Matter (philosophy) - Wikipedia Matter (philosophy) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search Concept in metaphysics This article is about matter in philosophy. For other uses, see Matter (disambiguation). This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Matter" philosophy – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (March 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Matter is the substrate from which physical existence is derived, remaining more or less constant amid changes. The word "matter" is derived from the Latin word māteria, meaning "wood", or “timber”, in the sense "material", as distinct from "mind" or "form".[1] The image of wood came to Latin as a calque from the Greek philosophical usage of hyle (ὕλη). Contents 1 Ancient Greek philosophy 2 Medieval philosophy 3 Modern science 4 See also 5 Notes 6 Further reading 7 External links Ancient Greek philosophy[edit] In ancient Greek philosophy, arche (ἀρχή) is the beginning or the first principle of the world. Thales of Miletus claimed that the first principle of all things is water. His theory was supported by the observation of moisture throughout the world and coincided with his theory that the earth floated on water. Thales's theory was refuted by his pupil and successor, Anaximander. Anaximander noted that water could not be the arche because it could not give rise to its opposite, fire. Anaximander claimed that none of the elements (earth, fire, air, water) could be arche for the same reason. Instead, he proposed the existence of the apeiron, an indefinite substance from which all things are born and to which all things will return. Anaximenes, Anaximander's pupil, advanced yet another theory. He returns to the elemental theory, but this time posits air, rather than water, as the arche. Anaximenes suggests that all is made from air through either rarefication or condensation (thinning or thickening). Rarefied, air becomes fire; condensed, it becomes first wind, then cloud, water, earth, and stone in order. Pythagoras of Samos, a mathematician, mystic, and scientist, taught that number, rather than matter, constitutes the true nature of things. He seems to have influenced Socrates' ideal form. Heraclitus held that all is flux. In such a system there is no need for or possibility of matter. Leucippus held that there exist indivisible particles, atoms, underlying existence. Empedocles held that there are four elements, from which things are derived, Earth, Water, Fire and Air. Some added a fifth element, the Aether, from which the heavens were derived. Socrates accepted (or at least did not reject) that list, as seen from Plato's Timaeus, which identified the five elements with the Platonic solids. Earth was associated with the cube, air with the octahedron, water with the icosahedron, fire with the tetrahedron, and the heavens with the dodecahedron. Aristotle, rejecting the atomic theory, instead analyzed the four terrestrial elements with the sense of touch: Air is primarily wet and secondarily hot. Fire is primarily hot and secondarily dry. Earth is primarily dry and secondarily cold. Water is primarily cold and secondarily wet. He developed Socrates' ideal form into a theory which aimed to explain existence through the composition of matter and form. He conceived of matter as a passive possibility that something might be actualized by an active principle, a substantial form, giving it real existence. The theory of matter and form came to be known as Hylomorphism. Aristotle's ideas had little impact on the ancient world. The rise of Stoicism represented the return to earlier ideas. Their categories were an attempt to explain all existence without reference to anything incorporeal. Philo held that matter is the basis of evil. Plotinus revived the ideas of Plato and Aristotle. Medieval philosophy[edit] Many Christians, such as Augustine of Hippo, accepted Plotinus as the greatest of the pagan philosophers. Parts of Plotinus' Six Enneads were translated into Arabic as the Theology of Aristotle, leading to a blossoming of Aristotle's philosophy in the Islamic world. This Islamic version of Aristotle eventually reached the University of Paris and the attention of scholastic philosophy, and the work of Thomas Aquinas. Modern science[edit] From a philosophical viewpoint, the term "matter" still is used to distinguish the material aspects of the universe from those of the spirit.[2] The rise of modern chemistry and physics marked a return to the atomic theories of Leucippus. Quantum physics and special relativity however, complicate the picture through the identification of matter and energy, particle and wave. See also[edit] Hylomorphism Materialism Mereological essentialism Substantial form Notes[edit] ^ Oxford English Dictionary: "matter" ^ Henri Bergson (2004). "Introduction". Matter and Memory (Reprint of edition of 1904 ed.). Courier Dover Publications. ISBN 0-486-43415-X. Further reading[edit] Gideon Manning (ed.), Matter and Form in Early Modern Science and Philosophy, Leiden, Brill, 2012. Ernan Mc Mullin (ed.), The Concept of Matter in Greek and Medieval Philosophy, Notre Dame, University of Notre Dame Press, 1965. Ernan Mc Mullin (ed.), The Concept of Matter in Modern Philosophy, Notre Dame, University of Notre Dame Press, 1978. External links[edit] The dictionary definition of matter at Wiktionary v t e Metaphysics Metaphysicians Parmenides Plato Aristotle Plotinus Duns Scotus Thomas Aquinas Francisco Suárez Nicolas Malebranche René Descartes John Locke David Hume Thomas Reid Immanuel Kant Isaac Newton Arthur Schopenhauer Baruch Spinoza Georg W. F. Hegel George Berkeley Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Christian Wolff Bernard Bolzano Hermann Lotze Henri Bergson Friedrich Nietzsche Charles Sanders Peirce Joseph Maréchal Ludwig Wittgenstein Martin Heidegger Alfred N. Whitehead Bertrand Russell G. E. Moore Jean-Paul Sartre Gilbert Ryle Hilary Putnam P. F. Strawson R. G. Collingwood Rudolf Carnap Saul Kripke W. V. O. Quine G. E. M. Anscombe Donald Davidson Michael Dummett D. M. Armstrong David Lewis Alvin Plantinga Héctor-Neri Castañeda Peter van Inwagen Derek Parfit Alexius Meinong Ernst Mally Edward N. Zalta more ... Theories Abstract object theory Action theory Anti-realism Determinism Dualism Enactivism Essentialism Existentialism Free will Idealism Libertarianism Liberty Materialism Meaning of life Monism Naturalism Nihilism Phenomenalism Realism Physicalism Platonic idealism Relativism Scientific realism Solipsism Subjectivism Substance theory Truthmaker theory Type theory Concepts Abstract object Anima mundi Being Category of being Causality Causal closure Choice Cogito, ergo sum Concept Embodied cognition Essence Existence Experience Hypostatic abstraction Idea Identity Information Insight Intelligence Intention Linguistic modality Matter Meaning Memetics Mental representation Mind Motion Nature Necessity Notion Object Pattern Perception Physical object Principle Property Qualia Quality Reality Relation Soul Subject Substantial form Thought Time Truth Type–token distinction Universal Unobservable Value more ... Related topics Axiology Cosmology Epistemology Feminist metaphysics Interpretations of quantum mechanics Mereology Meta- Ontology Philosophy of mind Philosophy of psychology Philosophy of self Philosophy of space and time Teleology Theoretical physics Category  Philosophy portal Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Matter_(philosophy)&oldid=984237162" Categories: Concepts in metaphysics Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata Articles needing additional references from March 2009 All articles needing additional references Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version Languages العربية Azərbaycanca Беларуская Беларуская (тарашкевіца)‎ Чӑвашла Čeština Deutsch Eesti Español Esperanto Français ГӀалгӀай Հայերեն Italiano עברית ქართული Қазақша Kurdî Кыргызча Lietuvių Magyar ਪੰਜਾਬੀ Polski Português Română Русский Slovenčina Српски / srpski Тоҷикӣ Türkçe Українська Edit links This page was last edited on 19 October 2020, at 00:38 (UTC). Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers Contact Wikipedia Mobile view Developers Statistics Cookie statement