Oct 09 2024 81 mins
Chapter 7 considers the contributions of Aristotle to the completion of the Platonic project. Though Aristotle certainly dissented from many of Plato's claims, the focus of this chapter is on the principles the two share in common, as well as Aristotle's arguments for these principles and some of the illuminating things he had to say about the application of these principles. Aristotle was as opposed to Naturalism as Plato. His argument for the subject matter of "first philosophy", the science of being qua being, coincides with Plato's identification of the subject matter of "philosophy". The chapter discusses the significance of Aristotle's introduction of the category of potency before turning to his introduction of the immortal or agent intellect. The chapter argues that the immortal intellect is Aristotle's version of what Plato calls “the immortal part of the soul,” that which is separable from the body and capable of knowledge. Finally, the chapter examines Aristotle's own account of a unique first principle of all, the Unmoved Mover, which was to have an enormous influence on how later self-styled Platonists understood Plato himself.
Chapter Sections:
[7.1] Introduction (@00:00:19)
[7.2] Aristotle on the Subject Matter of Philosophy (@00:05:04)
[7.3] The Immateriality of Thought (@00:34:01)
[7.4] The Causality of the First Principle (@01:12:00)