In 335 BC Aristotle went back to

University Degree Historical and Philosophical studies

ARISTOTLE

Aristotle [384-322] was born in 384 B.C. near Macedonia. His father was the physician to the king of Macedonia. It is believed that Aristotle came from a long line of physicians, and, as such, they account for his less than idealistic attitudes towards philosophy-he preferred the more practical explanations. Aristotle was sent to study at Plato’s Academy in Athens, a great center of learning at the time. He married twice, and became tutor to the future Alexander the great. In appreciation, he was given a handsome salary when he used to acquire books and scientific instruments.

In 335 BC Aristotle went back to Athens, where he found Plato’s Academy flourishing under Xenocrates. Aristotle founded his own school, the Lyceum, and ran it for twelve years. The school is often called the “Peripatetic School”, because Aristotle used to like walking around and discusses his ideas with his colleagues. Peripatetics are "people who walk around." Aristotle would have detailed discussions with a small group of advanced students in the mornings and larger lectures in the evenings. During his time at the Lyceum, Aristotle wrote on a wide range of subjects such as politics, metaphysics, ethics, logic and science.

Aristotle agreed with Plato that the cosmos is logically and rationally designed and that philosophy can understand absolute truths by studying universal forms. Their ideas diverged, however, in that Aristotle thought that the Universal is found in particular things while Plato believed the universal exists apart from particular things, and that material things are only a reflection of true reality, which exists in the realm of ideas and forms. The fundamental difference between the two philosophers is that Plato thought only pure mathematical reasoning was necessary-Aristotle, on the other hand, thought that in addition to this "first philosophy," it is also necessary to undertake detailed empirical investigations of nature, and thus to study what he called "second philosophy," which includes such subjects as physics, mechanics and biology. Aristotle's philosophy therefore involved both inductive and deductive reasoning, observing the workings of the world around him and then reasoning from the particular to a knowledge of essences and universal laws. In a way, Aristotle was the first major supporter of the modern scientific method. The Lyceum was an unprecedented school of organized scientific inquiry. There was no comparable scientific enterprise for over 2,000 years after the founding of Aristotle’s Lyceum.

Aristotle produced over 400 books on topics as diverse as logic, ethics, politics, biology, physics, psychology, poetry, metaphysics and rhetoric. The greatest part of his work that exists today is his lecture notes treating almost every branch of knowledge and art. His contributions to knowledge and learning are vast and practically immeasurable. We can say that we live in an Aristotelian world; wherever you see modern, Western science dominating a culture in any meaningful way, Aristotle is there in some form.

Aristotle believed that the world could be understood at a fundamental level through the detailed observation and ...

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Aristotle believed that the world could be understood at a fundamental level through the detailed observation and cataloging of phenomenon. That is, knowledge (which is what the word science means) is fundamentally empirical-he believed in observation, evidence, and logical analysis. Outside of the empirical method, three characteristics stand out in Aristotle's thought: the classification of knowledge, the four causes, and the ethical doctrine of the mean.

Perhaps the most fundamental aspect of Aristoteleanism is the classification of knowledge according the objects of that knowledge. The Greeks for some time had been concerned about the nature of human knowledge; this concern is called epistemology, or the "study of knowledge."

For a long time, Greek philosophy dealt with questions of certainty; how could one be certain of knowledge? Suppose everything was an illusion? Can we be sure? Aristotle resolved the question by categorizing knowledge based on their objects and the relative certainty with which you could know those objects.

For example, certain objects (such as in mathematics or logic) allow a knowledge that is true all the time (two plus two always equals four). These types of knowledge are characterized by certain and precise explanations. Other objects (such as human behavior) do not permit certain knowledge - These types of knowledge are characterized by probability and imprecise explanations i.e. uncertainty. Knowledge that would fall into this category would include ethics, psychology, or politics.

In Ethics I.3, Aristotle defines the difference in the following way, "we must be satisfied to indicate the truth with a rough and general sketch: when the subject and the basis of a discussion consist of matters which hold good only as a general rule, but not always, the conclusions reached must be of the same order. . . . For a well-schooled man is one who searches for that degree of precision in each kind of study which the nature of the subject at hand admits: it is obviously just as foolish to accept arguments of probability from a mathematician as to demand strict demonstrations from an orator."

Aristotle wanted to explain change what causes change in the universe? He came up with a four cause explanation-The first, the material cause: the matter out of which a thing is made the second-The formal cause: the pattern, model, or structure upon which a thing is made. The third, the efficient cause: the means by which a thing comes into existence and fourth, the final (in Greek, telos) cause- the goal or purpose of a thing, its function or use.

The final cause is the most unscientific, but it is the most important "cause" of a thing as far as Aristotle was concerned. Aristotle's analysis of phenomenon and change, then, is fundamentally .

Aristotle's thought is consistently teleological: everything is always changing and moving, and has some aim, goal, or purpose (telos] The Four Causes are universally applicable. However, ethics is a science that has a high degree of uncertainty because of the variety of human actions and motivations. Ethics seems to require absolute and unchanging principles- “right is right” The idea that ethics are “relative” was a revolutionary idea.

But this is what Aristotle concluded and it fits in perfectly with his general empirical method of reasoning.

He works out an entire system of ethics based on the "mean" to serve as a guideline to human behavior. There is no correct definition of any morality, but rather every moral virtue stands in relationship to two opposing vices. For example- courage. Courage is the opposite of cowardice. But, it is also the opposite of foolhardiness. Somewhere between foolhardiness and cowardice, is where courage lies.

Therefore, every action needs to be judged according to all the relevant circumstances and the particular situation. Aristotle called judging actions in this manner, "equity," and equity is the foundation of modern law and justice.

In astronomy, Aristotle proposed an infinite, spherical universe, with the earth at its center. The central region is made up of four elements: earth, air, fire, and water. In Aristotle's physics, each of these four elements has a particular place, determined by its relative heaviness, its “specific gravity.”

Where Aristotle differed most sharply from medieval and modern thinkers was in his belief that the universe had never had a beginning and would never end; it was eternal. Change, to Aristotle, was cyclical: water, for instance, might evaporate from the sea and rain down again, and rivers might come into existence and then perish, but overall conditions would never change.

For Aristotle, psychology was a study of the soul. Claiming that form and matter always exist together, Aristotle defined a soul as a “kind of functioning of a body organized so that it can support vital functions.” Whether any part of the human soul is immortal, and, if so, whether its immortality is personal, are not entirely clear in his works On the Soul.

In his metaphysics, Aristotle argued for the existence of a divine being, described as the “Prime Mover”, who is responsible for the unity and purpose of nature. God is perfect and therefore the aspiration of all things in the world, because all things desire to have perfection. Other movers exist as well—the intelligent movers of the planets and stars (Aristotle suggested that the number of these is “either 55 or 47”).

The influence of Aristotle's philosophy has been significant; it His doctrine of the Prime Mover as final cause played an important role in theology. Until the 20th century, logic meant Aristotle’s logic. Until the Renaissance, and even later, astronomers and poets admired his concept of the universe. Zoology was based on Aristotle's work until the British scientist Charles Darwin’s work in the 19th century. In the 20th century a new appreciation has developed of Aristotle's method and its relevance to education, literary criticism, the analysis of human action, and political analysis.

Aristotle has contributed to so many disciplines and, to the world of learning- as a whole -as is captured in the quote from Charles Darwin – “the intellectual heroes of his own time” “were mere schoolboys compared to old Aristotle.”

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