Aristotle's causal-explanatory model in posterior analytics II 8-10 and its application in Metaphysics VII 17

• Grant number: 21/01062-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2021
• End date: May 31, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Philosophy - History of Philosophy
• Principal Investigator: Breno Andrade Zuppolini
• Grantee: Daniela Fernandes Cruz
• Host Institution: Escola de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (EFLCH). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus Guarulhos. Guarulhos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In the last chapter of Book VII (Z) of the Metaphysics, Aristotle introduces a new beginning in the investigation of substances: the analysis of hylomorphic substances on the basis of a triadic model of causal explanation imported from Posterior Analytics II 8-10. In the Posterior Analytics, however, the concrete application of the model happens only in the case of processes, such as eclipse or thunder. Moreover, Posterior Analytics II 9 formulates a condition on the application of the model that seems to be a restriction to its application to substances, and it is not clear whether the philosopher predicted the extension of the model to the latter case. The present research aims to study the presentation of the causal-explanatory model in Metaphysics Z17 and in Posterior Analytics II 8-10, in order to appreciate similarities and differences, and to clarify whether Aristotle predicted its application to hylomorphic substances in the Posterior Analytics.(AU)