​September 11, 2019

Mary Anne C. Martinez

19-0004  
PSYCH 101 
UNDERSTANDING THE SELF  
 

The Self from Various Perspectives:  

Aristotle 
Aristotle was born in 384 BC, in the city of ​Stagira​, Greece​.​ ​At the age of 17 he began studying at Plato’s
Academy. There, he was educated in the fields of science, philosophy, and mathematics. ​His emphasis on
good reasoning combined with his belief in the scientific method forms the backdrop for most of his
work.

Aristotle sees the ‘Self’ as the soul of a living organism.To comprehend Aristotle’s perspective of the self,
we must first get familiar with his ways of reasoning. Aristotle uses the Theory of Causation to reach this
conclusion.

Theory of Causation:
Aristotle’s theory of causation suggests that in order to fully understand the identity of a living or
nonliving being, you must consider it’s four causes: the material cause, the formal cause, the efficient
cause, and the final cause.

● The material cause: the components that make up a being or thing

● The formal cause: the form or structure in which those components take in order to become that
thing
● The efficient cause: the maker that will bring that thing into existence

● The final cause: the goal or purpose of that thing being “actualized”

For example, wood is the material cause of a chair. The formal cause is the chair’s structure, such as the
legs and seat. The efficient cause, the carpenter, is the agent responsible for making the chair. The final
cause is reached when the chair serves the purpose for which it is made--the chair is sat on.

 
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Grades of Actuality and Potentiality:

For something to be “actualized”, or in other words to reach its purpose for existing, it must first obtain
potentiality to do so. Aristotle describes this process as first and second actuality.

● First potentiality
● Second potentiality = First actuality
● Second actuality

For example, a student wants to learn the German language. They have the capacity to learn, but have not
yet acquired the knowledge to do so, therefore they are in the phase of “first potentiality”. The student
then takes German classes and obtains the ability to speak German, but has not yet used it verbally. This
is both potentiality and actuality in the sense that the student has obtained the knowledge, but that actual
knowledge itself is just a potentiality since he has not “actualized” it by speaking the language. The
student reaches second actuality when he uses German to converse with others.

In Aristotle’s book De Anima ​II,​ Latin for ‘The Soul”, he combines these theories of causation and
actuality and potentiality to describe the essence of the soul. He starts off by expressing that there are
three kinds of substance:

A. Matter (Potentiality)
B. Form (Actuality)
C. The compound of matter and form (the combination of Potentiality and Actuality)

Body is to the soul what matter is to form. The Body is the Matter and the Soul is the Form.
“The soul is the first actuality of a natural body that has life potential.”

Aristotle provides a framework of hierarchy to help evaluate the different types of souls.

Hierarchy of Souls:
A living thing’s soul is its ability to participate in activities such as self nourishment, growth, decay,
movement, perception, and intellect. There are three types of souls, vegetative (plants), sensitive
(animals), and rational (humans). These types of souls are ranked in degrees of their many functions. Each

 
 

succeeding type, having the abilities of the one before it.

1. Vegetative: Nutrition, Reproduction

2. Sensitive: Nutrition, Reproduction, Locomotion, Sensation
3. Rational: Nutrition, Reproduction, Locomotion, Sensation, Reasoning.

Unlike his predecessors (such as Plato) who argue for the duality of body and soul, Aristotle believes
they cannot be seperate. When a person dies, his soul dies with the Body (Matter). The Body and Soul
cannot exist without one another, thus is a compound of Matter and Form. He gives the example of the
the stamp; it's like a mark stamped on wax—the wax is the parallel to the body, and the stamp or
structure imposed on it is the parallel to the soul.

Using his Causation framework, we can see he arrived at this conclusion by careful observation. The
material cause is the sinew, organs, blood, and all components of the human body and mind. The formal
cause is the structure of the body and soul (shape of the body, organization of organs, organisation of
mind, etc.). The efficient cause in this case is change over time conveying the Essential Form (the Soul)
through changes in generations. Types of these changes can include the difference of appearance of
mother and child, or the physical and mental distinctions between great grandfather and great grandson.
It’s good to note that he doesn’t necessarily provide a “maker” for the Efficient Cause, but suggests time
and reproduction is the “maker”. He notes that the Matter of a human takes on new Forms (such as the
mother and child being different forms), but retains the same Essential Form that is, the Soul.

Aristotle believes that the Self is encompassed in the combination of body and soul. He believes that the
Essential Form (abilities and realizations of the human through acts) is preserved generationally. With our
scientist’s hat, this makes sense. We preserve the Essential Form of our ancestry through the similarities
in our abilities. We can think, feel, act, and process just as they could. We Actualize our form through
actions and thoughts. Unlike other philosophers who argue a more complex framework for the difference
and abilities of body and soul, Aristotle produces a framework that he believes is consistent with the
scientific method. He does not make many judgements for the soul as others would because he believes
the framework for the soul should be grounded on evidence, not conjecture.