ARISTOTLE:

Aristotle (384-322 BC) was Plato's leading student and the teacher of Alexander the Great.Aristotle constructed a system of abstract notions and principles-"matter,""form,"and "privation" ; "potency" and "act"; the ten categories; the four kinds of causes; and so on-which he tried to show were universal in scope,capable of explicating reality on all levels.He wanted to show how all of reality is thus intelligible.
God is perfect: He is pure form,without potentiality or matter.But man is a combination of matter and form.Since man is form and matter,he is imperfect,less than fully or realized.This imperfection is inherent,being located in matter or potentiality.
This conceptualization is nonsense.Man is not made of matter but is covered by matter.Man is made of spirit.If God is spirit,man is also spirit.In the Bible it is also said that "man is made in the image of God";therefore man is originally perfect.
A person is generally healthy,he falls into a diseased condition,it is not his inherent imperfection.It is something external that has attacked a healthy man.According to his original nature,the living entity is healthy,or in other words,pure spirit.
Although Aristotle criticized the Platonic separation between matter and form,his evaluation of these two was much like that of his teacher.Matter for Aristotle is unknowable and unintelligible,of no intrinsic worth; it is the cause of imperfection,change and destruction.Form alone is the object of knowledge,the really real,the unchangeable and enduring; it alone endows the world with meaning,intelligibility,and intrinsic purpose.
There is a process of evolution.The living entity passes from one species to another,from fish to trees to vegetables to insects to birds,beasts,and humans.In the human form,the result of evolution is fully manifest.It is like a flower unfolding from a bud.When the living entity attains the human form,his proper duty is to understand his lost relationship with God.If he misses this opportunity,he may regress.
Aristotle is correct,therefore when he says that everything has a purpose.The whole creative process aims at bringing the living entity back home,back to Godhead.
Does every living entity eventually come to that point? As a human being,you can properly utilize your consciousness,or you can misuse it.That is up to you.
Now,as a human,you can choose whether to return to God or again endure the cycle of birth and death.If you are fortunate,you make the proper choice according to the instructions of the spiritual master.Then your life is successful.Aristotle sees a hierarchy of forms extending from minerals,vegetables and animals up to human beings and ultimately God,who is pure form and pure act.God is devoid of all potentiality or materiality.
Of course there is a hierarchy.And the individual soul transmigrates from one form to another.That is a fact.You accept another form just as you accept another suit of clothes.Those clothes may be valuable,or of no value whatsoever.You get your clothes according to the price you pay,and you accept a form according to your work.Similarly,you bring about your own form,and you enjoy or suffer according to your work.
In any case,a material form is never perfect,because it undergoes six changes.It is born,it grows,it stays for a while,it leaves some by-products,it dwindles,and then it vanishes.When a form vanishes,it decomposes,and its various elements return to nature.
God is pure form or actuality,without matter or potentiality.But for Aristotle,form without matter means thought.Therefore,he considered God to be entirely mind or intellect and the divine life to be the life of the mind.God's perfection requires this.
Aristotle recommends that a man should meditate to become perfect.This meditation presupposes imperfection.Contemplation is recommended for conditioned living entities,but we should understand that God is never conditioned or imperfect.He is so powerful that whatever He desires or wills immediately comes into being.If one knows nothing of God,one should not speak of God.God certainly reciprocates with His devotees.As we offer our love to God,He responds and co-operates accordingly.
God need only think of a thing in order for that thing to be created or actualized.God's thinking,feeling,willing,and acting are the same.Because we are imperfect,when we think of something it may or may not happen.But whenever God thinks of something,it takes place.One has to speculate if one does not receive perfect knowledge from God Himself. No one can check what God decides.It doesn't matter whether you help God or not,but it is in your interest that you become His instrument.
For Aristotle,God is known by speculative reason,not by revelation.We are all limited,and God is unlimited; therefore we cannot understand God by our limited sensory powers.Consequently,God must be known by revelation.
It is not possible to know God by mental speculation.But when we engage in His service,He reveals Himself.When we are freed of ignorance by our service to God,God reveals Himself.