Materia great
Materia prima or prima materia is a Latin philosophical term thatmeans"first matter "; the expression is alsotranslated as" primordial matter "or " primordial matter ". The term goes back to Aristotle , who taught that concrete material things are constituted by matter ( hyle ) and form ( morphic ) (so-called hylemorphism ). The first, as yet unformed matter is called by him ὕλη πρώτη (hulê protê, hyle prote) or πρώτη ὕλη (protê hulê); this expression wastranslated into Latin as materia prima . The term was particularly important in scholasticism . From here it was also used in alchemy .
“First matter” in Aristotle
The materia prima ( hyle prote ) is understood as a limit term that describes the pure determinability without any determination. It stands in contrast to the materia secunda , the already formed matter. The materia prima is not material, but to be understood as a metaphysical principle and represents the condition for the possibility that one and the same form can appear multiple.
Aristotle uses the term materia prima in a double sense. In the context of his natural philosophy, which is treated in physics , he understands it to be the first substrate of all natural bodies , which is the reason for their transformation into other bodies. For example, he interprets the evaporation of water in such a way that the element water becomes something that belongs to the element air. But if this is to be a real genesis of the air out of the water, then the water must not cease to exist in its entirety and the air must not arise "from nothing", but one underlying both ( hypokeimenon ) must be assumed, which passes identically from the “passing” water into the “emerging” air. The materia is just fine . It is "the first thing underlying everyone ( hypokeimenon ), from which something as already present in him becomes" (Phys. I 9, 192a).
In the context of metaphysics , when determining the materia prima , Aristotle does not start from arising and disappearing. There it is the condition for being, not something that is already in itself. In the 7th book of Metaphysics he defines this matter as that “which in itself is neither called something, nor quantitative, nor by any other of the modes of assertion by means of which beings are determined.” Aristotle explains the reason: “There is something of which each of these determinations is predicated and whose being is different from each determination. Because the others are predicated of the essence ( ousia ), but this of matter ”(Met. Z 3, 1029a).
The starting point of this determination is the structure of the statement, of which Aristotle assumes that it reflects the structure of real beings . In the sentence not only the accidents of the substance , but also the substance of something are stated, as in the sentence: "This is water". Ultimately, all predicates are predicated of a last thing that is not determined by categories but by these determinable - first matter.
In Aristotle, the two concepts of matter differ primarily in terms of their substance. While in physics he describes materia prima as “substance in a certain way” ( usia pos ) (Phys. I 9, 192a), in metaphysics (Met. Z 3) he expressly denies it being substance. How the terms of matter used in physics and metaphysics relate to one another is a problem that has been widely discussed in the history of philosophy.
Scholastic discussions on materia prima
The contradicting solutions attempted in scholasticism for a more precise definition of the materia prima were based on the one-sided adoption of one of the two concepts of matter from Aristotelian physics or metaphysics .
Alchemy
In medieval alchemy , an idea of a primordial substance developed, according to which it was assumed that initial substances could be stripped of their (essential) forms step by step through actions ( operationes ) and that the substance thus obtained, the unformed primordial matter, then deliberately determined new ones Shapes, “seeds” or structures can be imprinted, whereby “nobler”, “refined” end products can be obtained. This was seen as a process of purification, transformation, and completion. For the purpose of such transformations as well as their means, the concept of a philosopher's stone was applied. The terminology is not uniform, and some works only offer hints; the primordial matter is u. a. described as both liquid and solid or there is talk of everyone knowing and seeing them every day, but not knowing how to appreciate their value.
The alchemists differed opinions about which substance should form the basis for the alchemical transformation. Were called inter alia own urine , rain water , mercury , blood , Maientau , celandine , Polytrichum commune and Sonnentau .
A fundamental difference between the concept of Aristotle and that of the alchemists is that for Aristotle, as well as for the ancient Peripatetics and Neo-Platonists who followed his conception, the formless and indeterminate primordial matter does not actually occur, but is only a conceptual construct in philosophy is needed. From the point of view of these philosophers, matter really only exists in connection with forms and it is impossible to strip them of all forms and thus to produce a primordial matter.
literature
Primary sources
- Aristotle: Physics (esp. I 9)
- Aristotle: Metaphysics (esp. VII 3)
Secondary literature
- Josef de Vries : Article matter. In: Basic Concepts of Scholasticism. 3. Edition. Knowledge Book Society, Darmstadt 1980.
- Guido Jüttner: Materia great. In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages . Volume 6, Munich 1993, column 380.
Web links
- Rudolf Eisler : Matter of Antiquity and Matter of Scholasticism . In: Rudolf Eisler: Dictionary of Philosophical Terms. 2nd Edition. Berlin 1904, online at textlog.de .