Book 6 / Chapter 4
Paragraph 1 - The Distinction Between Making and Acting
Explanation - Part By Part
"In the variable are included both things made and things done; making and acting are different (for their nature we treat even the discussions outside our school as reliable); so that the reasoned state of capacity to act is different from the reasoned state of capacity to make."
Aristotle is distinguishing between two types of activities: making (creating something) and acting (behaving or doing something). These two are not the same and are fundamentally different in nature. He emphasizes that even discussions or viewpoints outside his philosophical school recognize this distinction. Essentially, the way we reason and prepare ourselves to act (engage in behaviors or actions) is not the same as the way we reason and prepare ourselves to make (produce or create something). Each involves a different kind of mental or intellectual capacity.
"Hence too they are not included one in the other; for neither is acting making nor is making acting. Now since architecture is an art and is essentially a reasoned state of capacity to make, and there is neither any art that is not such a state nor any such state that is not an art, art is identical with a state of capacity to make, involving a true course of reasoning."
Aristotle is emphasizing the distinction between acting (praxis) and making (poiesis). These are two fundamentally different activities, and neither can be reduced to or contained within the other. Acting refers to carrying out an activity, typically moral or practical actions directed towards living well, while making refers to the process of creating something tangible, like a product or work.
Using architecture as an example, Aristotle explains that it is an art (technē), which he defines as a "reasoned state of capacity to make." In other words, art involves skill and the ability to produce something based on a coherent and logical process of thought. He adds that art and this reasoned capacity to make are inseparable; if something is art, it must fit this definition, and vice versa. Furthermore, art must involve reasoning and deliberate understanding aimed at creating something—it's not just instinct, chance, or arbitrary action.
"All art is concerned with coming into being, i.e. with contriving and considering how something may come into being which is capable of either being or not being, and whose origin is in the maker and not in the thing made; for art is concerned neither with things that are, or come into being, by necessity, nor with things that do so in accordance with nature (since these have their origin in themselves)."
Aristotle is saying here that art, in its essence, is about bringing things into existence—creating something that did not exist before. This kind of creation involves thought, planning, and deliberate effort by the creator (the "maker"). Importantly, the existence of what is created is not inevitable (i.e., it could exist or not exist), and its origin lies in the intention and ability of the maker, rather than in the object itself.
He emphasizes that art is not concerned with things that happen necessarily (e.g., the laws of physics) or with things that arise naturally without human intervention (e.g., plants growing). Those things emerge on their own, driven by necessity or inherent natural forces. In contrast, art deals specifically with things that require the conscious activity of a creator to come into being. Essentially, art is about human creativity and effort resulting in something new.
"Making and acting being different, art must be a matter of making, not of acting. And in a sense chance and art are concerned with the same objects; as Agathon says, 'art loves chance and chance loves art'. Art, then, as has been is a state concerned with making, involving a true course of reasoning, and lack of art on the contrary is a state concerned with making, involving a false course of reasoning; both are concerned with the variable."
Aristotle here is highlighting the distinction between making (or "producing") and acting. These are two separate activities, and art, as a concept, falls squarely into the category of making. In other words, art is not about actions or behaviors; it's about creating something, bringing something into existence that wasn’t there before.
Aristotle also suggests that art and chance are somehow connected because they both deal with things that could either happen or not happen (they are part of the "variable," meaning they depend on circumstances). He quotes Agathon, who poetically states, "art loves chance and chance loves art." This might mean that chance sometimes plays a role in the creative process, and creativity often thrives when uncertainty or randomness is embraced.
Finally, Aristotle explains that true art is rooted in correct reasoning—it’s an intellectual process aimed at producing something thoughtfully and purposefully. On the other hand, a lack of skill or "bad art" stems from flawed reasoning, leading to failed or improper creation. Both good and bad art are related to the fact that the outcomes in question are not fixed; they emerge in a realm of possibility where things can turn out differently depending on the creator’s knowledge, skill, and choices.