Wikipedia
A theory of substantial forms asserts that forms (or ideas) organize matter and make it intelligible. Substantial forms are the source of properties, order, unity, identity, and information about objects.
The idea of substantial forms dominates ancient Greek philosophy and medieval philosophy, but has fallen out of favour in modern philosophy. The idea of substantial forms has been abandoned for a mechanical, or “bottom-up” theory of organization. However, such mechanistic treatments have been criticized for the same reasons atomism has received criticism, viz., for merely denying the existence of certain kinds of substantial forms in favor of others (here, that of atoms, which are then thought to be arranged into things possessing accidental forms) and not denying substantial forms as such, an impossible move.
Usage examples of "substantial form".
Fortunately, they had not long to wait before relief came in the substantial form of Police Constable Hobkirk, a stout and middle-aged man who inhabited a cottage in the High Street, and devoted as much of his time as could be spared from his not very arduous police-duties to the cultivation of tomatoes, vegetable-marrows and flowers which almost invariably won the first prizes at all the local shows.
Was it all a lesson in prime matter and substantial form: Were the bits of bacon supposed to be numbers and the fried egg God?
It was swallowed by the spring's guardian and, strangely enough, disappeared into the less substantial form.
The programs that came with the unit lacked all the more substantial form-change functions-it did not even permit eye adjustments, which Bey had needed for nearsightedness since he was a teenager.
A flickering aura formed around his humanoid guise, along with a vague impression of another, less substantial form superimposed upon his anthropomorphic persona.
In sum, they believe to this very hour that I was there, in substantial form, and that I did indeed drink Fox's blood.
Gray had the sensation that if he only looked more closely, he could see the faces hidden in the folds of the robes, but he didn't know that they had faces, or took any more substantial form than necessary to defile and kill whatever they touched.
Miles pictured the lanky Firka lugging or dragging Bel's compact but substantial form down the public way.
The precipitating of this casual intercourse into the more substantial form of an acquaintanceship was the work of the gentleman himself, and occurred in this wise.
Miles pictured the lanky Firka lugging or dragging Bel's compact but substantial form down the public way .
He threw a blanket over his face, burrowed his substantial form deeper into the soft feather bed.
Miles pictured the lanky Firka lugging or dragging Bel's compact but substantial form down the public way .