Aristotle, Metaphysics, book 1 [continued] - Introduction to Philosophy
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In this lecture from my Fall 2011 Ethics class at Marist College, we continue our discussion of Aristotle's Metaphysics book 1, starting with his history of previous metaphysics, then looking at a lot of examples of the four causes, including my banjo
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Thanks for sharing ... awesome teacher.
You're welcome - and thanks!
You are the universe having awareness of itself.
Because of this you may believe anything.
That's very kind of you -- perhaps I'll do it this summer
Awesome point. So, to get really good at any skill (e.g., philosophy), one must attend to all four causes. That makes a lot of sense upon reflecting on my own skills development.
I’ve never conceptualised skill development in this broad way. I guess we all refer to these distinctions when improving a skill without even realising it since (I’m guessing) modern frameworks of skill acquisition / development (e.g., resilience/grit, competition/paragon, growth mindset, open-mindedness, conscientiousness, legacy building, operant conditioning, etc) all refer to these distinctions without even realising it.
Or perhaps not, since this isn’t the only ancient treatment of causes.
You're welcome -- and thanks!
You're very welcome!
Well, not so much made out of it alone, but as a cosmic force, Empedocles -- though Strife is also a force in his metaphysical scheme
In a sense, for any (later) Christian metaphysics, everything must be made "out of" love in the sense that love would be a final and efficient cause -- though not "out of" love, as in love being the matter out of which things were made
The efficient cause would be what caused it to be. It makes no difference whether it is beyond visual range. Something having an efficient cause is not the same thing as us observing that cause
I can't stop myself for not commenting. I was studying philosophy but this is the first time I encounter and listen to lots of examples that enlighten me to the thoughts ancient philosophy...
I become interested and I hope to watch and learn from your videos. They are really helpful...
@Carleton34 Glad this very introductory level video was helpful for you. It's easy enough for passages from all over Aristotle's corpus to get blended together -- I have that happen sometimes with the Politics, the two Ethics, and the Rhetoric
Thank you very much, that is enlightening. I will learn from you, the way you explain abstracts things to students. Thank you again.....
Dear Professor, I am a student at a Community College in Minneapolis, MN. I found your videos because I wanted to learn about metaphysics, and I definitely noticed all the spiritual occult stuff floating around that you mentioned in the first video. I wanted to thank you for uploading your lectures because you are very good at explaining the concepts to the point where anyone can understand, and also because you are giving me a head start for the philosophy course I plan on taking. THANK YOU!
notable, muchas gracias
@TheRegie78 I'm glad the examples helped you with the concepts -- that's definitely their purpose, a teaching technique I learned in part from St. Anselm's own teaching practice
Bill S. Preston (Esquire) and Ted Theodore Logan
@TheRegie78 Well, one important aspect of Anselm's approach - nothing like a "method" if by that is meant a sort of step-by-step process - is to do precisely what I mentioned above - to come up with many examples needed to illustrate a concept, to help people "wrap their head around it", as we often say. If you read the Life of Saint Anselm (by his student and friend, Eadmer), you'll find that Anselm was both very good at and saw the need to adapt examples to his different audiences
@theyasin33 Good question. What Aristotle -- and most ancient/medieval philosophers -- mean by first principles are our basic, general starting points for argument or inquiry. Starting points, though, not in that we always do start from them -- but rather if we knew something very thoroughly, we would start from them, e.g. in explaining some matter to ourselves or to others.
We have to discover first principles, in fact -- and Aristotle's Meta bk 1 is a history of attempts to do so
mechanistic materialism
This helped a lot! I have my Reason and Revelation exam tomorrow and I have read both the metaphysics and then the physics but they somehow blended together in my memory!
Um. . . this is about ancient philosophy, specifically Aristotle's views on his predecessors. Do you REALLY think I'm actually teaching that the classical four elements are the elements we recognize today?
I'm going to treat your comment as some sort of very subtle joke that didn't turn out to be funny.
Thanks, Roman.
I'd take you up on that offer, actually
I'd say it's neither opinion nor fact -- those are not the right categories to use in understanding or classifying the law of non-contradiction.
it's a basic principle of reasoning -- something that you're going to need to have as an assumed starting point, a beginning or principle (i.e. an "arche") so that you can even have opinions and "facts" (and be careful with that ill-defined term!)
Has it not also been said that the final cause of something could be the purposes that it fulfills in its lifetime? While the matter of your biscotti was in that form, it may have had a complex final cause involving all that it did: being used as an example, nourishing you, giving you pleasure, taking up space on your desk, impacting your confidence by breaking, etc.
this was well done, im gonna get you a suit that fits
Well, you would call those its final causes most likely. And, some of those are more what Aristotle would call "accidental". Typically, biscotti is made to be eaten, and enjoyed. I just happened -- in my case -- to make them, and then realize one of them might be a nice prop for my class. I gave it a new purpose thereby.
What is the efficient and final cause for a far away star or a galaxy beyond visual range?? I am totally new to philosophy but seem to have generated some interest after watching this vedio.
It's unfortunate you chose to see my response that way.
sometimes when teachers ask questions like 'what would the greeks call that' and no one says anything, i like to just blurt out a bullshit answer so the teacher doesn't feel left out. SNAKES!
