1. Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)
⬗ A Greek philosopher during the Classical period in
Ancient Greece, the founder of the Lyceum and the
Peripatetic school of philosophy and Aristotelian
tradition.
⬗ He was called the "Father of Western Philosophy"
⬗ He was also known, in his time, as "the man who knew
everything" and later simply as "The Philosopher”
⬗ He was a student of Plato who in turn studied under
Socrates. He was more empirically-minded than Plato or
Socrates and is famous for rejecting Plato's theory of
forms.
⬗ He literally invented the concept of metaphysics
4. Man is a political animal: Explanation
Man is a “political animal.” In this Aristotle means
that man lives in a more “polis”. Man becomes man
among others, living in a society governed by laws and
customs. The man develops his potential and realize its
natural end in a social context. This is the “good life.”
This is not an easy life, but a life of virtue is reflected
in the highest good (eudaimonia), often translated as
happiness.
5. Aristotle’s Epistemology
⬗ Aristotle believes that the objects of real existence are the
ones that we encounter through our sense perception
⬗ This theory is called Empiricism
⬗ Empiricism – the view that all knowledge originates from
experience
6. Knowledge is a Process
⬗ Humans, according to Aristotle, do not acquire knowledge
all in one moment but rather by means of a process
⬗ This process can be analysed into four different steps
⬗ The first step is in accordance with Empiricism and that is
we gain information through the senses
7. 1st step
Perception
- Is the acquiring of
information through
senses
2nd step
Memory
- Is the ability to
retain the perceptions
in the mind. Some
animals as well as
humans have memory
4th step
Knowledge
- When we are able to
understand the
universal or the
essence of things
through this process
our experience
becomes knowledge
3rd step
Experience
- By experiencing
perceptions many
times in conjunctions
with memory we form
what is called
experience
8. Aristotle’s Metaphysics
Origin and Nature of Metaphysics
The word “metaphysics” goes back to
Aristotelean philosophy. Aristotle himself
credited earlier philosophers with dealing with
metaphysical questions.
9.
10. Aristotle’s Ethics
⬗ Aristotles’s insistence that there are no known absolute moral
standards and that any ethical theory must be based in part on an
understanding of psychology and firmly grounded in the realities of
human nature and daily life.
13. Aristotle’s view of politics
The most important task for the politician is, in the role of lawgiver,
this involves enduring laws, customs, and institution for the citizens. Once
the constitution is in place, the politicians needs to take the appropriate
measures to maintain it.
14.
15. Aristotle’s Logic
⬗ Aristotle’s logical works contain the earliest formal study of logic that
we have. It is therefore all the more remarkable that together they
comprise a highly developed logical theory one that was able to
command immense respect for many centuries
- As a prolific writer and polymath, Aristotle radically transformed most, if not all, areas of knowledge he touched. It is no wonder that Aquinas referred to him simply as "The Philosopher.“
- In his lifetime, Aristotle wrote as many as 200 treatises, of which only 31 survive. Unfortunately for us, these works are in the form of lecture notes and draft manuscripts never intended for general readership
- Aristotle was the first to classify areas of human knowledge into distinct disciplines such as mathematics, biology, and ethics.
- He literally invented the concept of metaphysics single-handedly when he (or one of his scribes) placed his book on abstract philosophical speculation after his book on physics (metaphysics literally means “after physics”) and standardized in learning – how information is collected, assimilated and interpreted, and then communicated – across numerous disciplines.