Eidos
Eidos ( Greek εἶδος eîdos , German ' that to be seen , shape' , in Indo-European * vid ' to see', cf. the Greek perfect form οἶδα oîda '[I have seen]' → 'I know') denotes shape, form or appearance.
The term can already be found in Plato's dialogues Kratylos and Parmenides , where it is mostly translated as " idea ". With Aristotle it stands in contrast to matter ( hýlē ὕλη ). In the phenomenology of Edmund Husserl the term stands for the essence .
Meaning in Aristotle
For Aristotle , Eidos has two different meanings:
- in the sense of logical or scientific classification, the type of a genus
- in the sense of the form (such as a bronze ball or the construction manual of a house) the opposite term to matter , the substance, the hýlē (this bronze ball, the components of this house).
Eidos is a central concept for Aristotle. In his metaphysics , he defines the eidos as the "inner form" (to eidos to enon) of the (primary) substance or ousia . (Met. VII 11, 1037a 29-30) Form and matter are two perspectives on the one whole (synolon). No single thing exists without matter. But it is not definable without its form, without the general that is contained in it.
The concept of eidetic , the concept of being as a perceptual given, is derived from eidos .
literature
- Torsten Menkhaus: Eidos, Psyche and Immortality: A Commentary on Plato's “Phaidon”. Frankfurt am Main / London 2003
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ M. Frede / G. Patzig: Aristoteles Metaphysik Z, Text, Übers. And Commentary, 2 vol., Munich 1988, here vol. II, pp. 211-214