Well, to be fair. . . they're first semester freshmen, and not all that used to actually thinking things out in classes yet at that point -- from their papers (they had 1-2 short papers per week), I could tell that most of them were thinking about the material
It's both, really. And, there's other material causes as well, if you want to follow this one out, right? -- after all, the mother is continually giving material to the growing baby in its process of development prior to birth
If we were in V, some of those, perhaps. But mind control would be an efficient cause, lizard people another. The masses, of course, would be the material cause
I'm 15 and have just started philosophy, I was wondering, On Aristotle's law of noncontradiction, would you class contradiction as an opinion or a fact? The truth is, the answer is an opinion, but i'd see it as an opinion and a fact, depending on the conditions. What about you?
material cause is what things are actually made of -- so that would be the peopls
Actually, in his second comment, he did lecture me on language. I have no idea what you've got invested in this, but I'm not going to be continuing this discussion with you. If you want to talk about Aristotle, that's different.
If you feel you need to stress that you think we're "equally wrong" -- if that's the contribution to the conversation you want to make here -- go on ahead. I've got plenty of other matters to attend to -- I'm not going to invest more time in this comment thread.
Ok..got it. Means there is efficient cause, we may or may not know about it. But is there any theory or hypothesis for efficient and final cause for these systems?
No
Dear Professor, as you mentioned in your reply, you said that you learnt from St. Anselm method of teaching, I wish you could give us some method of it. I learnt also about Saint Anselm and his concept of theology is that faith seeking understand. He gave example that since it is a mystery, we need to seek it through our learning and studying. I hope I am write. Or he gave example about the of God existence as great conceivable being.
Yes, "snakes" is always the right answer
What is the efficient cause of consciousness? Of being itself? Is it possible to get an answer to such a question or do we drive ourselves mad in search of such an answer? Secondly, would fewer people miss their final cause or purpose if they realized that within the modern economy the only way to find happiness within their work is by doing what interests them, as in pursuit of interests mastery of some craft occurs, which enables supplying an exceptional good or service that will be in demand? One can function and be happy within the modern economy if, and perhaps only if, they are doing what it is the intrinsically interests them.
There's no one efficient cause for consciousness. And there's no cause of being itself.
He should put government in the middle and try to break that down and deep not just scratch the surface.
Great lecture ... BUT - if he is holding the flip video camera and discussing the material, WHO OR WHAT IS RECORDING THE LECTURE??!!!??
The ghost of Aristotle of course -- Well, I've actually got two flipcams
Who was it that said that everything is made of love?
Thank for these Mr Sadler. just a question though, why teach this one after covering Aristotle?
No idea what you're asking. See if you can make it a lot clearer
He who? Me? Aristotle? And, we should do this in a class session which is on Aristotle's text, the Metaphysics?
Efficient causes? Sure -- those delved into and worked out by modern astronomy.
Final causes? That gets a lot more murky
How do you apply the four causes to a meditation practice? If its form is seated say. Is the material the mind, the consciousness of the individual? If consciousness is the hardest problem of science, is taking the four causes towards meditation not possible? Tangent aside, the efficient cause is attention/will/desire although eastern religions claim meditation is the practice of not craving or not desiring as far as I can induce from various types. The final cause could say be equanimity. That said, as our trusty (jokes) source informs "scholars have found meditation elusive to define, as practices vary both between traditions and within them" (Wikipedia). I suppose predicating this subject correctly may be the first start to being able to determine the causes. Would you agree that accurate definitions are the starting point of determining causality, or does causality factor into how we define it?
Which one question do you want me to respond to?
@@GregoryBSadler the question on definitions
@@chrome9879 "Would you agree that accurate definitions are the starting point of determining causality, or does causality factor into how we define it?"
I have no idea what the second part of that false dilemma means. As to the first, No
@@GregoryBSadler Thanks for the answer, and for revealing the false dilemma. If I understand correctly, then how we answer the four causes influence the definition? Are four causes are a tool for accurately predicating the subject?
@@chrome9879 No. They're something different. My advice would be to not try to make everything fit together
im confused about the sperm and the egg part. Isn't the sperm and egg a material cause not an efficient cause?
I am so happy you made this video, thank you so much. If I'm allowed to say something of my personal perspective, I love Folk-Metal. Preferably Celtic, and that perfect mixture is just amazing but do you know what your hearing when you listen to that? Many genres like to mix but there's a reason why I'm choosing this one. I'm sure you know that the word University comes from well basically this video of finding Unity in Diversity. When you listen to Celtic/Metal, at least I find unity in diversity in the community of the trinity.
Glad you enjoyed the video. I've got to say that the newer genre-metals don't do much for me, but I've never really given Folk/Celtic metal much of a listen
hahahah! Thanks
No, actually not. . .
No one's gonna pay you to play Ace of Spades on Banjo? Uuuuhhh, I WOULD totally pay you to play Motorhead on the banjo!
Hey.... GREG! The Ace of Spades has, in fact, been performed on banjo. Fact, watch here: Hayseed Dixie - Ace of Spades
Yes, sort of -- that's a whole band, where the banjo doesn't have to do all the accompaniment. Interesting project they've got going on there -- quite a few metal standards it looks like
So when are we going to hear your banjo rendition of "The Ace of Spades"?
It depends mainly on my finding the time to practice. . . and that's always in short supply
Just knowing there's a possibility is good enough to satisfy my genre defying banjo needs.
where do you teach at? do you make a decent living? awesome videos
I'm currently an adjunct at Marist College. No, as an adjunct, I get paid quite little
So now you're lecturing me about how TH-cam works? Wow.
We TH-cam content generators have another option as well, which I exercise from time to time with users who become a pain and drain -- I block those users from my channel, and keep comments open for genuine discussions with other users.
First off, we translate "arche" as "principle", not "principal". So, get that basic distinction down before lecturing anyone about language.
Second, off, this isn't your show, your lecture, your channel. If you want to rant along these lines, do it on your own channel, and in your own lectures. Not here