亚里士多德的质料概念

Aristotle's Concept of Matter

质料概念是亚里士多德形而上学的核心概念之一,不过它自身的意义以及“质料是什么”的问题却不像人们以为的那样明晰。亚里士多德的质料概念既不是日常意义上的物体概念也不是现代科普中的物质概念,而是在他的变化理论,特别是实体生灭中得到理解和定义的。然而,尽管质料是实体生灭变化的“主体”(ν'ποκε'ιμενον),也是实体生成中的“从之而来者”(thatfrom whichathingcomes),但是这两者都不能定义质料,因为它们无法涵盖亚里士多德对“质料”的所有使用方式,也不能解释质料的特性。“质料是什么”的问题要由潜在性来回答,质料不属于任何一种范畴,而是一种存在方式。潜在性的本体论意义正是质料的意义和特征;“质料是潜在的实体”可以说是质料概念的描述定义,它回答了质料是什么并解释了质料如何作为基体和“从之而来者”,为何“渴望形式”,为何是“相对者”,以及在什么意义上是“不可知的”和“不确定的”,等等。亚里士多德也把“无限”、“属”等称为“质料”,这些是质料概念的宽泛意义,因为它们以类比的方式也作为潜在者。

The concept of matter plays a crucial role in Aristotle's philosophy,but what it means is not so clear as people supposed.In this paper I argue that Aristotelian matter is neither the concept of body,nor the concept of mass or perceptible object in modern science;.rather it is defined and understood within Aristotle's theory of change.Although matter is the ν'ποκε'ιμενον of substantial generation,and that:from which a substance comes,neither ν'ποκε'ιμενον nor that from which a thing comes is able to define matter.The answer of“what is matter”relates to the concept of potentiality.Matter is not any cate-gorical being,but a way of being.The descriptive definition of matter should be potential substance,because this definien explains the meta-physical meaning of matter and its various features:why matter could be ν'ποκε'ιμενον and that from which a thing comes,why matter desires form,why matter is indefinite,and why matter is relative,ect.Infinite and genus are called“matter”in an analogous sense,because they are kinds of potential being.