains alive because the soul persists. Therefore, the soul must be a first act.

Analogy with Science: Just as possessing the science of geometry (first act) differs from actually thinking about geometry (second act), the soul as first act differs from vital operations as second act. One can possess knowledge while sleeping and not using it.

The Body as Composed of Tools (Organon) #

Meaning of Organon: The Greek word organon means “tool” (e.g., hammer, saw, knife). Aristotle uses this term to describe the living body—not “organic” or “organized” as modern translations suggest, but “composed of tools” or “equipped with tools.”

Examples of Bodily Tools:

• The eye is a tool for seeing
• The ear is a tool for hearing
• The heart is a tool for pumping blood
• The hand is a tool for grasping
• The teeth (front) are tools for biting; (back) are tools for chewing
• In plants: roots, leaves, and trunk are tools for different functions

Why This Matters: The body’s composition of diverse tools suited to different functions corresponds to the soul’s capacity to perform diverse vital operations. Each part has its specific function, and the soul is the principle that actualizes all these diverse functions.

Loss of Translation: Modern English translations that use “organic” or “organized” lose the concreteness and clarity of Aristotle’s meaning. The term “tool” emphasizes that the body is naturally suited to its operations, just as an artificial tool is suited to its use.

The Problem of Body-Soul Unity #

The Classical Problem: If the soul and body are each complete substances in themselves, how can they be one? This is an insuperable problem for Platonism and Cartesianism.

Aristotle’s Solution: The soul and body are not two complete substances but form and matter—two correlatives that naturally belong together.

The Form-Matter Analogy:

• Just as the shape of wax is not a separate thing from the wax but the actualization of the wax’s potentiality
• Just as the shape of clay is the actualization of clay’s potentiality
• So the soul is the actualization of the body’s potentiality for life

Why This Resolves the Problem: Form is not “another actual thing” alongside matter. If two complete actual things are united, they must be externally connected (glued, screwed, cemented together—like bricks in a fireplace). But form is nothing other than the act of matter’s ability. Therefore, their unity is natural and intrinsic, not requiring external connection.

Verification of Unity: “The one who thinks is the one who feels pain in his body.” This inward experience confirms that body and soul are not two separate things accidentally connected.

Equivocation of the Word “Body” #

Two Senses of Body:

1. Body as species of substance: “Bodies and angels are the two kinds of substances.” Here, body names a complete substance.
2. Body as composing part: “Man is composed of body and soul.” Here, body names the material component, analogous to matter in the genus of substance.

Importance for Understanding the Soul: One must not confuse these senses. The soul is the form of the body understood in the second sense (as composing part), not of pure matter.

Linguistic Precision: Aristotle warns in the Sophistical Refutations that the most common mistake in thinking is confusing different senses of a word, especially with general terms like “being,” “one,” and “body.”

The Ordering of Matter and Form #

Principle: Matter must be already somewhat organized before it can receive a soul. The soul does not inform pure, unorganized matter but matter already disposed by lower forms.

Example - Geometry: Just as one cannot learn solid geometry before plane geometry, matter cannot receive a higher form without first being perfected by lower forms.

Development in Living Bodies: The body must be already developed to a certain extent before the soul can inform it—whether the soul comes from the parents or from God.

Lower Forms Retained: When a higher form informs matter, the perfections given by lower forms are retained but elevated. The human soul gives the body:

• Nutrition and growth (from the plant soul)
• Sensation (from the animal soul)
• Reason (proper to the human soul)

But these lower operations are perfected in a higher way.

Key Arguments #

Argument Against Transmigration of Souls #

Principle: One art cannot use the tools of another art.

Application to Tools:

• The carpenter cannot use the tailor’s needle and thread
• The tailor cannot use the carpenter’s hammer and saw
• Each art is proportioned to its own specific tools

Application to the Soul:

• One soul cannot enter another body with different tools
• The soul is proportioned to the specific body it informs
• Therefore, transmigration of souls is impossible

Historical Note: Pythagoras allegedly thought he recognized the soul of an old friend in a dog being beaten. This reveals the incoherence of the transmigration theory.

Argument for Body-Soul Unity Through Form-Matter Relationship #

Premise 1: If soul and body were two complete, actual substances, they would require external connection (like glued bricks).

Premise 2: The experience of being a unified person—“I think and I feel pain”—shows they are not externally connected.

Premise 3: Form and matter are not two complete substances but correlatives; form is the actualization of matter’s potentiality.

Conclusion: The soul and body must be form and matter, not two complete substances.

