Metaphysics of Aristotle. Reason will ever win!

An eminent thinker of Ancient Greece Aristotle (born 348 BC) was interested in empirical sciences. Favorite pupil of Plato, he well mastered his philosophy, but, nevertheless, he criticized her. It is Aristotle who belongs to the famous phrase about Plato, friendship and truth. Aristotle's writings, addressed to the general public, were preserved only in a fragmented manner, however, the works intended for the pupils have survived to this day.

The word "metaphysics" came into use with the submission of Andronicus of Rhodes, who collected the work of Aristotle. The collection of his works consisted of 14 books: works on logic, natural sciences, books on being, work on ethics, aesthetics, biology and politics. Metaphysics was called the section on being, located after research in physics (in translation from ancient Greek - "meta" means "further").

In metaphysics, the ancient Greek philosopher outlined the doctrine of the first principles, which laid the foundation of wisdom. The metaphysics of Aristotle describes the four higher causes of being (they are also of the beginning). Instead of the triple Platonic structure (the world of things, the world of ideas and matter), he proposed a dual, including only matter and form. The metaphysics of Aristotle briefly looks like this:

1. Matter, or all that exists objectively - regardless of the observer. Matter is indestructible and eternal, passive and inert, contains the potential for the emergence of a variety of things. Primary matter is manifested in the form of five primary elements, they are elements - air, fire, water, earth and celestial substance - ether.
2. The form. From the monotonous matter, the Higher Mind creates various forms. The being of a thing is a unity of form and matter, and the form represents an active and creative beginning.
3. The pervomotor of all forms, the pinnacle and cause of the universe, the immaterial and eternal God. Reflects the moment from which the existence of a thing begins.
4. Purpose, or "for what". The existence of each thing is justified by some purpose; The highest goal is good.

As follows from the above, one of the central categories of philosophy throughout its history from Antiquity to the day of today was the concept that Aristotle laid the foundation. Physics studies objective phenomena, metaphysics explores what is outside the physical phenomena and serves as their cause. The continuity of concepts can be seen in the modern synonymization of the word: metaphysical - invisible, unmanifested, ideal, extrasensory.

The metaphysics of Aristotle declares the unity of the material and the ideal, form and matter. The basis of natural laws is the interaction Opposites - day-night, good-evil, male-female, top-bottom, which form fire, air, water and earth and can be transformed into each other
Thanks to the strength of the interaction. According to his theory, the qualitative characteristics of an entity are primary in relation to quantitative ones.

The first stage of cognition, the metaphysics of Aristotle, affirms sensory cognition through sensations. Logic, without which knowledge is unthinkable, Aristotle considers organic science, because it is an instrument (organon) for the study of being. The higher stage - reasonable cognition - consists in finding the common in individual phenomena and things.

The main advantage of man is the metaphysics of Aristotle called reason.