Thales

Thales, a Pre-Socratic and the founder of the "School of Natural Philosophy," asserted that water was the ‘principle’ of all things (archas pantôn). [1] Due to Thales theory, it is presumed that the question Thales was attempting to answer was: What is the source of all things?[2]  The answer to this question assumes two things are true:

·         All things have a source.[3]

·         The source of all things is one thing.[4]

Thales theorised that the single principle is called the "Primordial Waters," thereby concluding that "there is an order in nature that the mind can comprehend."[5]

Thales did not leave any written documentation and so it is presumed that Thales justified his theory by way of reason:

·         The nutriment of all things is moist.

·         Heat is generated from the moist and kept alive by it.

·         The seeds of all things have a moist nature.

Through reasoning, Thales deduces that water is the origan of moist things, concluding that the Primordial Waters are the principle of all things.[6]

 Aristotle

Aristotle believed that potentiality (dynamis , matter) and actuality (energeia , form)were the base components of existence and nothing  could exist without at least one of these components. Actuality precedes potentiality because Aristotle theorised that nothing exists without a cause. “Actuality is the state of existence, being, whilst potentiality is a state of coming into being, making actuality the opposite of potentiality.”[7] Matter is defined as potentiality to enable form to appear.[8]

Example:

An idea “forming” in my head would be actuality because it is just a thought. If this thought is written down or sculpted into a physical state of existence, it becomes potentiality, “matter.”

A fundamental example of actuality for Aristotle is the human animal. The essence of a human being, when thinking or living a rational life, the human realises their essence and thus becomes, actual, a thinking human displaying substance in actuality.[9] “Substance or necessity is nothing but the displaying of infinity as it is within itself: in its moments something which as possibility but in such a way that these moments are not themselves, what is infinite.”[10]

Descartes'

Descartes’ radical doubt came about whilst searching for a new method for testing our knowledge. The basis of Descartes’ procedure is that an evil demon has the power to deceive and brings into doubt all things that a human believes to be truth. Ie: the sense experience: touch, taste, hearing, smell and sight. The only thing Descartes’ knows to be reality is thought, thus his famous statement, “I think, therefore I am.” (Cogito ergo sum) Descartes’ doubted his existence and by inference, mans existence. Implying that everything that can be seen; is nothing more than an illusion, including the planet. The only way for Descartes’ to know that he, and we, exists is to understand that if we are a thinking thing, then we exist. Descartes’ world view was coloured by his perception of good and evil. A devout Catholic, Descartes’ perception of good and evil was bias and therefore flawed. To state that an “evil demon” has power to deceive the human animal produces a dichotomy because, to conclude that evil, in demon form, deceives man, also infers “good” in the form of a “God” thereby maintaining a balance that is lacking in Descartes’ philosophies.

Locke’s 

Locke, Descartes’ and Newton attempted to show the form and distinction between primary and secondary qualities of physical objects. Locke’s primary quality is that of objects that are inseparable, seamless. Objects that represent perfect consistency and that are perceived by our mental awareness to contain mass, motion, etc… An observer perceives an object as something tangible and solid, no matter what enters the observer’s perceptual experience and the representation of what the observer perceives to be a physical object is only a formation of a concept formed within the perception of the observer.

The human perception according to Locke involves a range of quantative aspects and thus moves us to the secondary qualities of objects.[11]Locke’s secondary qualities of objects revolve around the ideas of certain sensations from powers or tendencies of physical objects such as colours, smells and tastes which are not part of the objects themselves. Rather, these objects have the ability to arouse these sensations through sight, sound, touch, smell and sound: sensory perception.[12] Locke describes the redness of a rose as being a colour perceived by the onlooker, rather than a red colour painted upon the flower. Locke claims that the “colour as a secondary quality” and is “distinct from the sensation or qualia of colour.”

de Beauvoir

Simone De Beauvoir’s interpretation of “Facticity” asserts that the world is given to human beings when they come into this level of existence. Humans do nothing to earn their piece of this world; it is almost taken for granted that a slice of this world will be given freely. It has no label, it just is and it is just there. Facticity is where we find ourselves; it pushes against our will, goals and strivings as an invisible barrier denying the wants of man.

Transcendence describes the capacity of human beings to alter the way in which their lives evolve. They are able to correct errors, change circumstances and begin to understand who they, themselves are. Transcendence displays a dimension of human freedom. De Beauvoir states that human beings are capable of self-surpassing (exceeding their own expectations) but stresses that it is an “illusion to think that human beings are pure transcendence or Facticity.”[13] Being quite powerful in its attraction, it is but a “powerful illusion.”[14] De Beauvoir notes that humans quite often spend their energies denying themselves the abilities to alter their own circumstances, but cites that to deny Facticity can be deluding.[15] De Beauvoir goes on to state that some groups of people are socially and culturally excluded from self-surpassing, not so much through self-deception, but through oppression.[16]

 Bibliography

Allen, Reginald E. "Introduction: The Milesians." In Greek Philosophy: Thales to Aristotle, edited by Reginald E. Allen, 1:11-12, 21-22, 29-30, 2:1, 4-6. New York: The Free Press: A Division of Macmillian Publishing Co., Inc.

Aristotle: Lesson 5, Lecture 9." (Sydney: Macquarie University, November 22nd, 2009.)

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, John W. Burbidge, George Di Giovanni. "Relationships." In The Jena system, 1804-5: logic and metaphysics, by John W. Burbidge, George Di Giovanni Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, edited by George Di Giovanni John W. Burbidge, 45:3-7. Montreal, Quebec: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, 1986.

Locke. Perception and experience: Mind and Body. 2. Colour Perception: Primary and Secondary Qualities Week 8. Lectures: 15-16. " (Sydney: Macquarie University, November 22nd, 2009.)

Self and World: The Feminime: 2. The Divided Self: Transcendence and Facticity.   Week 13. Lecture: 25. " (Sydney: Macquarie University, November 22nd, 2009.)

University, Crandall. Crandall University. Edited by Crandall University. September 10th, 2008. http://www.abu.nb.ca/Courses/GrPhil/Thales.htm (accessed November 21st, 2009).