Aristotle as the Philosopher - Term Paper Example

? Aristotle Aristotle, the great philosopher was born in Stagira in north Greece. He was first trained in medicine as hisfather Nichomachus was the court physician to the Macedonian royal family. He was later sent to Athens to study philosophy under the great Greek philosopher Plato. Aristotle was a brilliant student of Plato though he opposed some of the ideas of Plato later in his teachings. After the death of Plato, he left Athens and spent time travelling and learning new areas of science and thoughts. When he returned to Macedonia in 338, he became the tutor of Alexander the great. Later, he established his own school named ‘Lyceum’ in Athens when Alexander conquered Athens. The great genius is believed to have written more than 150 philosophical theses on wide range of rational problems. The subjects he mastered ranges from biology and physics to morals, aesthetics, and politics. Many of his findings in biology and physics were marvelous which pawed way for extensive research throughout several centuries. For instance, his brilliant observation unveiled several secrets of the anatomy of octopus, cuttlefish, and many other living organisms. He categorized animals into ‘genera’ according to their characteristics, and then distinguished species within genera. His treatise ‘Meteorology’ dealt with earth science through which he tried to answer the phenomena like thunder, lightning, rainbows, meteors, comets, earthquake, and the Milky Way. According to Aristotle’s view, the universe did not originate and hence never ends but only undergoes incessant changes or transforms from one condition to the other. Evidently, Aristotle’s findings on science and philosophy have been widely cherished by scholars of all times especially those of the Middle Ages under the influence of Christianity. The main cause of the acceptance of his theories was that they could be easily reconciled with Christian doctrines in many ways. Art and knowledge is one of areas where Aristotle’s ideas oppose to that of Plato. For instance, Plato argues that the appearance of poetry as a source of knowledge is rather deceptive. The opinion of Plato was contradicted by Aristotle in Poetics through the argument that poetry is capable of conveying the knowledge of universals to people (45). Thus, as McKeon purports, there arise two classes of thought; one that believes in the aesthetic value of art, and one that believes in the cognitive value of art. Aristotle comes up with three types of knowledge; theoretical, practical, and productive. The theoretical knowledge refers to the knowledge about things that are fundamental in nature. An example of this knowledge is the products and processes of nature. Practical knowledge refers to the knowledge that teaches what to do to address certain contingencies. Thirdly, productive knowledge teaches one how to make new things (241). Aristotle’s view of government also differed from Plato’s. Undoubtedly, both the scholars opposed to democracy to a great extent and according to them only members of the intellectual aristocracy constitute acceptable form of government. To be specific, Plato proposed a society that contains three classes based on their innate character. Individuals like farmers, artisans, and merchants constitute the bottom class. People like soldiers with strong wills and spirits form the middle class. Members of the intellectual aristocracy make the uppermost class because of their reasoning abilities. And the absolute control of political power is proposed for the intellectual aristocracy. Aristotle opposed monarchy, democracy, and aristocracy alike. Instead, what he proposed was polity’ which according to him was a government that situated between oligarchy and democracy. To illustrate, polity comprised of middle class people and would be a miniature of the population based on its size. However, he believed that the existence of a powerful government was essential for the welfare of the citizens. Aristotle, counts the virtue of everything in terms of telos; and according to him the telos of a city-state government should be the good life of its citizens. He classifies leaders into virtuous or non-virtuous groups, and democracy is the rule of the poor and the majority. Democracy tends to flaw as virtuous majority is seldom found. To illustrate, the rule of the majority i.e. the rule of the poor can not normally meet the telos of the city-state he proposes. Another reason why Aristotle criticizes democracy is that it badly defines freedom. “Democracies define freedom badly….everyone lives as he wants and toward whatever end he happens to crave” (as qtd in Sreedathan 119). He also finds flaws with the concept of equality that democracy proposes. Aristotle is certain that the rule of the majority is a failure as the majority is never virtuous. In democracy all have access to office, and hence the poor and the majority is less likely to act in the best interests of the telos of the city-state. As Shaw opines, Aristotle argued that there is more to living a morally good life than being a good businessperson or being good at your job (25). Aristotle held the view that only when a person develops his own truly human capacities sufficiently in order to achieve the human excellence one will have life blessed with happiness. In some cases a person may get away with his wrong doings without being caught; but his conscience is not going to leave him unbothered. To think otherwise not only is self-indulgence but also shows his lack of understanding of morality. According to Aristotle’s Nicomachean ethics, virtue is of two fold such as intellectual and moral. Intellectual virtue belongs to the rational soul, whereas moral virtue belongs to which obeys reason. The morals we acquired from the living environment, taught by the parents, learned from the religious people and scriptures have influenced our intellectual virtue (Aristotle, Browne & Bohn 18). The main intellectual exercise that has been given to every human being since the childhood is to learn to decide what is good and what is evil. He practiced it through the perceptions of his religious, social, political and traditional rules and convictions. The moral virtue is beyond any outer influence and moreover it is the unique divine presence or consciousness that is inherent by human nature. Accepting this identity is the initial step of self- love. A man who admits this reality tries to escape from all evils that would harm him as well as others. If then, as Aristotle says, “self is each man’s intellectual part or thinking principle and a friend is a second self.”(chapt.7). People like Thomas Aquinas also later supported Aristotle’s view regarding the moral and individual virtue. Both believed that each individual is unique in its form and is expected to achieve the ultimate virtue or good; that is happiness. A person who does not love himself would inevitably fall in peril and as Aristotle states, for him the past pleasure itself will be a pain. According Aristotle ‘a true friend loves his friend for that friend’s sake, and that motive alone’ it is some what similar to the Christian doctrine of charity which teaches us to love our neighbor as ourselves. The love that is promoted by the principles or doctrines is on the divine authority according to his ethics (Aristotle 8). ‘The good man will feel a right and proper regard for his on best and highest interest, and this same regard he will entertain towards his friend, as toward another self.’ (Aristotle Book 9). In short, Aristotle is worth to be called “The Philosopher” for the extensive studies he initiated on a wide variety of subjects all with exceptional input that had profound influence on the world for centuries. His concepts have paved way for new dimensions of studies and many of them are still bone of contention among scholars today. Works Cited Aristotle, Browne, Robert William & Bohn, Henry G. The Nicomachean Ethics of Aristotle, Henry G. Bohn, 1853. Google Books. Aristotle. Butcher, S. H. Poetics. Cosimo, Inc, 2008. Print. Aristotle. McKeon R. P The basic works of Aristotle. Modern Library, 2001. Print. Shaw, William H. Business Ethics: A Textbook with Cases. Cengage Learning, 2010. Print. Sreedathan, G. Western Political Thought And Theories. Deep and Deep Publications, 2006. Print. Read More