Artifacts

Unlike a non-hierarchical CEM-based ontology, contemporary hylomorphists attribute to the composite whole “something extra” to account for its composition, unity, and identity. However, which material objects are paradigmatic hylomorphically complex? Aristotle, along with some contemporary philosophers (e.g., Jaworski, Koons), prefers living beings, while others—above all, Simon Evnine—are more interested in artifacts. Our task now is to examine whether this artifact-centric hylomorphism is, in outline, convincing. I will begin with an overview of artifacts within hylomorphic theory and then devote a section to Aristotle’s view of the ontological status of artifacts. After considering some theoretical shortcomings of Evnine’s amorphic hylomorphism, the chapter concludes with a survey of why the forms of artifacts should be regarded as impure.