Week 3 Course Material

Course Slides and Readings

Before the third session, please read:

• "7. The Four Causal Account of Explanatory Adequacy," in the article "Aristotle," in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Link here.

• The first three chapters of Aquinas's Principles of Nature (De principiis naturae). Link here.

Further Reading

Optional reading:

• Physics, book 2, parts 1-3. Link here.

• "1. Introduction," "2. The Four Causes," and "3. The Four Causes and the Study of Nature," in the article "Aristotle on Causality," in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Link here.

Assignment

After the third session, please write 300-500 words in response to one of the following:

1. What are the three principles of change of natural objects?

2. Describe the notion of privation and its relation to the other principles of change.

3. Describe Aristotle's four causes, employing an example.

4. What is Aristotle's definition of change in terms of potential and act? Provide an example in these terms.

5. Describe Aristotle's understanding of substantial and accidental change in terms of substantial form and accidental form.

6. Outline Aristotle's notion of nature in terms of his doctrine of four causes, distinguishing between intrinsic and extrinsic causes.