Aristotle's work during his (384-322 B.C.E) lifespan had great impact on society in his time and even today, he is ranked among the greatest philosophers of all time. He was a world-class researcher and writer covering many topics and his theories have provided illumination, met with resistance, created debate, and generally stimulated the continued interest of abiding readership. His philosophical influence shaped centuries of philosophy from Late Antiquity (284-632 A.D.) through Renaissance (1450-1600 A.D.) and is still studied today with non-antiquarian interests. Though there are many topics at which Aristotle covered extensively, my interests are in his studies of mathematics and logic, living beings, and happiness and political association.
Aristotle uses mathematics and mathematical sciences in three important ways in his systematic expositions of a certain subjects (in this case mathematics and/or logic) principles, also called treatises . His treatises displayed some of the most difficult mathematics found before the Greco-Roman age, and his mistakes were only involved in conceptually difficult areas such as infinite lines and non-homogenous magnitudes. His philosophy of mathematics was said to provide important alternatives to Platonism. Platonism is the belief that physical objects are impermanent representations of unchanging ideas, and that these ideas alone give true knowledge as they are known by the mind. The developments in Greek mathematics around the late fifth and fourth century (B.C.E.) included organization of basic elements and conceptions of proof, number theory, proportion theory, sophisticated uses of construction, and the application of geometry and arithmetic in the formation of other sciences. He has...
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...mpound organism, is the final cause of the body. IT is understood as the view that any given body is the body it is because it is organized around a function which serves to unify the entire organism it exists inside. By this he means the body serves as a tool for implementing the characteristic life activities of the kind to which the organism belongs. When put all together the view that the soul is the first acuality of a natural organic body and that it is a substance as a form of a natural body which has life in potentiality, thus it is the first acuality of a natural body which has life in potentiality. Aristotle deploys hylomorphic analyses not only to the whole organism, but to the indiviual make up of the soul as well. With each of these, Aristotle both expands and taxes his basic hylomorphism sometimes straining its basic structure almost beyond recognition.
Aristotle tries to draw a general understanding of the human good, exploring the causes of human actions, trying to identify the most common ultimate purpose of human actions. Indeed, Aristotelian’s ethics, also investigates through the psychological and the spiritual realms of human beings.
An ethical issue that is debated in our society is the concern of driving while intoxicated. Although this was naturally not the case during Aristotle’s time, many of his ethical beliefs can be applied to refute this dilemma. I will prove the standing issue to be unethical through Aristotle’s discussion of virtue and his concept of voluntary/involuntary actions in the Nicomachean Ethics.
To achieve this topic, I have sectioned my paper into three main sections, in which I have subsections supporting. In the first section, I will provide much information about Aristotle and his beliefs in virtue and obtaining happiness. Using information from his book of ethics I will provide examples and quote on quote statements to support his views. In the second section, I will provide my agreements as to why I relate and very fond of Aristotle’s book of Nicomachean Ethics. In the third section, I will provide research as to why there are such objections to Aristotle’s book of ethics, and counter act as to why I disagree with them. Lastly I will conclude much of my and as well as Aristotle’s views on ethics and why I so strongly agree with this route of ethics for humans.
Aristotle believes the only way to reach a state of happiness is through virtue. The virtue that is to be practiced is meant to guide our behaviors in society and to learn the meaning of moderation. Aristotle deems human happiness as more then attaining the pleasures of life but satisfying the human potentialities. Reaching such abilities could be seen by making logical choices and being able to choose the needs in life rather then the wants. At this point it shows that Aristotle contends that a society that includes citizens that he believes are of human excellence will reflect the same values upon it’s state.
...ence of the cognitive feature of the animal. For Aristotle the body and soul are not two separate elements, but they are of one thing. A body and a soul make a person. If a person has no soul, then that person is dead and it would only be a person by name. A thing that has a soul and is complete must be able to move and change. The soul dies with the body, and without the soul, the person is no more a person, but another inanimate object. One cannot exist without the other. With this concept of one not existing without the other, Aristotle leaves no room for there to be a possibility of immortality. Aristotle’s ideas of the soul and the body really formulate and combine both psychology and biology together, even though today many of his ideas have been proven wrong, for his time, they were very advanced with the research and materials that he was able to come by.
Even though Aristotle’s contributions to mathematics are significantly important and lay a strong foundation in the study and view of the science, it is imperative to mention that Aristotle, in actuality, “never devoted a treatise to philosophy of mathematics” [5]. As aforementioned, even his books never truly leaned toward a specific philosophy on mathematics, but rather a form or manner in which to attempt to understand mathematics through certain truths.
