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Concept

Morphē

μορφή · morphē

Aristotlehylomorphismformmatter

Form as shape — the form that, joined to matter, makes a thing what it is.

Form and matter

Morphē is form in the sense of shape or organizing structure. For Aristotle every natural thing is a compound of matter and morphē: the bronze is matter, the shape of the statue is its form, and the thing is the two together. Form here is not a separate Platonic Form standing apart, but the actuality and principle within the thing — what it is to be that thing.

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