41. Accidental Being and the Limits of Science

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

Accidental Being: Definition and Nature #

• Accidental being (kata symbebikos): Two things happening to belong to the same subject without intrinsic unity or causal connection
• Examples: Christian geometer, white magician, house-builder who happens to be a doctor
• Contrast with per se being (kata hauto): belonging through nature or definition (e.g., man is an animal)
• Accidental being has minimal reality—“is, as it were, only some name”

Three Classes of Things #

Aristotle divides beings into:

1. Things that are always in the same way by necessity (eternal, unchanging)
2. Things that are not by necessity nor always, but for the most part (usually, e.g., men have five fingers)
3. Things that are neither always nor for the most part (rare/accidental, e.g., snow in August)

Accidental being arises from the exceptions produced by what is for the most part.

Why There Can Be No Science of the Accidental #

Aristotle’s Core Argument: Every science and art concerns itself with what is always or for the most part. The accidental—what happens rarely—cannot be systematized or taught.

• One cannot teach rules about exceptions
• Example: A builder teaches how to construct a house, not what might accidentally happen to it (collapse, robbery)
• The medical art teaches health; cooking teaches taste—neither addresses accidental effects

Matter as the Cause of Accident: Matter, which “can be otherwise,” is why things sometimes fail to achieve their typical outcome. If all things happened by necessity, there would be no accidental being.

Accidental Causation: Multiple Types #

• Per se effect with accidental circumstance: Cook aims at taste; food happens to be healthy (health is accidental)
• Accidental combination of agents: House-builder who is also a doctor can accidentally heal while building
• Luck vs. Chance:
  • Luck (tyche): accidental causes in voluntary agents
  • Chance (automaton): accidental causes in natural agents
  • Both are accidental causes of what happens rarely as a result of action for an end

The Poetic Art: Is Moral Effect Accidental? #

Central Debate: Does morality belong per se (essentially) or kata symbebikos (accidentally) to the poetic art?

Position 1 (Common Modern View): Poetry, like cooking, aims primarily at pleasure. Moral effect is accidental.

• Shakespeare’s epilogue: “we’ll strive to please you every day”
• Music aims to please the ear without displeasure (Mozart’s principle)

Position 2 (Thomas Aquinas): Moral effect belongs per se to poetry. “It belongs to the poet to lead us into something virtuous by a suitable representation.”

Evidence from Aristotle’s Definition: Aristotle includes catharsis (purgation of emotions) in the very definition of tragedy, suggesting moral effect is essential, not accidental. Catharsis, borrowed from medicine (elimination of harmful substances), indicates the poet’s function is to properly regulate emotions through suitable representation.

The Question: Does the poet aim at virtue as poet, or only as a good man? This distinction is difficult to establish but crucial for understanding the poetic art.

Determinism vs. Aristotelian Indeterminacy #

Modern Principle of Determinism: Everything happens by necessity; if one knew all positions and momenta at any moment and possessed a supercalculating mind, the entire future would unfold by complete necessity. The past necessarily determines the future.

Claude Bernard’s Inconsistency: Bernard recognizes that scientific hypotheses can never be proven certain (a form of reasoning that never follows necessarily), yet he excludes determinism from doubt, calling it the absolute principle of science. “To doubt determinism would be to doubt science.”

Aristotle’s Position: Matter is indeterminate—capable of being otherwise. Not all events are determined; contingency is real.

Quantum Theory and Heisenberg: The principle of indeterminism (formulated by Heisenberg) aligns with Aristotelian understanding of matter’s potentiality. Heisenberg saw in quantum theory a confirmation of Aristotle’s idea that matter can be otherwise.

Einstein’s Resistance: Einstein never accepted indeterminism and repeatedly challenged the Copenhagen interpretation at the Solvay Conference (1927). Niels Bohr consistently refuted his objections, but Einstein never publicly objected again, though he never accepted it privately.

Truth vs. Goodness: Fundamental Distinction #

Core Principle: Truth and falsity are found primarily in the mind; good and bad are found primarily in things (external to the mind).

