Concept in Definition ABC
Miscellanea / / November 13, 2021
By Florencia Ucha, on Feb. 2010
According to the context in which it is used, the word form refers to various issues.
The outward appearance of a body
Its most widespread use turns out to be that which says that the form is the external figure of a solid material body. That is to say, it is the figuration that a body has on its exterior and by case it is that the shape allows us to recognize square, round, rectangular shapes and various shapes in the same body.
So, this is why we can classify the different objects into squares, spheres, circles, among others. The classification of the forms in this sense speaks to us of Geometric or basic shapes (are the equilateral triangle, the circle and the square, each one has its own characteristics and turns out to be the basis for the formation of others), Organic or natural forms (those to which man resorts to carry out his artistic creations) and Artificial Forms (those created by man, for example, a chair, a car, a table, among others).
The form for the philosophy and opinion of the most prominent philosophers
On the other hand, the concept of shape has a special presence in the field of philosophy, We just mentioned what shape was the external figure of a material body, while that shape, once known, is possible, thanks to the power of abstraction, bring it back to our mind and also make groupings of objects according to their shapes; then, in the same way we can group and order things in our mind, unifying them in concepts that will denote us only with thinking about the properties of the same, standing out from each one some way that is what will allow us to know what it is essentially.
Philosophy then has approached the subject on many occasions, as one of the philosophers who contributed definitions on the matter was the Greek Aristotle who distinguished between the first substances and the second. The first are those individuals that make up a species and are made up of matter and form and by power and act. And the latter are universal substances. Ultimately, for Aristotle, form is what makes the substance first be what it is and not something else. The form determines the matter. Matter acts in a more passive way while form is active and it is what makes matter unique. The form is also the essence of things because it will make them what they are and not something else.
There were also other philosophers and relevant personalities who dealt with the question, such is the case of Pythagoras who He argued that the shape of something is what differentiates it from another and in his opinion it was the number that made the difference.
And Immanuel Kant, a relevant 18th century philosopher, argued that knowledge begins in the sensible world and matter must be shaped in order to organize experience and create knowledge. Reason can order matter report by categories.
But there are many more applications of the concept, very specific ...
Other specific uses
In the way of arranging a thing, or failing that, in the way of doing it, it is also known as form.
Also, when way of expressing that someone has, either in writing or in their conversations, it is often called the way of speaking, the way of to write of this or that.
And when you want to realize the physical condition that a certain person presents is usually spoken of in terms of form, that is to say: “despite the amount of carbohydrates you consume on a daily basis, Juan, continues to stay in very good shape physical". In other words, when someone has a good physique, they are often told that they are in excellent shape.
On politics The word is used to refer to the different types of government systems that exist and that involve different ways of exercising power: democratic, authoritarian
Themes in Shape