Aristotle believes that the nature of a living thing, or at least the most important part of it, is in fact its form – if not its Form. The term he uses for ‘form’ is the term that Plato used, eidos. It is one of the most vital organs of his thought. Aristotle holds that any sensible object is a compound of form (eidos) and matter (hylē). One can speak of ‘form’ and ‘matter’ in the abstract, but in practice they’re actually inseparable. To explain what he means Aristotle appeals to various metaphors. If wax is hylē, then eidos is the impression made in it by a signet ring. In its most general
...more
