Aristotle Greek Philosopher History - Research Paper Example

Aristotle Greek Philosopher History The Greek philosopher Aristotle was born in 384 BC in Stagira which is a town in Northern Greece. His father was Nicomachus and he was both a doctor and friend of King Amyntas of Macedon. His mother was Phaestis and belonged to a rich family. He moved to Athens at the age of 22 to study philosophy under the guidance of Plato. It was also possible that he learnt philosophy in his early years in Stagira after reading some philosophical dialogues written by Plato. There is no evidence to support these theories and it is not precisely known what he had found in Athens. Plato was a famous intellectual person and he had created a circle of intellectuals from all over the world. This circle was known as “Plato’s Academy” and its members included many philosophers and scientists of that time. Aristotle spent twenty years in this academy as a student and learnt various subjects like psychology, metaphysics, ethics and political theory, mathematics, astronomy and logic. Aristotle left Athens after Plato died in 347. After this, he went to Atarneus with a fellow academic, Xenocrates which was in Asia Minor. Hermias who was the ruler of that place had a connection with the academy and also there was a small Academic community in Atarneus. Hermias provided the town of Assos where Aristotle stayed with his companions. Here he taught philosophy in a courtyard. He got married to Pythias who was niece of Hermias. In 341, Atarneus was captured by the Persian and Hermias was tortured to death. Aristotle dedicated a moving poem in his memory. Aristotle then went to Mytilene which was a city on the island of Lesbos. Here, he met Theophrastus who later on became his most renowned pupil. He also studied marine biology here. In 343, he was invited by the King of Macedon to become a tutor of Alexander the great. Many stories were formed circling the association of Aristotle and Alexander, but nothing is known about any conversation between the two most powerful men of that age. In 335, on returning to Athens he found that Plato’s academy was controlled by someone else and so he formed his own establishment, Lyceum. In 322, Aristotle left Athens after Alexander died. On Alexander’s death anti-Macedonians became rampant and they vividly expressed their sentiments. Aristotle was closely associated with the Macedonians and so he was stripped of his honour at Delphi. He wrote a letter to Antipater which said “As for the honour which was voted me at Delphi and of which I have now been stripped, I am neither greatly concerned nor greatly unconcerned”. Aristotle spent the last year of his life in the estates of his mother’s family on the island of Euboea. His academy Lyceum survived after his death and Theophrastus became the new head. (Barnes, pp.3-6). In the later years of his life, Aristotle used to be well-dressed and used to enjoy his days by indulging in the comforts of life. He is described as being bald headed. He had thin legs and small eyes. He was a witty person, spoke with a lisp and had a mocking nature. After his wife died, he lived till his own death in a nonlegal relationship with his mistress Herpyllis. He had a son with her whom he named Nicomachus, after his father. (Magill & Moose, p.130) Philosopher and Teacher In the early years of his life, Aristotle was associated only with physicians and princes. He had no connection with philosophers. The first four phases of his life ended at the age of eighteen when he went to Athens to learn philosophy from Plato. His career was divided into three periods. The first period consisted of the twenty years that he spent in Athens where he stayed till Plato’s death. The second period consisted of the thirteen years in which he traveled as a philosopher and teacher. The third and final period consisted of the years spent in Lyceum after his return to Athens. Plato’s method of teaching was in dialogue form and Aristotle was greatly influenced by this. He began his writings in dialogues and made himself the main speaker in those dialogues. It is believed by some scholars that Aristotle’s best work De Anima was from the first period of his life. It tells about the soul and its immortality and it is greatly influenced by Plato’s Phaedo. In the final years of his life, Aristotle formed his own school Lyceum on rented property outside Athens. Other than being a teacher, he learnt marine biology and collected numerous marine specimens which were kept in the school. His student Alexander helped Aristotle by donating eight hundred talents. Alexander also instructed everyone under his command to store any unusual marine specimens for Aristotle. Other than large number of marine specimens, Lyceum also had numerous maps and manuscripts to exhibit the lectures and discussions of Aristotle. Aristotle maintained a fixed routine for teaching. “In the mornings, he utilized the peripatetic (walking) method by strolling through the trees, discussing with the more advanced students difficult (esoteric) subjects; in the evenings, he would