Substance and Thinking in the Aristotelic Theology. Historical Landmarks of the Definition of Person

Abstract

The main purpose of this article is to show the argumentative route that Aristotle made in his Metaphysics to conclude that there is a substance whose sole activity is to think itself and that this substance can be identified as god. In order to do so, in the first part we will reconstruct the initial step into Aristotelian argumentation which argues that there is an eternal and immobile substance. Later, on the second part, we will get into detail in the immaterial character of that eternal substance, being aware that the essence of this entity is pure activity. Finally, in the third part, we will expose the reasons that Aristotle offers to prove that this substance´s sole activity is to think and that the object of its thought is itself. In this way, I will try to clarify the relationship that emerges from this theory between substance and thought, which has played a crucial part in the latter formulation of the definition of person that has already been referred.