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7 - John Buridan on the Ontological Status of Artifacts

Interpreting His Commentaries on Aristotle’s Physics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2024

By
Paul J. J. M. Bakker
Edited by
Spencer Johnston  and
Henrik Lagerlund
Spencer Johnston
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Henrik Lagerlund
Affiliation:
Stockholms Universitet
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Summary

In the first two books of his massive commentary on Aristotle’s Physics (in the third and final redaction), Buridan pays ample attention to the composition of natural substances. Natural substances are composed of matter and (substantial) form. But what exactly does Buridan mean by the notions of “matter” and “(substantial) form”? Does matter possess some kind of being of its own? Is it pure potency? Does matter somehow possess a disposition (or “appetite”) to receive substantial forms, and what precisely are such forms? Buridan also offers a detailed account of the relation between natural substances and artificial things. How do artificial things (such as houses, tables, and axes) relate to the natural substances of which they are (somehow) made? What kind of change is involved in making an artifact and what kind of form makes an artifact the thing it is?

Keywords

Buridanartifactsmetaphysicsmatter
Type
Chapter
Information
Interpreting Buridan
Critical Essays
 , pp. 101 - 134
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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