Born  at  Stagira.  • Father  was  a  doctor.  • Most  notable  product  of  the  educational  program  devised  by  Plato-­‐Aristotle  

spent  20  years  at  the  Academy.  • When  Plato  died,  Aristotle  returned  to  his  native  Macedonia  &  became  

Alexander  the  Great’s  teacher.  • Aristotle  opened  his  school  called  Lyceum.  His  students  acquired  the  name  

‘Peripatetic’  from  Aristotle’s  habit  of  walking  as  he  taught.  • Father  of  Logic.  • Placed  much  more  value  on  knowledge  gained  from  the  senses  and  would  

correspondingly  be  better  classed  among  modern  empiricists  • He  set  the  stage  for  what  would  eventually  develop  into  the  scientific  

method  centuries  later.    

     

• History  states  that  he  elaborated  170  writings.    We  only  know  of  47.  • Aristotle’s  writings  are  generally  notes  about  lessons  on  logic,  biology,  

metaphysics  &  math.  • His  writings  are  precise  like  an  encyclopedia  • The  Organon  is  the  name  given  by  Aristotle's  followers,  the  Peripatetics,  for  

the  standard  collection  of  six  of  his  works  on  logic.  • Although  he  wrote  dialogues  early  in  his  career,  no  more  than  fragments  of  

these  have  survived.  • The  works  of  Aristotle  that  still  exist  today  are  in  treatise  form  and  were,  

for  the  most  part,  unpublished  texts.  These  were  probably  lecture  notes  or  texts  used  by  his  students,  and  were  almost  certainly  revised  repeatedly  over  the  course  of  years.  As  a  result,  these  works  tend  to  be  eclectic,  dense  and  difficult  to  read.  

Among  the  most  important  ones  are  Physics,  Metaphysics,  Nicomachean  Ethics,  Politics,  De  Anima  (On  the  Soul)  and  Poetics.  

Aristotle Birth:'384'BC Death:'322'BC

General facts

Writings

Aristotle  is  known  for  being  one  of  the  few  figures  in  history  who  studied  almost  every  subject  possible  at  the  time.  In  science,  Aristotle  studied  anatomy,  astronomy,  embryology,  geography,  geology,  meteorology,  physics,  and  zoology.  

In  philosophy,  Aristotle  wrote  on  aesthetics,  economics,  ethics,  government,  metaphysics,  politics,  psychology,  rhetoric  and  theology.  He  also  dealt  with  education,  foreign  customs,  literature  and  poetry.  His  combined  works  practically  comprise  an  encyclopedia  of  Greek  knowledge.  

WHAT DID ARISTOTLE

CRITICIZE THE MOST ABOUT PLATO?

 

1.-­‐  Rejects  the  theory  of  innate  ideasà  Aristotle  states  that  everything  that  is  in  our  intelligence  has  been  experienced  through  our  senses.  We  don’t  have  innate  reason.    According  to  Plato,  when  a  man  is  born,  the  soul  is  locked  up  in  a  material  body  or  prison  for  the  soul.    Because  of  this,  the  soul  forgets  the  perfect  science  it  had  contemplated.    However,  innate  ideas  remain  there  in  the  bottom  of  its  conscience.    Man,  in  contact  with  the  sensible  world,  wakes  up  these  ideas  that  were  asleep  in  his  memory.  “To  learn  is  to  remember”  2.-­‐  Aristotle  doesn’t  accept  Plato’s  idealism.  There  is  no  separate  world  of  ideas.  The  levels  of  knowledge  we  acquire  are  though  our  senses  and  intelligence.  3.-­‐  Aristotle  states  that  Plato  doesn’t  explain  the  origin  of  these  ideas.  4.-­‐  Aristotle  empathized  that  Plato  only  wrote  about  the  positive  &  forgot  to  write  about  the  existence  of  the  negative.  5.-­‐  ‘Plato  was  trapped  in  his  myths’  Remember  that  Aristotle  got  on  his  “hands  and  knees”  &  observed  that  world  he  was  in.  

 

Aristotle’s*ethics*&*virtues.!

•  Aristotle!applied!the!same!pa/ent,!careful,!descrip/ve!approach!to!his!examina/on!of!moral!philosophy!in!his!book!Nicomachea!Ethics!

•  According)to)Aristotle,)the)virtuous)habit)of)ac5on)is)always)an)intermediate)state)between)the)opposed)vices)of)excess)and)deficiency.)Too)much)and)too)li>le)are)always)wrong.)The)right)kind)of)ac5on)always)lies)in)the)mean.)