Physis

Physis (Ancient Greek: φύσις, /ˈfaɪˈsɪs/) is a Greek theological, philosophical, and scientific term usually translated into English as 'nature'. Physis (Ancient Greek: φύσις, /ˈfaɪˈsɪs/) is a Greek theological, philosophical, and scientific term usually translated into English as 'nature'. The term is central to Greek philosophy, and as a consequence to Western philosophy as a whole.In pre-Socratic usage, phusis was contrasted with νόμος, nomoscode: lat promoted to code: la , 'law, human convention.'Since Aristotle, however, the physical (the subject matter of physics, properly τὰ φυσικά 'natural things') has more typically been juxtaposed to the metaphysical. The word φύσις is a verbal noun based on φύω 'to grow, to appear' (cognate with English 'to be'). In Homeric Greek it is used quite literally, of the manner of growth of a particular species of plant. In pre-Socratic philosophy, beginning with Heraclitus, phusis in keeping with its etymology of 'growing, becoming' is always used in the sense of the 'natural' development, although the focus might lie either with the origin, or the process, or the end result of the process. There is some evidence that by the 6th century BC, beginning with the Ionian School, the word could also be used in the comprehensive sense, as referring to 'all things', as it were 'Nature' in the sense of 'Universe'. In the Sophist tradition, the term stood in opposition to nomos (νόμος), 'law' or 'custom', in the debate on which parts of human existence are natural, and which are due to convention. The contrast of phisis vs. nomos could be applied to any subject, much like the modern contrast of 'nature vs. nurture'. In book 10 of Laws, Plato criticizes those who write works peri phuseōs. The criticism is that such authors tend to focus on a purely 'naturalistic' explanation of the world, ignoring the role of 'intention' or technē, and thus becoming prone to the error of naive atheism. Plato accuses even Hesiod of this, for the reason that the gods in Hesiod 'grow' out of primordial entities after the physical universe had been established. 'Because those who use the term mean to say that nature is the first creative power; but if the soul turns out to be the primeval element, and not fire or air, then in the truest sense and beyond other things the soul may be said to exist by nature; and this would be true if you proved that the soul is older than the body, but not otherwise.' Aristotle sought out the definition of 'physis' to prove that there was more than one definition of 'physis', and more than one way to interpret nature. 'Though Aristotle retains the ancient sense of 'physis' as growth, he insists that an adequate definition of 'physis' requires the different perspectives of the four causes (aitia): material, efficient, formal, and final.' Aristotle believed that nature itself contained its own source of matter (material), power/motion (efficiency), form, and end (final). A unique feature about Aristotle's definition of 'physis' was his relationship between art and nature. Aristotle said that 'physis' (nature) is dependent on techne (art). 'The critical distinction between art and nature concerns their different efficient causes: nature is its own source of motion, whereas techne always requires a source of motion outside itself.' What Aristotle was trying to bring to light, was that art does not contain within itself its form or source of motion. Consider the process of an acorn becoming an oak tree. This is a natural process that has its own driving force behind it. There is no external force pushing this acorn to its final state, rather it is progressively developing towards one specific end (telos).