Aristotle= form, matter, soul, body, potential, capacity, actuality, process, end, exercise - Essay Example

Aristotle’ view Aristotle would consider the lady as a composite substance because she has both matter and form. According to Aristotle, both matter and form are the means that results to a composite substance. The lady has potential to become an elderly woman through a process. However, in her current state, she is a form with a potential to change to elderly form. That potential builds a capacity of a being through a process. This is a view in consideration of age as a determinant of form and matter (Witt 674).

The lady is actually a human being because she is the end that exercises the capacity of being. The soul is the form because it determines the actual being of the lady while her physical body is the matter that has potential of being. The fetus in the womb of the lady is a potential being because it cannot use its potential of being (Witt675). The unborn child is in the process of being because it has potential to develop into independent being. When the baby will be born, the fetus will have become the end because it will be able to exercise its capacity of a being to attain an independent form.

However, both mother and the fetus form a composite and are a form and matter. In conclusion, the composite substance of a being can be described in different ways. Its body is the matter while the soul is its form. Soul determines the actual being of the person since it determines the end. It enables being to exercise its capacity of being. The body is a matter that has potential to develop a capacity through a defined process. Work CitedWitt, Charlotte. Hylomorphism in Aristotle: The Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 84(11). Journal of Philosophy, Inc., (1987); 673-679