Matter
The stuff of which bodies are made, and the principle that receives form.
Works to read
- On the Fabric of the Human Body (Preface) by Andreas Vesalius, 1543
- Body and Mind by Henry Maudsley, 1870
- Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes, 1651 · Great Books
- De Anima by Aristotle, c. 350 BCE · Great Books
- Parva Naturalia (Short Treatises on Nature) by Aristotle, c. 350-330 BC · Great Books
- On the Motion and Gait of Animals by Aristotle, c. 350-322 BC · Great Books
- The Canon of Medicine, Book I by Ibn Sina (Avicenna), c. 1025
- The Passions of the Soul by Rene Descartes, 1649
- The Sceptical Chymist by Robert Boyle, 1661
- Timaeus by Plato, c. 360 BCE · Great Books
- On the Heavens by Aristotle, c. 350 BC · Great Books
- On Generation and Corruption by Aristotle, c. 350 BC · Great Books
Passages
From the texts
The matter, therefore, which is capable of being otherwise than as it usually is, must be the cause of the accidental.
— Aristotle, Metaphysics
Necessity is in the matter, while ‘ that for the sake of which ’ is in the definition.
— Aristotle, Posterior Analytics and Physics
Verified quotations
No verified quotation in the library contains this idea's key words yet.
Passages are verified quotations from the library that use one of these words: matter, material, body, bodies. Sentences under “From the texts” are copied word for word from the full texts in this library. Read each in its context on the work's page.