Hylomorphism
1000wordphilosophy.com
Hylomorphism
1–10 of 56 posts
Re: Hylomorphism
#2It fits with mathematics. You have structure (a la Bourbaki or CT) and stuff (well founded sets).
RENE THOM: THE HYLEMORPHIC SCHEMA IN MATHEMATICS
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-011-5690-5_...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematics,_Form_and_Function
Re: Hylomorphism
#3TFA is about philosophy, but the computer science concept is also interesting - composition of recursive functions.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hylomorphism_(computer_scien...
Re: Hylomorphism
#4If only hylo-morphism was so simple...I just spent a few months studying the concept, and let me tell you, Aristotle's form/matter distinction is so strange and complex and difficult to "boil down." Really, it takes a close, and very slow reading of the Physics (as well as other Aristotle texts), and a lot of reference to secondary sources, to get a handle on those difficulties. I'm not sure if this is an apt introduction, but I understand many people don't have the time to, as I said, read these texts carefully and closely, and they want an easy answer that conforms with the logic of the world they are already familiar with. But then you wouldn't be doing philosophy.
It's like Hegel said, when you want to study philosophy in earnest, you must "wear the vestments of the high priest," and never shy away from confusions or contradictions.
Re: Hylomorphism
#5TFA is about philosophy, but the computer science concept is also interesting - composition of recursive functions. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hylomorphism_(computer_scien...
Hah. My first read was that this way of looking at the world sounds object-oriented (an instance of a class being state encapsulated with function). Just goes to show how quickly any philosophy can lead to a schism ;)
Re: Hylomorphism
#6If only hylo-morphism was so simple...I just spent a few months studying the concept, and let me tell you, Aristotle's form/matter distinction is so strange and complex and difficult to "boil down." Really, it takes a close, and very slow reading of the Physics (as well as other Aristotle texts), and a lot of reference to secondary sources, to get a handle on those difficulties. I'm not sure if this is an apt introdu…
I have not read much Aristotle, but I can empathize.
He tried to get to the bottom of things and pursued various paths.
I think his mainstream metaphysics (Genus, Species, Difference, ...) is somewhat different from his Hylemorphism and was more successful.
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-logic/index.htm...
Re: Hylomorphism
#7It's pretty similar to Chinese Neo-Confucian concepts of 理 (li) and 气 (qi). Qi being matter-energy. Li - being structure or form or pattern.
Although to be human in Chinese concepts, required more than just having the form of a human, and e.g. looking human, but also the ability to act like a human with concepts of e.g. 仁 (ren).
Re: Hylomorphism
#8TFA is about philosophy, but the computer science concept is also interesting - composition of recursive functions. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hylomorphism_(computer_scien...
Thanks, this was my initial thought as well! Generally: https://ncatlab.org/nlab/show/recursion+scheme
(I'm actually kind of surprised ncatlab has this article!)
Re: Hylomorphism
#9It works well for computer science as well. Values have types (forms) and bytes (matter). One type can be instantiated in multiple ways, for example you can have multiple integers, like 1,2,3,4 or the bytes 01000001 can represent different information, like 65 or 'A'.
The interesting thing is null, because here the distinction sort of breaks down.
Re: Hylomorphism
#10"4. Conclusion
If I do produce something new when I assemble the contents of the box, then the table is something more than just those contents. The table is not only its material parts, but also the formal organization of those parts.
And that is the fundamental claim of hylomorphism: that there is some kind of formal part, component, or aspect to any table, chair, rock, tree, rabbit, planet, or human being, something beyond its matter which accounts for its existence and nature."
Yes, and this is what Kant called 'the conditions of the possibility of knowledge', namely space and time in our reason. The form exists neither on the object nor in a Platonic heaven, but only in our minds because it is 'imposed' on the table by our reason and intellectual categories.