The Scope of Aristotle's Work and His Influence - Essay Example

Module Module ID: Aristotle Aristotle undoubtedly serves as one of the greatest and most influential personalities the world has ever produced. By dint of his marvelous works, magnificent researches, distinguished intellectual achievements in the fields of philosophy, literature, mathematics, biology and other natural and social sciences, he has earned profound name and fame in all parts of the globe without discrimination. Although he belonged to ancient Greece, and spent a large part of his life in Greece and the regions under Roman Empire, yet he is admired and revered everywhere in the world, and every nation feels pride of imitating and adopting his various doctrines in various fields of knowledge and wisdom. Barnes is of the view that he was not only a genius beyond all measure, but a considerate soul, fervently devoted to his friends and passionately interested in the enhancement of human knowledge in all its forms (8). Consequently, all remarkable universities, research and knowledge centers, and libraries of Asian, European and African countries keep the intellectual works of this brilliant personality as the most influential ancient treaties in order to take advantage of the outstanding wisdom and exceptional foresight attributed to this distinguished philosopher. Although there are no exact records of the births and deaths of ancient personalities, yet Aristotle’s notes transferred to his sculpture demonstrate that he was born in 384 B.C. in Stagira, a little city of Chalcidice peninsula. Keltz is of the opinion that the record and description about Aristotle’s birth year are sought from the Roman copy of an original Greek sculpture made by the famous court sculptor of the era called Lysippos (c. 330 BC). Consequently, he is rightly viewed as the contemporary of Demosthenes (13). Aristotle’s biographical records also declare Aristotle as the member of an educated and respected Macedonia family, as his father Nicomachus had been serving as the personal physician of the Macedonian King Amyntas, the grandfather of distinguished world-conqueror and king Alexander the Great, which manifestly reveals that Aristotle’s ancestors were highly qualified and reputable citizens of their times, though no one could reach the height of fame and popularity Aristotle has been blessed with both intellectually and financially. Aristotle received his early education under the supervision of his illustrious mentor Plato, as he was sent to Athens to seek knowledge and wisdom at Plato’s Academy by 367 BC. Thus, Aristotle’s uncle, who was his patron and guardian as well after the demise of Aristotle’s father when the child was very young, paid due heed to the upbringing and socialization of the budding genius (Thomas & Thomas, 22). He spent nearly two decades at Academy, and went through all the patterns of coaching introduced and applied by Plato for training and educating his pupils. Although he used to differ to the Plato’s viewpoints frequently, the brilliant Aristotle was one of the most favorite students of Plato, and was expected to take the place of his mentor after the latter death; somehow, conspiracies and intrigues prevailing at the Academy did not allow him to win the position of the Academy President. Since the Academy’s trustees looked for controlling the affairs of the educational set up through a native Athenian, Aristotle had no other option than leaving Athens forever by 346 BC for better career and research prospects. It was the time when his close associate Hermias had been appointed the Lord of Asia Minor; he sought Aristotle’s services in order to seek guidelines from his philosophical thoughtfulness in order to administer the political and social affairs in the light of intellectual wisdom and foresight (Taylor, 1955). Aristotle rendered his valuable services at the court, but had to leave the area in the wake of Hermias’s murder at the hands of the Persian forces. On his return to his native land Macedonia, King Philip appointed him as the mentors of his young son Alexander. Consequently, the great philosopher was successful to communicate his political philosophy to the future Macedonian monarch, which had to expand his reign to a vast area of the earth by dint of his valor, gallant deeds and command over warship. Aristotle’s life appeared to be on smooth roads during his stay in Macedonia, and he had opportunities of participating in state affairs as well, yet no political position could satisfy a philosopher altogether. As a result, Aristotle was determined to proceed to the land of knowledge i.e. Athens in order to establish his personal educational institution under the title Lyceum (Taylor, 2). Since he had gathered considerable amount of money during his court services at Asia Minor and Macedonia, he underwent no financial difficulties for launching his in-depth research activities in multiple disciplines, which would later lay the foundation of separate subjects for the future centuries to come. Scientific research, philosophical reflection and educational activity were intimately linked in Aristotle’s life and work (Hummel, 43). Aristotle taught and wrote an incredible amount on various and different subjects, including logic, physics, ethics, art poetry, politics, economics, psychology, and biology (Myrianthopoulos, 4). After spending his entire life in educating the people, Aristotle died in 322 BC at the age of 62 years in Athens. Aristotle had developed profound aptitude for natural and physical sciences, which urged him to explore the nature, form, structure and movement of various species existing on the face of the earth. He laid stress upon applying in-depth empiricism while observing the natural and social phenomena all around humans in order to obtain accurate information as well as for drawing correct and precise conclusions about the realities of the universe at large. He did not appear to be satisfied with the contributions made by his predecessor philosophers due to the very reality that they had not examined and analyzed the phenomena with the help of concrete observation (Taylor, 4). Therefore, he personally traveled wide and worked very hard in order to find out the evolutionary processes various species experience. Aristotle is viewed as perhaps the first philosopher to describe in detail the movement of embryo in the fetus before the birth