The concepts of potentiality and actuality occupy the central position in Aristotle’s #metaphysics . They supply an invaluable intellectual tool to assess people and events for what they are, and for what they could become. They prompt you to assess not only what is self-evident, but also the latent capabilities and threats; they let you forecast the future by using #causality and logic, not magic and divination. Aristotle’s concepts of potentiality and actuality encompass three key ideas. Each of them has been proven by history, but was harshly attacked by its opponents. The attacks showed the will to obliterate #criticalthinking and replace it by propaganda. Let us explore these three key ideas in detail. The first key idea in Aristotle’s concepts of potentiality and actuality is that they possess a strong #ethical component. They are meant to encourage people to become a better version of themselves, not to commit crimes or promote evil projects. When #aristotle says that person A has the potential to do B or become C, he is implying that person A will display virtuous behaviour in the process. Aristotle’s #philosophy is #optimistic and ethical. He is encouraging #selfactualisation by means of honest, steady work, not through manipulation and theft. Niccolo #machiavelli (1469-1527) completely distorted the Aristotelian idea of potentiality by decoupling it from ethics; in order to further his own career, Machiavelli gave convoluted arguments in favour of becoming a worse version of oneself. Aristotle regarded self-actualisation as a process in which a person can set virtuous goals, make plans and carry them out to #achieve (“actualize”) something that is objectively good. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/key-ideas-in-aristotles-concepts-of-potentiality-and-actuality/
