Potentiality and actuality is where Aristotle starts to get to the bottom of his discussion about metaphysics ( it should be understood that physics is the study of motion and meta means beyond or above). This is the part where the study of change is put into action and the beginning of “first philosophy” is close to being reached. So, as we determined, all thing are in motion. We also concluded that all things have a chief end, that is to say, a “final cause, the ‘end’ for which it is made.” (Stumpf 93). It should be understood that not all movement leads toward a things “end”. “Some of this striving is toward external objects, as when a man builds a house. But there is also the striving to achieve ends that pertain to one’s internal nature, as when a man fulfi
lls his nature as a man by the act of thinking” (Stumpf 93). This quote brings out two interesting points. One is that things have an end. The other does not pertain to potentiality but is notable. I shall proceed with the second, and then return to the first. Philosophers maintain that the characteristic of a “being” that makes it unique, is the characteristic that determines its chief aim or “end”. For instance, the quality that is unique to an air conditioner is the fact that it makes the air cooler. Cooling air is what it was designed to do and its purpose in life, if you will. Philosophers determine that the characteristic unique to man is the ability to think. This means that thinking is what a man is designed to do. Thinking, by nature’s design, leads to discovery and this is the purpose
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