of species (Barnes, 18). Hence, such a remarkable discovery in the field of biological and physical sciences, which startled the world, and the scientists imitated his footprints and adopted his theories for conducting future researches and articulating their theoretical frameworks. He has categorized the living organisms into two categories, which include blooded and bloodless animals. He has also mentioned the sexual and asexual processes of reproduction, which serves as a great achievement that was come into existence by the deep and outstanding observation made by Aristotle about the animal world (Myrianthopoulos, 4). Aristotle also explored the law of motion, where he submits to state that force F acting on a body is proportional to its velocity v of motion. The same notion is still in vogue that wonders how a philosopher of ancient era could discover the same without the presence of appropriate tools and techniques essential for the exploration of the same (Myrianthopoulos, 6). In addition, Aristotle also made valuable contributions in the fields of political science, literature and medicine. His illustrious Politics determines the rules and principles necessary for the smooth running of the state affairs. The book covers various areas related to individual and collective life of the people with special reference to their cultural, economic, social and political activities. Famous Aristotelian doctrine of Nichomachean Ethics has also been described in the Politics, where he has declared the pursuit of happiness as the highest achievement of the humans. Virtual activities, according to Aristotle, bring joys, contentment and happiness in life (Hummel, 45). Aristotle strongly believes in strict observing of peace and justice in a polis or state, and claims that the legal and constitutional system prevailing in a city-state reflects the nature of the administrative structure and life standard of that area. He regards the constitution as just one in nature and scope, provided it benefits all citizens of a city-state without discrimination; on the other hand, the system is really the unjust one provided it offers advantages and privileges to the elite stratum only. Contrary to his mentor Plato, Aristotle does not condemn the possibility or maintaining private property, as keeping the same encourages humans to work more hard in order to achieve their personal residences and commercial zones. Hence, he explicitly rejects the Plato’s doctrine that everything should have been the state-property, where the masses should not have any right to purchase or occupy the same, as private ownership may increase gulf of differences between the individuals. Although Plato declares private ownership as the motivator of projecting class conflict in society, Aristotle declares it as the source of encouraging a environmental competition and campaign among the individuals belonging to divergent social statuses and prestige of society (Politics, 19). Aristotle’s achievements are not confined to science and political science; rather, he has also articulated comprehensive and analytical approach while examining the literary activities prevailing in his society. His magnificent Poetics (350 BC) defines different literary genres, by establishing the criteria about superior and inferior types of literary pieces. There are, Aristotle argues, two main varieties of poetry i.e. the Fine, and the Mean (Aristotle, 31). He has categorized epic and tragic poetry in the fine variety, while the satire and comedy in the mean variety. Consequently, the great philosopher considers Tragedy and Epic as the refined form of expressing one’s views and ideas. It also shows that Tragedy has been declared a sophisticated piece of art. A true Tragedy had always taken its material from the sacred myths, or heroic sagas, which to the classical Greek constituted history. But the New Comedy was in the habit of inventing its plots (Bywater, 5). Furthermore, Aristotle has also pointed out towards the famous six elements of a standard tragedy and their appropriate collaboration and coherence to make the literary piece as an excellent genre (Bywater, 8). Aristotle also made imperative contributions in the disciplines of logic and philosophy. He has sought knowledge from Plato; nevertheless, he differs with the latter in several aspects. For instance, Plato has laid stress upon seeking knowledge of good and evil, as the person aware of evil would not commit it (Ariew, 148). However, Aristotle does not see eye to eye with the accuracy of the very statement, as mere having knowledge of right and wrong does not forbid one to following the good and abstaining from the same. On the contrary, refusal of imitating the vice is the only source to condemn evil. To conclude, it becomes crystal clear that the wonderful achievements made by this brilliant, talented and distinguished personality of the world cannot be described in few pages. His profound intellect and outstanding intelligence encompassed almost all the existing disciplines and fields of knowledge; it is therefore the western civilization has been imitating the philosophy of this great man in multiple fields including rhetoric, literature, mathematics, physics, biology, astrology, logic and much more. His unprecedented services and tremendous contributions in wide range of subjects prove him as one of the greatest writers, philosophers, scientists, astrologist, psychologists and critics of all ages without discrimination. Works Cited Ariew, Roger. “Modern Philosophy” Second Edition 2011 ISBN: 9780872209787 Barnes, Jonathon. ‘Roman Aristotle’, in Philosophia Togata II, ed. J. Barnes and M. Griffith Oxford University Press 1997 1–69. Print Bywater, Ingram. “Aristotle: Poetics: The Art of Poetry” Clarendon Press 1962 Hummel, Charles. “Aristotle” UNESCO: International Bureau of Education vol. 23, no. 1/2, 1999 39-51. Print Keltz, Martha “From Cratylus to Aristotle” 2009 1-25 Web. http://www.tcpubs.com/brunnen/articles/ca.pdf Myrianthopoulos, Ntinos C. “The Philosophic Origins of Science and the Evolution of the Two Cultures” Emerging Infectious Diseases Vol. 6, No. 1, January–February 2000 Web. http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/6/1/pdfs/00-0115.pdf Taylor, A. E. “Aristotle” Courier Dover Publications, 1955 2-11. Print Thomas, Henry & Thomas, Dana Lee “Great Philosophers” Bhavan’s Book University Bombay 1960 1-40. Print Read More