The posit that the human person is nothing but a body and that all its components and experiences can be explained regarding the body, without acknowledging the existence of a rational soul, forms the basis of the materialist theory (Cohen 2). The notion of materialism opposes the hylomorphic account of spirit as a reality different from matter a philosophical theory developed by Aristotle. According to Aristotle, living things are compounds of matter and form. He argues that a living thing soul (form) is what causes the existence of the body (matter) defines a soul as that which makes a living thing alive (Cohen 2). Furthermore, Aristotle argues that a body is related to the soul as matter is to form.
Hylomorphism was Aristotle’s counter argument to Plato's argument of how a form could act on matter and the two cannot be separated in the way Plato suggested in his theory (Cohen 3). He criticized the materialistic position for excluding final causes (purposes of living things) when explaining the existence of the natural world. According to the materialism, only matter can be proven to exist in its physical form, and the soul is merely a composition of material elements that can be reduced to individual elements for example atoms (Cohen 5). Therefore, any reality like the existence of a soul cannot be referred to as material, and sensible knowledge is considered as non-existent (Cohen 7).
Hylomorphism does not view the human person as mere matter. Thus, it gives us no reason to treat souls as separate units from bodies. The soul and body can be distinguished in our minds through logic so there is no contradiction in the belief that at death God can separate the body and soul. In his book,Viktor Frankl had to adapt to the harsh living conditions in the prisoners’ camp through a psychotherapeutic method in which he invoking his inner person, the soul to identify his purpose in life and the benefits of his purpose (Frankl 57) . Despite being treated as objects in prison Viktor knew there was more to his being than his body that had been reduced to an object of torture. By invoking their inner spirits the prisoner find a refuge from the desolation, emptiness, and spiritual poverty of their existence (Frankl 50).
The theory of materialism suggests that immaterial minds could interact with a material world (Cohen 4). This notion poses a challenge in understanding the causal connections between immaterial minds and a material world. Viewing the person as a component of reducible elements also complicates the understanding of how material objects can exist over a period during which they lose some of their parts (Cohen 6). If bodies are simply aggregates of smaller bodies, with their only parts being integral parts, then any change to such a body will wreak havoc on our conception of what that body is (Cohen 3). Thus, the human person does not fit into the reductive concept of the materialism theory about the mind, because Hylomorphism perceives the mind to be more than just matter. Also, causality and free will are as a result of the soul and body interacting with each other as they are one. Free will implies that one cannot be forced to agree even though one might be able to force the mind to convey information (Hsieh 3). This case is also argued by Aquinas in his natural law theory. He argues whether there is in humans a natural law. According to him, a law is both in the creation ruler and the creation itself. Since living things act in regards to their nature, they obtain their purpose (final cause) from the natural law, which is the inner spirit (Thomas 91). God directs us through his spirit that he imprinted in our souls for our own benefit. Every human person has a free will that should be used in achieving our purpose on earth (Thomas 91)
Aristotle’s four causes explain an object’s transformation from its potential to its actual purpose. The reality of a living thing is achieved from its mere idea through Aristotle’s four causes (Hsieh 4). First is the material cause, that from which something is generated and out of which it is made. Secondly, is the formal cause, the structure which the matter realizes and regarding which the matter comes to be something real (Hsieh 4). Thirdly, is the efficient cause, the agent responsible for a quantity of matter’s coming to be informed and fourthly, is the final cause, which is the purpose or goal of the compound of form and matter (Hsieh 4). The four causes can be seen, tested confirmed and applied to things that already exist making the theory more reliable (Hsieh 4).
The theory of materialism does not consider the different kinds of souls especially the person who can engage in live activities like breathing and movement and breathing, thinking, eating, and growing (Hsieh 4). This approach is based on biology and is more reliable and varies with the materialism theory. Aristotle’s view on the form and matter distinction allows him to describe the living organism effectively as a form of matter that is inseparable (Hawkes 2). Aristotle also integrates his view of the soul with the four causes’ theory in showing that that the soul is the cause of many of the body activities like movement (Hawkes 3).Thus, the material cause of an organism is simply its physical body.
The significant benefit of the causes’ integration is that it provides Aristotle with a conceptual framework to give a non-materialistic account of the mind (Hawkes 3). Contrary to Aristotle’s integration of the causes’ framework, is the materialism approach that regards the existence of bodies as obvious which complicates the issue of the mind existence on how one might account for the existence of minds (Hsieh 5). According to Jaegwon Kim, the basic mind-body problem is determining the existence of the mind in a physical world (Hsieh 7). The materialism theory cannot account for the causal and link between the body and mind. In contrast, the Hylomorphic approach gives a solution to this dilemma in that, Aristotle views the whole organism, as a composition of both the body and soul (Hawkes 7). The view that the two exist together and not as sole units, deals with the in the vain dilemma of accounting for the existence of the other unit and relations with each other (Hawkes 7).
Works Cited
Cohen, S. Marc. "Aristotle On Substance, Matter, and Form Metaphysics Γ: The Study Of Being Qua Being." 2006. Presentation.
Frankl, Viktor E. Man's Search For Meaning. Boston: Beacon Press, 2006. Print.
Hawkes, David. "Against Materialism in Literary Theory." The Return of Theory in Early Modern English Studies: Tarrying With The Subjunctive. Paul Cefalu and Bryan Reynolds. 1st ed. 2016. Print.
Hsieh, Diana Mertz. "The Soul of Aristotle." 2.1 (2002): 1-7. Print.
Thomas,. St. Thomas Aquinas, 1274-1974; Commemorative Studies. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1974. Print.
