In his study of psyche, Aristotle espoused a combined view of rationalism and empiricism.
This was in contrast to Plato who embraced rationalism, but rejected empiricism. For
Aristotle, one advantage to taking this combined approach was that empiricism allowed the
experiences of the natural world, as experienced through the five senses, to be taken into
consideration. Another advantage for Aristotle in using a combined approach, was that he
was able to present a more clear-cut definition of psyche in the context of demonstrating
the essential nature of a thing which he did in the Four Causes.
An example to demonstrate Aristotle’s concept of psyche is that of a house. A house begins
with building materials such as wood or bricks. These basic building materials of the house
are akin to matter and are called the Material Cause by Aristotle. They have potential.
Once the wood or bricks are organized into the actual form of a house, this actual structure
of a house is called the Formal Cause. As far as human beings are concerned, the Material
Cause would be all of the chemical components of which we are made, such as carbon,
hydrogen, oxygen, etc… The body in and of itself is simply a body. It has potential.
According to Aristotle, a human would not be a human if it did not possess a psyche or
soul which is the actuality or Formal Cause. In order to have a complete human being,
there has to be both a physical body and the psyche or soul. It is the unity of the body and
soul that creates a human.