An Aristotelian Account of Sex and Gender

Abstract

We all grow and develop and must do so ‘where we are planted,’ in the time and era in which we live, among and with our contemporaries. Aristotelian hylomorphism, although perhaps a bit simple in its original form in light of contemporary biology, nonetheless provides a set of useful concepts and distinctions, ones that can acknowledge our deeply situated character without giving up a commitment to fundamental structures common to all human beings. Key to Aristotle’s account is the distinction between form and matter, or the formal and material principles. The first refers to the general pattern of development—e.g., the general developmental pattern characteristic of human beings in contrast to baboons or Arabian horses—while the latter refers to the conditions under which the development occurs. This distinction allows Aristotle to affirm that all members of one species can genuinely be said to share something significant and yet also so obviously and truly differ. All of us, according to Aristotle, share the same type of form—or principle of growth and development—and yet also differ in ways that are not insignificant. These differences are due to our differing material conditions, including not simply our differing physical matter but also our different cultural, social, historical, and linguistic influences as well as our choices and previously habituated patterns.