lecture to larger groups on popular (exoteric) subjects. Logic, physics, and metaphysics were discussed; lectures included rhetoric, sophistic, and politics”. Aristotle used to prepare two types of notes. He used to lecture using his preliminary notes and he prepared more polished notes based on his discussions with his students. Many of these notes still exist as his published works. He wrote these notes in the form of treatises rather than in dialogue form which he had learnt from Plato. (Magill & Moose, pp.128-130) Difference with Plato Aristotle’s approach towards philosophy was primarily different from that of his teacher Plato. The difference is so great that it is said that one is either a Platonist or an Aristotelian. According to Platonist philosophy “the individuals we call things only become, but a thing is always one universal form beyond many individuals…..and that without supernatural forms, which are models of individuals, there is nothing, no being, no knowing, no good”. Aristotle preached a different philosophy. He taught that “a thing is always a separate individual, a substance, natural, such as earth, or supernatural, such as God; and without these individual substances, which have attributes and universals belonging to them, there is nothing, to be, to know, to be good”. Plato taught about supernatural things while Aristotle insisted on the natural things of the world. Aristotle, however agreed with all the dialogues that were written by Plato. He believed in the reality of causes and essences. He believed in the goodness and unity of the universe. He believed that essence was immaterial. He believed that God is a living being and is responsible for everything that happens in the world. He believed in the knowledge of divinity and immortality of the souls. He believed that passion can be controlled by reason and by doing this moral virtue can be achieved. He believed that “highest happiness is speculative wisdom”. Aristotle accepted all these metaphysical and moral laws of Plato, but he disagreed with Plato that reality does not exist in the world. He also believed that the good and the real are not separate realities. As regarding subject matter of philosophy, Aristotle embraced rhetoric and poetics along with metaphysics and politics. He justified the praises by Cicero, Quintilian and Dionysius in his own style. Aristotle greatly imitated Plato’s dialogues in his own writings. (Wians, pp.2-7) Political Theory of Aristotle According to Aristotle, the most important role of a politician is to maintain law and order in the city-state by forming an appropriate governing body. The aim should be to spread law, customs and moral education to the citizens. Once the governing body is formed, it is the responsibility of the politician to take all the needed steps to maintain the body, to introduce reforms for the betterment of the citizens and to prevent all oppositions that might disturb the political system. (“Aristotle’s View of Politics”) The political theory of Aristotle is based on two “fundamental analogies”. The first one is between the city-state and a living being. According to Aristotle a city is developed because of the natural inclination of the citizens to form associations to promote politics. Even if no political community exists, men and women come together to meet their long term needs. The aim of such associations is to provide all resources needed for the well-being of the citizens. By this Aristotle did not mean that human beings are biologically formed to create groups and behave as citizens. He emphasises that human beings are naturally urged to have political life and moral sense of right and wrong. Aristotle concludes “Hence, though an impulse toward this sort of community exists by nature in everyone, whoever first established one was responsible for the greatest of goods”. (Goodman, pp.13,14) The second analogy of Aristotelian politics is that the person who is fit to form a political group is a statesman or a legislator. This is explained by four causes given by Aristotle which are material, formal, efficient and final. A city-state has material objects like household and different economic classes. The formal cause is the political association of the citizens and it is defined by Aristotle as “a certain organization of the inhabitants of a city-state”. By efficient cause Aristotle stated that a community can develop and only if there is governing body to rule over it. Thus a government of a state is its efficient cause. The final cause is the goodwill, development and happiness of the city-state at large. (Goodman, p.14) Five Principles of Political Philosophy The political philosophy of Aristotle is based on five major principles. The first one is Principle of teteology. Aristotle identifies “the nature of a thing above all with its end or final cause. The end of a thing is also its function”. The natural function of men and women is to be adapted to a political life in the city-state. The second principle is Principle of perfection. Aristotle comprehends good and evil according to his first