“这一个”和“这类”——亚里士多德“形式”概念的辨析

Thisness and Suchness:A Diagnosis of Aristotle's Concept of Form

形式是亚里士多德《形而上学》中的核心概念。但是,围绕这个概念,长期以来却存在着有关形式是普遍的种属还是具体的个体的争论,而这又特别涉及到对《形而上学》Ζ卷中一些广受争议的段落的具体的理解。本文梳理了在这个问题上的各种立场和观点,明确地站在形式是个体的立场上,对其中最为困难的《形而上学》Ζ8中的1033b20-24一段话进行了深入的疏解,表明对于亚里士多德来说形式和质料是不分离的;当形式和质料不分离时,形式就是个体,而仅当形式脱离了质料,它才作为一般的类来被把握。本文进一步对Ζ卷中其他一些和这一难题相关的文本进行了逐一的疏解,为上述观点的成立提供牢固的证据支持,并且最终在根本的义理上做了说明。

Form is the corn Concept in Aristotle＇s Metaphysics. Around the concept, there＇s a long discussion on whether the form is universal or individual, and this involves the understanding of some paragraphs in Metaphysics, Vol. Z which has caused much controversies. After combing through various standpoints and views on this issue, this paper claims that the form is individual and makes a deep analysis of a paragraph in the most difficult Z8： 1033b20-24. It states that for Aristotle the form and the essence cannot be separated and the form is individual in this case. It is only when the form is separated from the essence it can be grasped as universal species. This paper makes further analysis of the related texts, puts forward strong supports for this standpoint, and finally makes statements on the fundamental argumentation.