Truth and Composition/Division:

• Truth requires the composition or division of concepts in statements (affirmation and negation)
• Simple apprehension of terms (man, animal, stone) is neither true nor false
• When saying “man is not a stone,” one must simultaneously think of man and stone, composing them in thought to negate their union

Implications for Knowledge:

• Same knowledge of opposites: Knowing virtue requires knowing vice; medical knowledge encompasses both healing and harming
• Knowledge is analytical—bringing diverse things into the mind, composing and dividing them

Implications for Love:

• Not same love of opposites: In things themselves, opposites exclude each other; love of one excludes love of the other
• Love is synthetic—a going out to the beloved; the soul is more where it loves than where it animates

Key Arguments #

Argument: No Science of the Accidental #

1. Every science and art is about what is always or for the most part
2. The accidental is what happens rarely (neither always nor for the most part)
3. Therefore, there can be no science of the accidental
4. Supporting premise: How could one learn or teach another about what happens by chance?

Argument: Accidental Being from Matter’s Indeterminacy #

1. What is for the most part (the usual) sometimes produces exceptions
2. These exceptions arise from matter, which can be otherwise
3. If all things happened by necessity, there would be no exceptions
4. Therefore, matter’s capacity to be otherwise is the cause of accidental being

Argument: Catharsis as Per Se to Poetry #

1. Aristotle includes catharsis in the definition of tragedy
2. What belongs to a thing’s definition belongs per se (essentially) to it
3. Therefore, catharsis (moral/emotional purgation) belongs per se to tragedy
4. Thus, moral effect is not accidental to the poetic art

Argument: Determinism and Inconsistency #

1. Bernard acknowledges hypotheses can never be proven necessarily true
2. Bernard insists determinism cannot be doubted without doubting science
3. These two positions are inconsistent
4. This inconsistency witnesses to how firmly determinism became entrenched as the absolute principle of modern science

Important Definitions #

Accidental Being (kata symbebikos) #

Being that results from two things happening to belong to the same subject without intrinsic unity or causal connection. Neither always nor for the most part; rare or exceptional. Examples: Christian geometer, white magician, a house-builder who is also a doctor.

Per Se Being (kata hauto) #

Being that belongs to something through its nature, essence, or definition. What is always or for the most part. Example: Man is an animal (animality belongs to man’s nature).

Accidental Cause (aition kata symbebikos) #

A cause that produces an effect outside its intention or nature. Example: A cook aiming at taste happens to make food healthy; the health is accidental to cooking.

Catharsis (κάθαρσις) #

In medicine: elimination of harmful substances from the body. In tragedy: purgation or proper regulation of emotions (pity and fear) through the representation of serious action. Aristotle includes it in the definition of tragedy, suggesting it is essential to the poet’s function.

Luck (tyche - τύχη) #

Accidental causation in voluntary agents; a rare event resulting from action intended for an end but outside the agent’s intention.

Chance (automaton - αὐτόματον) #

Accidental causation in natural agents; what happens rarely as a result of natural processes without intention.

Indeterminacy of Matter #

Matter’s capacity to be otherwise; the principle that material things are not absolutely determined but can fail to achieve their typical form or function. Aristotle uses this to explain contingency and accidental being.

Determinism (Modern Principle) #

The principle that everything happens by necessity; if one possessed complete knowledge of all positions and momenta at any moment, the entire future would unfold necessarily. Dominant in 17th-19th century science; challenged by Heisenberg’s quantum indeterminism.

Examples & Illustrations #

Accidental Being Examples #

• Christian geometer: Christianity and geometry are unrelated; no single art produces both
• White magician: Whiteness and magic have no intrinsic connection
• House-builder who is a doctor: The house-builder heals accidentally because he happens to be a doctor
• Six-fingered person: Men normally have five fingers; six is rare and accidental
• Snow in August: Rare and accidental; snow in January is normal and not accidental
• Man being white: Whiteness is neither always nor usually true of man; therefore accidental

