The enormous achievements of Aristotle come to light when you compare his ideas with those of other thinkers. Especially during the decade that he devoted to lecturing in Athens (335-325 BC), he came up with very accurate insights on the nature of reality and existence.
As he explains in his book “Metaphysics,” each entity in the world possesses a unique essence or nature. In broad terms, the essence of an entity is determined by its “material cause” (the matter that constitutes it) and its “formal cause” (its shape).
In addition, when entities move, we can also speak of their “efficient cause” (the force that moves them) and “final cause” (the purpose that they want to achieve).
Aristotle considered that, by analysing the material, formal, efficient and final cause, we can identify the essence of entities in particular and of existence in general.
Potentiality and Aristotle’s views on the nature of reality
To make his analysis even more accurate, Aristotle used the additional concepts of “potentiality” and “actuality.” Those are meant to identify changes in substances or living creatures.
For instance, a piece of wood has the potential of becoming a toy, but won’t turn into a toy until a human being takes action and gives the wood a specific shape, for instance by carving it. When the wooden toy is finished, we can say that the potential has been actualized.
The Aristotelian concepts of potentiality and actuality prove very useful in character development or “personal growth.” We can point to a youth and say that he has a great potential, but it remains to be seen where he will put in the work necessary to bring his potential to fruition and “actualize it.”
If you look at Aristotle’s ideas from the standpoint of today’s knowledge, you’ll be tempted to rate some of them as obvious, but if you place them in their historical context, it is clear that Aristotle was ahead of his time.
Aristotle’s views on the nature of reality versus mysticism
Bear in mind that the ancient Egyptians (the last Pharaohs) were Aristotle’s contemporaries. While he was creating highly sophisticated intellectual tools to research the nature of reality, the ancient Egyptians had remained stuck in their mythology.
The Egyptian understanding of reality revolved around the concept of Mahat (cosmic harmony, truth and justice). They viewed Mahat as the guiding force of the universe in general, and of human action in particular.
For the ancient Egyptians, reality is the outcome of divine actions. The events taking place in human life are driven by the passions and whims of deities.
To progress in life or achieve some goal, ancient Egyptians performed religious rituals, prayed, and donated money to the priests. Their way of “getting things done” was to predispose the deities in their favour.
Their philosophy was profoundly irrational and their rituals nonsensical, but they just didn’t know any better. They devoted their life’s savings to digging luxurious tombs, where they expected to attain eternal life for their “ka” (soul).
Ancient Egyptians believed in an afterlife where their soul would undergo judgement to see if it had behaved according to Mahat (truth and justice). The objects gathered in their tombs were meant to help their soul live comfortably in the afterlife.
Aristotle’s views on the nature of reality lead to tangible achievements
No wonder that the ancient Egyptians progressed very little in three thousand years; their living standards (rather miserable as a whole) remained practically unchanged. No technological developments, no inventions, no philosophy, no thinking.
Their whole capital was consumed by mummification, tomb construction, and making jewellery for use in the afterlife. It is a deeply irrational lifestyle that places Aristotelian philosophy in the proper context.
Your views on the nature of reality and existence play a key role in how your will perform in life. If you embrace Aristotle’s logic, you should do well and progress. On the contrary, if you allow superstition and mysticism to dominate your life, you won’t do much better than the ancient Egyptians.
In the upcoming articles, I’m going to provide further details on Aristotle’s views on the nature of reality and existence, and their impact on historical progress.
If you are interested in applying Aristotle’s ideas to solving real-life problems, I recommend you my book “Sequentiality: The amazing power of finding the right sequence of steps.”
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