PHILOS 25B Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Teleology, Baruch Spinoza, Atomism
Document Summary
The concept of substance: substance does not simply refer to any physical material. It is that which is fundamentally real (i. e. irreducible) Something like water or gold might not be substance if it is reducible to more fundamental things: ancient greek philosophers were the first to depart from mythical answers to questions about substance. Q: how can we explain change: the concept of change presupposes that something is the subject of that change. The subject must remain constant in order for the change to be intelligible as a change. Democritus atomism (fire, earth, water, air) Aristotle thought the notion of substance applies most to natural things. Things like animals and plants can be substances: descartes, spinoza, and leibniz addressed questions about substance as well: Aristotelian scholastic science: scholasticism most prominent view in the late middle ages. Arose in late middle ages because that was when aristotle"s works were rediscovered after being lost to the west.
