Philosophy of Nature – Thinking Thought Out

Causing the perpetuity of an accidentally ordered series

March 11, 2025

Metaphysics, Natural Theology, Philosophy, Philosophy of Nature

Does Aquinas’s First Way conclude with an immovable first mover? The answer depends on whether we interpret the First Way as an exercise in natural philosophy or metaphysics. Either could work, and will produce philosophical fruit, but the resulting arguments grow ever different. →
Potentiality underlying change

February 6, 2023

Philosophy, Philosophy of Nature

In my previous post I explained how we arrive at the notion of potentiality from reflection on two different phenomena, resulting in two equivalent accounts of potentiality: potentiality is relative non-being as well as the passive capacity for act. The second of these accounts arises from considerations of causation and change, but it doesn’t actually end up →
Form vs structure, and what it means for virtual existence

January 16, 2020

Metaphysics, Philosophy, Philosophy of Nature

A common but mistaken tendency when trying to understand hylomorphism is to equate form and structure and matter with the elements in that structure.1 This tendency is unsurprising, since modern science has taught us how to think about reality in terms of its physical and biological structure, but it is still a mistake. When Aristotle introduces →
Actualisation of potentiality as such

August 31, 2015

Philosophy of Nature

While we’re on the topic of confusing things Aquinas said, we can talk about his analysis of change, which he in turn gets from Aristotle. We’ve noted before that the first step in analysing change is the realisation that it involves the actualisation of a potential: When a hot cup of coffee gets cold, for example, →

Category: Philosophy of Nature

Causing the perpetuity of an accidentally ordered series

Potentiality underlying change

Form vs structure, and what it means for virtual existence

Actualisation of potentiality as such