Accidental Causation in Arts #

• Cook making healthy food: Cook aims at taste; food happens to be healthy. Health is outside cooking’s intention
• Doctor building a house: Doctor can accidentally heal a patient while building (accidental combination of doctor + builder)
• Medical vs. cooking arts: Medicine aims at health; cooking at taste. Each has its per se aim; moral or healthy effects from cooking are accidental

Rare Events #

• Hurricane evacuation: 100-mile line of cars at 2 mph; woman fears running out of gas and turns back. Countless accidental factors determine outcomes
• Peppered moths in industrial England: Moths of certain colors fit the smoky landscape and survive; others are visible and are eaten. This illustrates natural selection, but it is not a comprehensive explanation of the whole basic structure of animal species

Poetic Examples #

• Shakespeare’s epilogue: “We’ll strive to please you every day”—suggests poetry aims at pleasure
• Mozart on music: Music must represent emotion (anger of Othello) but “not in a way that is displeasing to the ear, or it ceases to be music”—tension between artistic aim and moral/emotional effect

Notable Quotes #

“Since then, among the things that are, some are always in the same way by necessity… and others are not by necessity nor always, but for the most part… the latter is the beginning and cause that the accidental is.” — Aristotle (on how accidental being arises from exceptions to what is for the most part)

“It is clear that science will not be of the accidental. For every science… is about either the always or the usual.” — Aristotle (core reason why science cannot address the accidental)

“It belongs to the poet to lead us into something virtuous by a suitable representation.” — Thomas Aquinas (arguing moral effect is per se, not accidental, to poetry)

“To doubt determinism would be to doubt science.” — Claude Bernard (witness to how determinism became an unquestioned principle)

“The false and the true are not in things, as if the good is true and the bad false, but in the mind.” — Aristotle (fundamental distinction between truth/falsity and goodness/badness)

Questions Addressed #

Why is there no science of the accidental? #

Science systematizes what is always or for the most part. The accidental, being rare and exceptional, cannot be reduced to teachable rules or principles. One cannot learn how to manage the exceptions that matter produces.

How do you distinguish per se from accidental causation? #

Per se causation produces effects through the agent’s nature and art. Accidental causation produces effects outside the agent’s intention. The cook aims at taste (per se); health is accidental. The doctor aims at health (per se); taste is accidental to medicine.

Does moral effect belong per se or accidentally to poetry? #

Aristotle’s definition includes catharsis, suggesting moral effect is essential. Thomas Aquinas agrees it belongs per se. However, modern aesthetics treats it as accidental (poetry aims to please, like cooking). The distinction hinges on whether the poet aims at virtue as such or only as a good man.

Why did Claude Bernard exclude determinism from doubt? #

Bernard recognized that scientific hypotheses can never be proven certain, yet he treated determinism as beyond doubt, making it the absolute principle of science. This inconsistency reveals how strongly determinism was entrenched in modern scientific thinking.

How does quantum indeterminism relate to Aristotle? #

Heisenberg’s principle of indeterminism aligns with Aristotle’s understanding that matter is indeterminate—capable of being otherwise. Heisenberg saw in quantum theory a vindication of Aristotelian metaphysics. Einstein resisted this, maintaining 17th-19th century determinism.

What is the relationship between truth and the mind? #

Truth and falsity are found primarily in the mind, not in things. Truth requires composition or division of concepts in statements (affirmation or negation). Simple apprehension of terms (understanding what a thing is) is neither true nor false. Therefore, truth depends on the mind’s operation of judgment.

How do knowledge and love differ regarding opposites? #

Knowledge can encompass opposites (knowing virtue requires knowing vice) because knowledge is analytical—bringing diverse things into the mind. Love cannot simultaneously embrace opposites because love is going out to the beloved; in things themselves, opposites exclude each other.

Connections to Main Course Themes #

• Being: Accidental being is the least of all being; it is the starting point for ascending to per se being and ultimately to God as the cause of all being
• Causation: Accidental causes differ fundamentally from per se causes; both are real and require explanation
• Matter and Form: The indeterminacy of matter explains why accidental being exists; matter’s capacity to be otherwise produces exceptions
• Mind and Reality: Truth is located in the mind (composition/division), while goodness is located in things—a fundamental distinction for understanding both metaphysics and theology