Aristotle Essay Example For Students

Aristotle Essay AristotleAristotle (b. 384 d. 322 BC), was a Greek philosopher, logician, and scientist. Along with his teacher Plato, Aristotle is generally regarded as one of the most influential ancient thinkers in a number of philosophical fields, including political theory. Aristotles writing reflects his time, background and beliefs. Aristotle was born at Stagira, in Macedonia. His father, Nichomacus, was the personal physician to the King of Macedonia, Amyntas. At the age of seventeen, Aristotle left for Athens to study at Platos Academy. He studied at the Academy for about twenty years, up until Platos death. Platos death sent Aristotle to a city in Asia Minor, called Assos, where his friend, Hermias was ruler(Encarta). It was in Assos where Aristotle met, Pythias, who is described as either a niece or daughter of Hermias, who Aristotle married after the murder of Hermias, by the Persians. Aristotle then went to Pella, the capitol of Macedonia, where he became the tutor for the kings son, A lexander, who later became Alexander the Great. When Alexander became King, Aristotle went to Athens where he began to lecture at the Lyceum. He lectured while walking about in one of its covered walkways, earning him the nickname Peripatetic, which means walking about. Aristotle lectured and directed the Lyceum for twelve years, producing during this time the lecture notes which now form his works. Only a small amount of Aristotles works have survived. The writings which did survive like: Metaphysics,. which were his writings on the nature, scope, and properties of being; and Physics, his writings on astronomy, meteorology, plants, and animals, these writings have changed the way we think and live. Aristotles works encompassed all the major areas of thought: logic, science, metaphysics, ethics, and politics. He developed a new, non-Platonic theory of form, created a system of deductive reasoning for universal and existential statements, produced a theory of the cosmos, matter, life , and mind, and theorized about the relationship between ethics and politics and the nature of the good life(Young Students Encyclopedia). His system rival Platos for the next 2000 years. Aristotle was a firm believer that philosophy came from wonder, and that knowledge came from experience. He had a wealth of knowledge, from many experience; if he was correct about philosophy coming from wonder, he would have had to wonder quite a bit. Aristotle was a genius, this is evident in his writings, because the ideas and concepts he proposed in his writing were ahead of his time. Aristotle learned from the best and taught the best so his ideas and thoughts were always being challenged, which made him thrive for knowledge. Aristotle is consider to be the one of best if not the best philosophers ever, his ideas reflect the title. Now such a thing happiness, above all else, is held to be; for thiswe choose always for self and never for the sake of something else,but honour, pleasure, reason, and every virtue we choose indeed forthemselves (for if nothing resulted from them we should still chooseeach of them), but we choose them also for the sake of happiness,judging that by means of them we shall be happy. Happiness, on theother hand, no one chooses for the sake of these, nor, in general,for anything other than itself. From the point of view of self-sufficiency the same result seems tofollow; for the final good is thought to be self-sufficient. Now byself-sufficient we do not mean that which is sufficient for a manby himself, for one who lives a solitary life, but also for parents,children, wife, and in general for his friends and fellow citizens,since man is born for citizenship. But some limit must be set to this;for if we extend our requirement to ancestors and descendants andfriends friends we are in for a n infinite series. Let us examinethis question, however, on another occasion; the self-sufficient wenow define as that which when isolated makes life desirable and lackingin nothing; and such we think happiness to be; and further we thinkit most desirable of all things, without being counted as one goodthing among others- if it were so counted it would clearly be mademore desirable by the addition of even the least of goods; for thatwhich is added becomes an excess of goods, and of goods the greateris always more desirable. Happiness, then, is something final andself-sufficient, and is the end of action. Presumably, however, to say that happiness is the chief good seemsa platitude, and a clearer account of what it is still desired. Thismight perhaps be given, if we could first ascertain the function ofman. For just as for a flute-player, a sculptor, or an artist, and,in general, for all things that have a function or activity, the goodand the well is thought to reside in the functio n, so would it seemto be for man, if he has a function. Have the carpenter, then, andthe tanner certain functions or activities, and has man none? Is heborn without a function? Or as eye, hand, foot, and in general eachof the parts evidently has a function, may one lay it down that mansimilarly has a function apart from all these? What then can thisbe? Life seems to be common even to plants, but we are seeking whatis peculiar to man. Let us exclude, therefore, the life of nutritionand growth. Next there would be a life of perception, but it alsoseems to be common even to the horse, the ox, and every animal. Thereremains, then, an active life of the element that has a rational principle;of this, one part has such a principle in the sense of being obedientto one, the other in the sense of possessing one and exercising thought. The lottery winner EssayBibliographynonePhilosophy Essays