Form and Matter - Inseparable Duo - A glimpse of the immaterial.

I have been convinced for some time that it is imperative to translate the philosophy developed by our great medieval thinkers into contemporary language and concepts. The theology they developed was not dependent on the science they knew but was appended to it. In the back of their minds they knew that they did not have all the answers to the questions that confronted them, with the science of their time just as we know that we do not have them either with the science of our time. Therefore it is my contention that they were teaching us, by example, how to integrate theological thought with the reality at each step in the development of man’s knowledge and understanding of his surrounding. Here is my attempt to describe the concept of Matter and Form in a language that we can relate to in our contemporary mode of thinking. I leave it to the reader to go the final step and visualize it in the current scientific reality.

The concept of Matter and Form in Aristotelian physics is foreign to our contemporary understanding of science. It was a way of explaining how the non-physical “idea” or “concept” interacts with the physical world[1]. It visualized everything material as composed of the physical entity and the concept behind it. The example used[2] is a table where the artisan who has the picture of the final product in his mind takes a formless piece of wood and molds it into its final form. The “picture in his mind” is the Form which is now actualized as part of the final object. Looked at it relatively, Matter is controlled by Form. Matter will not change without Form acting on it, in fact it will not “exist” without Form, or concept preceding its existence. Form will also not be actualized without interacting with Matter. They are always interdependent[3]. Matter also has the propensity to change[4]. It takes on a certain form and with time it starts to deteriorate, return to its original and is now ready to receive a different Form. Rambam understands that this concept of Matter is represented metaphorically as a promiscuous woman who is impregnated by different men and constantly seeks out new companions.

"How wonderfully wise is the simile of King Solomon, in which he compares matter to a faithless wife: for matter is never found without form, and is therefore always like such a wife who is never without a husband, never single; and yet, though being wedded, constantly seeks another man in the place of her husband: she entices and attracts him in every possible manner till he obtains from her what her husband has obtained. The same is the case with matter. Whatever form it has, it is disposed to receive another form; it never leaves off moving and casting off the form which it has in order to receive another. The same takes place when this second form is received." (MN3:8)

The importance of this discussion as it relates to theology is that the concept of Form is the prototype of non-material existence. The difference between Form and the First Cause idea is that Form and Matter are interdependent while First Cause by definition is the ultimate concept of independence. However it opens our mind to thinking in the direction of the possibility of non-material existence. It is at the cusp of the transition between physics and metaphysics.

[1] The mind – body relationship is an old philosophical debate that is still ongoing. The Self and its Brain, an Argument for Interactionism, Karl Popper and John C. Eccles is a good starting point. Also see Yeshayahu Leibowitz excellent booklet Guf Venefesh.
[2] See Milot Hahegayon, Magnes Press, chapter 9.
[3] רמב"ם יסודי התורה ד:ז
לעולם אין אתה רואה גולם בלא צורה או צורה בלא גולם, אלא לב האדם הוא שמחלק גוף הנמצא בדעתו ויודע שהוא מחובר מגולם וצורה, ויודע שיש שם גופים שגולמם מחובר מארבעת היסודות, וגופים שגולמם פשוט ואינו מחובר רק מגולם אחד, והצורות שאין להם גולם אינן נראין לעין אלא בעין הלב הן ידועין, כמו שידענו אדון הכל בלא ראיית עין.
[4] Of course there has to be an entity that conceptualizes the Form that will be appended to Matter but that is a different subject.