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5 ssss1 For the purposes of this book the words “ethics” and “morality” will be taken to be exact synonyms.

MICHAEL BOYLAN

Aristotle introduces our discussion in Posterior Analytics II.1 “There are four questions we can ask about the [natural] objects we know (epistametha): the fact (hoti); the reasoned fact or cause (dioti); the question about the modal existence of the entity (ei esti); and the question of definition or essence (ti esti).”¹ In the context of this chapter I’d contextualize this as ultimately searching for a definition of nature that can be the basis of our discussion. But “definition” is last on Aristotle’s list. Why is that? It is because the definition must be the result of experience (empeiria) that itself allows one to have confidence in his/her beliefs about what the fact actually is (hoti) and its structure and modalities within various contexts (ei esti) in order to speculate on the causal structure that underlies its operation (dioti). As has been the case in the past, this author is greatly influenced by Aristotle’s approach to understanding nature.² However, this chapter will use this general structure and move beyond the Stagirite’s exposition (though using this structure in Part I).