THE MEANING OF NATURE 265 



verse as a whole; and it is the form, too, that accounts for the 

 particular passive potencies by which a natural being is related 

 to natural agents, fits into the scheme of the universe and thus 

 contributes to the good of the whole. As for this whole system 

 of interrelated active and passive potencies, it too is commonly 

 called Nature. Then, in the study of the soul and subsequent 

 treatises, form again is nature, but now as a special type of 

 active principle by which the living being can move itself. 

 Finally, the form, as soul, is a principle of various activities, 

 some more strictly movement than others; and as the meaning 

 of movement varies, so does the meaning of nature. But from 

 first to last, nature is considered not as essence, nor even as 

 principle of operation in the broad sense, but in one way or 

 another as principle of movement in the strict sense of the term. 



Sheilah O'Flynn Brennan 



St. Mary's College 

 Notre Dame, Indiana 



