Organon F

Volume 32, May 2025, Issue 2, Pages 150–167

ISSN 2585-7150 (online)

The problem of destructive change comprises two interrelated questions: (1) Is there destructive change? (2) If there is, what underlies it? Classical hylomorphists argue that there is destructive change, understood as the change of primary substances, and that what underlies it is prime matter. Insofar as there is destructive change, I agree with classical hylomorphists. But there are reasons to doubt that prime matter is the underlying substratum, so I disagree with them with respect to (2). Alternatively, I propose a new version of classical hylomorphism, according to which what underlies destruc-tive change, understood as the change of what I term “rigid-kooky” objects, is primary substance. My proposal has at least two perks. Compared to the classical account, it is relatively tolerant because it denies the historically contentious and ambiguous notion of prime matter. It is also economical because, unlike the classical account, which admits two constituency levels—one pertaining to primary substances and one to kooky objects—it admits only one constituency level, pertaining to kooky objects..

Hylomorphism; prime matter; change; substantial change; accidental unities; substance.

Author

Youssef Aguisoul

Affiliation

University of Lisbon

Address

University of Lisbon, Cidade Universitária, Alameda da Universidade, 1649-004 Lisboa, Portugal

E-mail

aguisoul@gmail.com 

Received

22 January 2024

Accepted

4 January 2025

Publishers

Institute of Philosophy of the Slovak Academy of Sciences

Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences

APA

Aguisoul, Y. (2025). You Don’t Need Prime Matter: Welcome Rigid-Kooky Objects. Organon F, 32(2), 150–167. https://doi.org/10.31577/orgf.2025.32202

Chicago

Aguisoul, Youssef. 2025. "You Don’t Need Prime Matter: Welcome Rigid-Kooky Objects." Organon F 32 (2): 150–167. https://doi.org/10.31577/orgf.2025.32202

Harvard

Aguisoul, Y. (2025). You Don’t Need Prime Matter: Welcome Rigid-Kooky Objects. Organon F, 32(2), pp. 150–167. https://doi.org/10.31577/orgf.2025.32202

© Youssef Aguisoul

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