principle. The natural function of a thing should be good for it and should not cause anything bad. Aristotle states that “for human beings the ultimate good or happiness consists in perfection, the full attainment of their natural function”. The third principle is the Principle of community. According to Aristotle, the city-state is a complete form of community because it gains the ultimate level of self-sufficiency. Aristotle said that human beings must be guided by a proper authority to maintain a happy life in the city-state. The fourth principle is the Principle of rulership. Aristotle claimed that a ruling body is necessary to provide good life to the citizens. Aristotle rejected Plato’s theory of a single ruling system for all beings. He believed that different forms of rules should be applied to different classes like “political rule for citizens and despotic rule for slaves”. The fifth principle is the Principle of the rule of reason. This principle states that “different constitutions are appropriate for different city-states depending on the rational capacities of their citizens”. An example of this is that a child can be subjected to paternal rule because it is undeveloped, but the same rule cannot be applied to two intelligent adults. (“Presuppositions of Aristotle's Politics”) Aristotle believed that philosophers cannot become politicians. He confined philosophers to theoretical activities. In the state of Aristotle, the politicians did not have to undergo any sort of intellectual training. Anybody who was physically and mentally fit could take part in the citizen development affairs. He also emphasised that the citizens should also take part in the activities of the governing body. (Kraut & Skultety, p.168) The men and women who lived in the city-state of Aristotle were distinguished as two kinds. One kind is a normal citizen who leads a happy life on being ruled by a governing body. The second kind consists of those who perform necessary activities for the state, but are not regarded as citizens like the slaves. In Aristotle’s reign, only the first kinds are considered members of polis. Those who perform necessary activities are considered to be accessories or adjuncts. (Miller, p.144) Critical Assessment and concluding remarks There are certain theories in Aristotle’s political philosophy that attract criticisms. According to Aristotle the political community is a “natural entity like an animal or a man”. According to critics the political community is completely a “product of art”. Aristotle compares a politician with a craftsman. By doing this he contradicts his own statement that “he who first framed the political community was a cause of the greatest goods”. He says that just as a shipbuilder builds a ship out of various things like lumber, canvas, nails etc., a politician similarly forms a constitution out of the citizens of a city-state. If this statement is true, then a political community cannot be a natural entity. This indicates that there is flaw in the very root of his political philosophy. Aristotle believed that a man has a natural tendency to become civilised and form a civilised society. This has been criticised by the 17th century English philosopher Thomas Hobbes who claims that “civil society runs, not with, but against the grain of man’s nature”. He said that men are naturally antisocial beings and has no natural urge to form a civil society. The self contradictory statements of Aristotle make his political philosophy vulnerable to criticisms. (Gerson, pp.83, 84, 89) Modern philosophy is greatly inspired by the theories of Aristotle which encompass “philosophy of mind to theories of the infinite”. It can be safely predicted that Aristotle’s theories on moral values and ethics will continue to influence the future philosophers in the new millennium. (“Aristotle’s Legacy”) References 1. Barnes, Jonathan, The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle, Cambridge University Press, 1995 2. Magill, Frank Northen and Christina J. Moose, Dictionary of World Biography:The Ancient World, Taylor & Francis, 2003 3. Wians, William Robert, Aristotle's philosophical development: problems and prospect, Rowman & Littlefield, 1996 4. Goodman, Lenn Evan, Aristotle's Politics Today, Suny Press, 2008 5. Miller, Fred, “Aristotle’s View of Politics”, stanford.edu, 1st July, 1998, 4th November, 2011 from: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-politics/#return1-supplement1 6. Miller, Fred, “Presuppositions of Aristotle's Politics”, stanford.edu, 2011, 4th November, 2011 from: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-politics/supplement2.html 7. Kraut, Richard and Steven Skultety, Aristotle’s Politics:Critical Essays, Rowman & Littlefield, 2005 8. Miller, Fred Dycus, Nature, Justice, and Rights in Aristotle’s Politics, Oxford University Press, 1995 9. Gerson, Llyod P., Aristotle:Critical Assessments, Taylor & Francis, 2002 10. Shields, Christopher, “Aristotle’s Legacy”, stanford.edu, 25th Sep, 2008, 4th November, 2011 from: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle/#AriLeg Read More