4/29/2020 Who was Aristotle? - Definition & Philosophy - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.

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Who was Aristotle? - De nition & Philosophy

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Considered to be one of the most in uential thinkers of Western culture, the ancient Greek philosopher
Aristotle merged science and philosophy to develop a logical and virtuous means of understanding and living
in our world.

De ning Aristotle
Born in northern Greece in 384 BC, Aristotle was a Classical Greek philosopher who did much
to shape Western thought. As a student and later a teacher in Plato's school, The Academy,
Aristotle developed an inquisitive spirit and a love of knowledge that would lead him to
philosophize on multiple topics, including rhetoric, science, psychology, politics, and morality.
Philosophy, to Aristotle, meant applying reason to observation as a means of understanding the
riddles of our world and making the most of our lives.

Sculpture of Aristotle

Before he died in 322 BC, Aristotle impacted the intellectual environment of his time by tutoring
Alexander the Great in 342 BC and opening his own school, called The Lyceum, around 335 BC.
The Lyceum and Aristotle's ideas waned in in uence after the fall of Rome. But in the Middle
Ages, Islamic, Jewish, and Christian philosophers rediscovered Aristotle and even incorporated
Aristotelian ideas into their respective religious beliefs. Aristotle has been a staple in the study
of philosophy ever since.

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The remains of The Lyceum

Aristotle's Legacy
About a third of Aristotle's possibly 200 philosophical works survive, and many of these works
are likely lecture notes taken by his students. Aristotle wrote on diverse subjects, but in all of
them, there is a unifying theme of using sound logic and scienti c inquiry to understand the
world and our place in it. Many scholars divide Aristotle's work into four categories:

(1) logic

(2) theoretical works on metaphysics and science

(3) practical works on human nature and society

(4) works about artistic pursuits

We'll examine each category in more detail below.

Logic
In order to discover the mysteries of our world, Aristotle rst had to establish a means of
knowing our universe. Aristotle does this in Organon, which is a collection of six treatises
detailing a system of logic for collecting, categorizing, and interpreting data and forming valid
arguments. Aristotle relied on empirical data, and he argued that if we apply reason and logic to
our experiences, we can discover the truth of our world.

Aristotle developed the concept of the syllogism, which is a three-part argument containing two
premises (or reasons) and one conclusion (a claim that can be deduced from the premises). The
classic example of a syllogism is:

Premise 1 - All men are mortal

Premise 2 - Socrates is a man

Conclusion - Therefore, Socrates is a mortal

A well-crafted syllogism occurs when the truth of the premises can guarantee the truth of the
conclusion. Aristotle was really the rst person to establish the building blocks of formal logic
and deductive reasoning in this way.

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Metaphysics and Science

In works like Physics and Metaphysics, Aristotle approaches deep metaphysical questions of
existence from a scienti c perspective. Aristotle argued that such abstract ideas revealed
themselves in physical objects, and the only way to accurately access these truths was to study
physical things. For example, Aristotle at one point studied and categorized animals in an e ort
to understand how life works and how life manifests itself in di erent forms. Some of his
observations -- like a primitive di erentiation between vertebrates and invertebrates -- later
proved to be accurate!

In his metaphysical/scienti c works, Aristotle also discussed the concepts of cause and purpose
as they reveal themselves in the natural world. According to Aristotle, there are four causes for
everything in the universe:

(1) The material cause is the physical stu that composes an object

(2) The formal cause is the form or plan that will dictate the structure of the thing

(3) The e cient cause is the thing or person or process that actually forms the thing

(4) The nal cause is the ultimate purpose that demonstrates why this thing is being created

To Aristotle, everything had a nal cause -- an ultimate purpose -- and studying the physical
composure of a thing would help reveal this purpose.
Human Nature and Society
Aristotle discusses human nature and society in works like Nicomachean Ethics and Politics.
When it comes to ethics, the proper function of humanity is to use reason to pursue a virtuous
life; the end result of this virtuous life is happiness. Virtue is found in moderation between
extremes, and a person cultivates such virtue through practice and habit. The ultimate purpose
of the state, then, was to create a just and stable society that would allow its citizens to pursue
this virtuous life.
Artistic Pursuits
The last major category of Aristotle's works includes his thoughts on the products of the human
mind. In Rhetoric, Aristotle established logical rules for composing a successful persuasive
argument. In Poetics, Aristotle shows how art (speci cally, poetry, tragedy, comedy, and music)
relies on mimesis, which is the imitation of reality, in order to emotionally engage the audience
and reveal deeper truths. Out of all the genres of art, tragedy utilized this mimesis to the best
end.

Lesson Summary
Aristotle was one of the rst thinkers to apply a scienti c form of inquiry to the study of the
abstract and practical questions of our existence.

His concept of the syllogism laid the foundations of logical inquiry.

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His concept of the four causes argued that everything in the universe has a purpose. Analyzing
physical objects is the best way to discern this purpose as well as to discern other metaphysical
truths.

When it comes to ethics and political philosophy, Aristotle argued that a good society was one
where people use reason, virtue, and moderation to pursue the good life.

Art can aid in this pursuit of the good life because it utilizes mimesis to imitate reality and
reveal truth.

Based on this expansive range of topics, it's clear that Aristotle was a lover of knowledge of all
kinds. Thanks to his school, The Lyceum, and his surviving treatises, his ideas have survived and
continue to in uence modern society.

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