Shields, Christopher. "Aristotle." Stanford University. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 25 Sept. 2008. Web. 3 May 2014. .
In conclusion, it remains that, even after being around for over 2000 years, Aristotle’s philosophy on human nature remains one of the most accurate questions to the eternal question of “what is human nature?” It may not, in the end, prove to be the correct answer to the question, in fact, it may very well be possible that there is no definite answer possible. But until scholars and students in programs such as ours can find a suitable replacement, his analysis will remain superior to all others.
He uses his concepts of actuality and potentiality to explain the connection between the soul and body, as well as argues that each soul and body combination is unique and therefore the two must be one. A major aspect of Aristotle’s philosophy is the concept of potentiality and actuality. Matter, a thing that is not itself without form, is potentiality. Form, the essence that makes a thing (or matter) itself, is actuality. In order for a thing to fulfill its purpose, it must move from potentiality to actuality. (On the soul Bk.II) He states that the soul is the actuality of the body. (On the soul bk.II) He defines the body as having the potentiality of life and therefore it must be matter. Because form and matter are compliments and one cannot exist without the other, the soul must be the form because it fills the body, that had potentiality of life, with actual life. Through this reasoning the conclusion is made that the body and soul are connected and compliment each other. Contrasting to Plato, they seem to need to be together and they are not striving to be separate. Aristotle creates a concept that deals with classifying souls into categories. He defines the soul as “substance in the sense which corresponds to the definitive formula of a thing’s essence” and that it is the “essential whatness of a body of the character just assigned”. (On the soul book II) He has three
Aristotle felt that the soul, or the personality of a being, was not something that could be separated from the body. He believed that the soul was the result of the physical form of the body. This was a departure from the conventional teachings of his time. Aristotle’s peers taught that the soul was abstract and not concerned with the body, but Aristotle felt that anything that happens in the mind or personality (and ...
To the modern reader, Aristotle's views on astronomy, as presented in Metaphysics, Physics, De Caelo (On the Heavens) and Simplicius' Commentary, will most likely seem very bizarre, as they are based more on a priori philosophical speculation than empirical observation. Although Aristotle acknowledged the importance of "scientific" astronomy - the study of the positions, distances and motions of the stars - he nevertheless treated astronomy in the abstract, linking it to his overall philosophical world picture. As a result, the modern distinction between physics and metaphysics is not present in Aristotle, and in order to fully appreciate him we must try to abandon this pre-conception. Aristotle argued that the universe is spherical and finite. Spherical, because that is the most perfect shape; finite, because it has a center, viz. the center of the earth, and a body with a center cannot be infinite. He believed that the earth, too, is a sphere. It is relatively small compared to the stars, and in contrast to the celestial bodies, always at rest. For one of his proofs of this latter point, he referred to an empirically testable fact: if the earth were in motion, an observer on it would see the fixed stars as moving, just as he now observes the planets as moving, that is from a stationary earth. However, since this is not the case, the earth must be at rest. To prove that the earth is a sphere, he produced the argument that all earthly substances move towards the center, and thus would eventually have to form a sphere.
Aristotle made contributions to logic, physics, biology, medicine, and agriculture. He redesigned most, if not all, areas of knowledge he studied. Later in life he became the “Father of logic” and was the first to develop a formalized way of reasoning. Aristotle was a greek philosopher who founded formal logic, pioneered zoology, founded his own school, and classified the various branches of philosophy.
Aristotle, though he had formed his ideas thousands of years ago, his philosophy has a great impact on the education we receive today. The main idea of Aristotle was that through education and learning, children become good and virtuous individuals in socie...
Aristotle uses his matter/form distinction to answer the question “What is soul?” and explains through his hylomorphic composition (matter, form, the compound of matter and form) to show that the body requires the soul and vice versa. He believes that compounds which are alive, are things that have souls and it is their souls that make them living things. In this essay, I will present Aristotle’s argument of the soul and whether he is successful in arguing for the mutual dependance of soul and body.
Aristotle was and is a very influential figure when it comes to educational practices and process as well as philosophy, ethics, and many other subjects. Many of his teachings and lectures shape the way we are taught and learn today. He comes from a long line of recognizable names when considering influential figures in Educational Philosophy. Although this analysis is focused on his contributions to education, it is important to note that he showed influence in a variety of concepts.