"The nature of art" in Aristotle (Physics B, 3-9) and the interventionist theory of causality.

Journal title EPISTEMOLOGIA
Author/s Gaetano Licata
Publishing Year 2016 Issue 2015/2 Language Italian
Pages 20 P. 175-194 File size 217 KB
DOI 10.3280/EPIS2015-002001
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I have split the interpretation of chapters 3-9 of Aristotle’s Physics B in two parts: in chapters 3-7 the definition of the four causes is formulated and it is set the problem whether chance and fortune are causes of becoming, in chapters 8-9 this problem is solved in teleological way and the conclusions on the relation φύσις-τέχνη are drawn. The interventionist theory of causality claims that there is a strong connection between causality and human intervention in nature: the idea of a causal relation between two events (one which causes and the other which is caused) has as its presupposition the concept of intentional action and it is generated by the reflection of man on his own operating with aims in the reality. Though it is an archaic aspect, and against the contemporary positions of science, in Physics B Aristotle conceives the natural becoming as an operating which develops towards a precise aim; moreover the causa efficiens is in nature the active element (ποιεῖν) which gives raise to the movement and imposes the form, in analogy with the active element that in τέχνη is the craftsman who operates the production. This analogy suggests that Aristotle conceives the efficient cause on the basis of the human ability to modify the environment, in agreement with the contemporary interventionist theory of causality.

Keywords: Cause, Aristotle’s physics, nature, technique, interventionist theory, aimed operating

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Gaetano Licata, L’analogia "La natura dell’Arte" in Aristotele (Fisica B, 3-9) e la Teoria Interventistica della Causalita in "EPISTEMOLOGIA" 2/2015, pp 175-194, DOI: 10.3280/EPIS2015-002001