Aristotle 1

Aristotle’s Background and Work

Aristotle was a pupil of Plato and became the teacher of Alexander the Great.
He was born in 384BC in Stagira, Northern Greece and died in 322 BC.
He authored works on a wide variety of subjects including logic, metaphysics, ethics, politics, and the natural sciences.

Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that explores fundamental questions, including the nature of reality and the relationship between mind and matter.
Aristotle’s metaphysics focuses on the concepts of substance, potentiality, and actuality.
A substance according to Aristotle, is something that exists on its own and doesn’t depend on anything else for its existence. It can be a being (living organisms), a quality (redness, hardness) or a quantity (fourness, bigness).
The concept of potentiality and actuality defines change in the world. A thing changes when its potentiality becomes its actuality.

Aristotle proposed the theory of The Four Causes which comprised of the Material Cause, the Formal Cause, the Efficient Cause, and the Final Cause.
The Material Cause refers to what something is made from. For example, a table is made from wood.
The Formal Cause is what gives a thing its form or shape. It is the essence or the ‘what-it-is’ of a thing.
The Efficient Cause is what brings something into being or initiates change. In the example of the table, this would be the carpenter.
The Final Cause is the purpose or function of a thing. In the example of the table, this could be to provide a surface on which items can be placed.

Aristotle’s God is not a personal God, but an impersonal divine being.
God is the Prime Mover, which sets everything else in motion but is itself unmoved.
God is a perfect, eternal, and changeless being. He is actuality without potentiality.
For Aristotle, God does not know about the world or have any personal relationship with it.

Aristotle explores the idea of ‘goods’ in life: intrinsic goods which are desired for their own sake, such as happiness or pleasure, and instrumental goods which are desired for the sake of something else.
Aristotle proposed the idea of Eudaimonia, often translated as ‘flourishing’ or ‘the good life’, which he considered the ultimate goal in life.
He proposed the concept of ‘The Golden Mean’, advocating for a balanced life - avoiding extremes and aiming for the midway point between excess and deficiency.
Aristotle’s ethics were not focused on following rules, but rather on developing a good character and becoming a virtuous person.