Important Definitions #

First Act (πρώτη ἐντελέχεια / prote entelecheia): The substantial form that actualizes matter and makes something capable of operations. The principle from which operations flow, but not itself an operation.

Second Act (ἐντελέχεια / entelecheia): The operation or activity that flows from first act; the exercise of a capacity.

Organon (ὄργανον): Literally, “tool.” In reference to the living body, not a separate instrument but a part that is naturally suited to a specific function.

Substantial Form (μορφή / morphe): A form that constitutes something as a substance (not an accident). In living things, the soul.

Potentiality/Ability (δύναμις / dynamis): The capacity to be or to act; the state of not yet being in act.

Actuality/Act (ἐνέργεια / energeia): The state of being in act; the realization of potentiality.

Examples & Illustrations #

The Axe Example #

If an axe were a natural body with life, what would be its soul? Not the chopping (the second act, the operation) but the principle that makes it capable of chopping (the first act). When an axe loses this ability, it is no longer truly an axe except in name only.

The Eye Example #

The eye is a natural tool for seeing. Seeing is the second act (the operation). The eye’s ability to see is the first act. When the eye is removed from the body or damaged, it is no longer truly an eye except equivocally.

The Wax and Clay Example #

The shape of wax is not a separate thing from the wax; it is the actualization of the wax’s potentiality. Similarly, the soul is not a separate substance from the body but the actualization of the body’s potentiality for life. This shows why their unity is natural and intrinsic.

The Paint Salesman and Friendship #

Berquist’s father and a paint salesman began their relationship in need: the father needed paint, the salesman needed to sell it. But over time they became friends and would go to baseball games together. This illustrates the progression from utility-based relationship to friendship proper—and shows that higher forms of relationship do not eliminate lower ones but elevate them.

The Carpenter and Tailor #

The carpenter cannot use the tailor’s needle and thread; the tailor cannot use the carpenter’s hammer and saw. One art cannot use the tools of another art. This principle applies to souls and bodies: a soul cannot migrate to a different body with different tools.

Notable Quotes #

“The soul is the first act of a natural body composed of tools.” — Aristotle (Berquist’s formulation of the definition)

“One art cannot use the tools of another art.” — Aristotle (Principle against transmigration of souls)

“The most common mistake in thinking is to mix up the different senses of a word, and especially when a word is equivocal by reason rather than by chance.” — Aristotle, Sophistical Refutations (cited by Berquist on linguistic precision)

“Nature loves to hide.” — Heraclitus (cited by Berquist to explain why we tend to identify substance with body—because the inward nature is hidden from us)

“Oliver Wendell Holmes said about Aristotle: ‘It took centuries to understand what he was saying. It took other centuries to unlearn everything he said. It will take many centuries to learn what he said.’” — (Illustrating the difficulty of understanding Aristotle’s teaching on the soul)

Questions Addressed #

Q: If the soul is the first act, what is the soul when the body is asleep? A: The soul remains the first act (the substantial form). Sleep is analogous to possessing knowledge without using it. During sleep, vital operations (second act) cease, but the soul persists as the principle of life. When the animal awakens, operations resume because the first act was always present.

Q: What does it mean that the body is “composed of tools”? A: The living body has diverse parts, each naturally suited to specific functions. The eye is a tool for seeing, the ear for hearing, the heart for pumping blood, the hand for grasping, and so on. Even plants have tools: roots, leaves, and trunk for different functions. This diversity of tools corresponds to the diversity of vital operations the soul performs.

Q: How does the form-matter distinction solve the problem of body-soul unity? A: Form and matter are not two complete substances but correlatives that naturally belong together. Form is the actualization of matter’s potentiality, not an independent actual thing. Just as the shape of wax is the wax’s actualization (not something added to the wax), the soul is the body’s actualization. Therefore, their unity is natural and intrinsic, requiring no external connection.

Q: Can we say the soul is “in” the body like a sailor in a boat? A: No. This analogy fails because both sailor and boat are complete substances externally related. The soul and body are form and matter—not two substances but the actualization of one composite substance. To ask how the soul and body are “in” the same place is to misunderstand the nature of form.

Q: Why does Berquist insist on translating organon as “composed of tools” rather than “organic”? A: Because the modern term “organic” has lost the concrete meaning Aristotle intended. Organon literally means “tool.” By translating it as “composed of tools,” we preserve Aristotle’s point: the body has diverse parts naturally suited to different functions, like tools designed for specific tasks. This emphasizes that the body’s structure corresponds to the soul’s operations.