49. The Unity of Matter and Form Through Act and Potency

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

The Problem of Unity in Matter and Form #

• Aristotle addresses the fundamental question: What causes matter and form to be one thing rather than two?
• The Platonic error: Looking for a third thing to unite matter and form, as if they were two separate actualities that need external binding
• The Aristotelian solution: Form is the actuality of matter’s potentiality; one is the act of the other’s ability

Three Domains of the Problem #

Natural Things (Artificial Examples)

• Example: spherical clay—the shape and clay are immediately one
• No glue, nails, screws, or rope is needed to unite them
• The cause of unity: the agent that shapes the clay (the maker), but this is an extrinsic cause, not intrinsic to the union itself
• The union itself requires no intrinsic third thing

Mathematical Things

• Some matter is “sensible” (physical, subject to motion)
• Some matter is “understandable” or “imaginable” (intelligible extension in geometry)
• In geometry: the plane is like matter; the circle, square, or triangle is like form
• In solid geometry: three-dimensional extension is the imaginable matter; sphere and cube are forms
• Geometrical definitions contain no reference to sensible matter or motion

Immaterial Things (Separated Substances)

• Things with no matter at all—whether sensible or intelligible—are “simply forms”
• Examples: Divine substance, angels, intelligences
• These are immediately one and individual by themselves, not through matter being formed
• They require no material substratum and are right away what they are

The Soul-Body Union as Paradigm #

• The soul is the form of the body
• The body is the matter animated by the soul
• The union is immediate; no third thing unites them
• The error: seeking some “binding agent” between soul and body (as some ancients did)
• The truth: the body that has the soul is alive through having it

Composition in Immaterial Substances #

• Angels have no matter-form composition (they are pure form)
• But they may have a composition of essence and existence (caused by God)
• This is a different kind of composition from matter and form
• The substance of an angel is his form
• Our form is not the whole of us; form comes to matter and actualizes it

Key Arguments #

The Immediate Unity Argument #

• Premise 1: If two things are actual and distinct from one another, they require a third thing to unite them (as parts of a chair require glue or screws)
• Premise 2: Matter and form are not two actual things; one is potential and the other actual
• Premise 3: Form is the actuality of matter’s potentiality (one is the act of the other’s ability)
• Conclusion: No external third thing is needed to unite them; they are immediately one

The Linguistic Problem #

• We speak of matter and form as “composed of” or “put together from,” using spatial language
• This language misleads: it suggests two separate things brought together in space
• In reality, the union of matter and form is non-spatial and immediate
• The weakness of ordinary language reflects the weakness of our imagination, which is oriented toward sensible, material things

The Difficulty with Definitions and Numbers #

• Why is the definition “two-footed animal” one thing and not two (animal + two-footed)?
• The Platonic solution: both participate in universal forms (animal-itself, two-footed-itself), but this creates more problems
• The Aristotelian solution: the difference (two-footed) actualizes the genus (animal); they are one because one is the actuality of the other’s potentiality

Important Definitions #

Matter (ὕλη/hylē) #

• Sensible matter: Physical material subject to change and motion (e.g., clay, bronze, flesh)
• Intelligible/Imaginable matter (ὕλη νοητή/noete): The extension or dimensions considered in mathematics (length, width, depth)
• First matter: The ultimate substrate underlying all sensible change (mentioned but not developed here)

Form (μορφή/morphē or εἶδος/eidos) #

• The actuality that determines matter
• The principle by which matter becomes this or that particular thing
• In natural things: actuality of matter’s potentiality
• In immaterial things: the entire substance (no potentiality inheres)

Act (ἐνέργεια/energeia) and Potency (δύναμις/dynamis) #

• Potency: Ability; capacity to be acted upon or to undergo change
• Act: Actuality; the realization of potency
• Relation: “One is the act of the other’s ability”

Examples & Illustrations #

The Spherical Clay #

• When we mold clay into a sphere, we don’t unite “sphericalness” and “clay” as if they were two things
• The spherical shape is the actuality of the clay’s potential to be spherical
• When we reshape it into a cube, the clay changes (substantially), not the shape
• No intermediate substance or agent holds shape and clay together

The Word “Cat” #

• The letters C, A, T can be seen as quantitative parts of “cat”
• The word “act” uses the same three letters but in different order
• This shows a different sense of whole and part than mere quantity
• The order is analogous to form; the letters are analogous to matter

The Geometrical Sphere vs. Material Sphere #

• A geometrical sphere: no reference to sensible matter, motion, or physical properties
• A rubber sphere bounces; a glass sphere shatters; a metal sphere pierces
• But none of these properties apply to the geometrical sphere
• The geometrical sphere exists in imaginable matter (three-dimensional extension), not sensible matter

Condition as Genus #

• When a person goes from young to old, we say “his condition has changed” (using the genus word)
• But it is the person who changes from one state to another, not the condition itself
• This shows our natural tendency to fall back on earlier, more familiar meanings of words

Health and Sickness #

• When someone becomes healthy after illness, we say “his condition improved”
• In reality, it is the body (or person) that undergoes the change
• We use the genus word “condition” instead of naming matter directly

Questions Addressed #

What Unites Matter and Form? #

• False Answer: A third thing (glue, nails, rope, or some metaphysical “binding agent”)
• True Answer: Nothing extrinsic; they are immediately one because form is the actuality of matter’s potentiality. One is the act of the other’s ability.

Why is a Definition One Thing? #

• Example: “Two-footed animal”—why is this one definition, not two?
• Answer: The difference (two-footed) actualizes the genus (animal). The form (two-footedness) determines the matter (animality). They achieve immediate unity.

How is the Soul Related to the Body? #

• Error: Seeking a third thing to bind soul and body together
• Truth: The soul is the form of the body. The body is alive through having the soul. The union is immediate.

What is the Difference Between Sensible and Intelligible Matter? #

• Sensible matter: Physical stuff subject to change (bronze, clay, flesh)
• Intelligible matter: Extension or dimensions as considered in mathematics (no reference to motion or sensible properties)
• Immaterial: Pure forms with no matter whatsoever

Notable Quotes #

“One is merely the act of the other’s ability.” — On the immediate unity of matter and form

“There’s no intrinsic thing there in uniting the two, but you could say in some sense the man who shaped the clay, he’s responsible for the union, right? But he’s not in there between the two of them holding them together. They’re united immediately.” — Clarifying that the maker causes the union externally, not intrinsically

“The substance of the angel is just form, right? And through this form, he’s actually what he is, right? … But the form is something that comes to our matter, and through that form, our matter is actually a man and actually one thing.” — On the difference between immaterial substances and material composites

“We tend to fall back and we can’t quite get to the next sense. Happens again and again with these words.” — On how our language reflects our natural orientation toward sensible material things