Form and Matter in Aristotle

Aristotle defined nature “as an internal origin of change or stability”1. Natural substances are things such as animals, plants and inanimate matter like earth, water, fire and air. Each natural substance according to Aristotle has its own nature, which is what gives rise to its natural behaviour/characteristic. The nature of a natural substance is its inner principle/source of change.2

Therefore natural substances are capable of motion i.e. growing, gaining qualities, losing them and lastly being born and dying. In Book II of Physics and Parts of Animals Book 1, Aristotle goes on to contrast natural substances with artefacts, he states these are also capable of motion, but they move according to what they are made out of, he gives us an example of a wooden bed “if the bed sprouted, not a bed but wood would come up”3. Here Aristotle is contrasting two parts of nature – matter and form. An investigation of the principle of matter leads him to draw his important distinction between form and matter and in this essay I will explain and critically discuss why Aristotle holds that “we ought to speak of a things form and the sort of character it has as well, since the nature corresponding to the form is more important than the material nature”4.

In Parts of Animals bk1, Aristotle begins his discussion in how we should investigate animals. He states that there are too many attributes that are common to species and we should narrow this down and discuss those that are distinguished by a difference in form, he gives us an example of locomotion “it is apparent that locomotion is not one in form because flying, swimming, walking and crawling differ”5. He also states that form is not simply as early philosophe...

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...scientist should begin by grasping the event and only then to proceed to try to uncover their causes.

Works Cited

Barnes, Jonathan (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle, (Cambridge University Press, 1995).

Bodnar, Istvan, "Aristotle's Natural Philosophy", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring2010 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = .

Broadie, Sarah, PY2003 Lecture, Week 5 and 6 , Lecture Handout (St Andrews 2011).

Fine, Gail & Irwin, Terence (Translation), Aristotle Introductory Readings, (Hackett Publishing Company 1996).

Lennox, James, (Trans), Aristotle, On the Parts of Animals I -IV, (Oxford University Press 2001).

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2010 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-biology/