12. Philosophy and Theosophy

We only need to look at some of Aristotle's fundamental concepts to realize this. It is quite in his spirit to say: when we analyze the things around us, we first find what gives us knowledge of these things by perceiving with the sense: Sense provides us with the individual thing. But when we begin to think, things are grouped together, we combine different things into a unit of thought. - And now Aristotle finds the right relationship between this unity of thought and an objective reality, that objective which leads to the thing in itself - by showing that with consistent thinking we must think of the world of experience around us as composed of matter and what he calls form. For Aristotle, matter and form are two concepts that he really separates in the only correct sense in which they must be separated. We could talk for hours if we wanted to exhaust these two concepts and everything that is connected with them. But let us at least bring up a few elementary points in order to understand what Aristotle distinguishes between form and matter. He is clear about the fact that in relation to all things that are initially around us, that form our world of experience, it is important for cognition that we grasp the form, because it is the form that gives things their essence, not the matter. For Aristotle, form is the essence.