ARISTOTLE

BRIEF HISTORY

 He was a Greek philosopher and polymath

 Student of Plato
 Teacher of Alexander the great
 Died due to digestive irregularities
 Studied in Plato’s Academy
 Founded Aristotle’s Lyceum
Aristotle as an EMPIRICIST

 Empiricist is a theory of knowledge which states

that knowledge comes only or primarily from
sensory experience
 Aristotle is an empiricist because he thinks that
all knowledge comes to human beings from and
through sensation.
Plato vs Aristotle
 Plato Aristotle

Plato’s Theory of Aristotle’s Theory of form, intelligibility

Form, separates the sensible is present in every being and in every
“Properties
world suchofas
(appearances) the thing. The world consists of
substances. The substance can be
beautyworld
intelligible is abstract
(ideas) and either matter or form, or a
the intelligible world was the
universal entities
only reality, the foundation
compound of both. The shape is
that, in every being, is general, so
that
of allexist
truth. independent intelligible. For example the shape of
a dog is what is common to all dogs.
of the object itself” The matter is what is special, so
unknowable.
“Organon”

- means “ instrument”

- composed of 6 works (Prior Analytics, Posterior Analytics,

On Interpretation, Topics, Sophistical Refutation, Categories)
- the works that deals with logic
-is a set of writings that provide a logical toolkit for use in any
philosophical or scientific investigation.
Logic
-Established three laws of logical thoughts

Law # 1 . Law of identity. Each thing is inseparable from itself

and its being one just meant this

Law # 2 . Law of contradiction. The same attribute cannot at

the same time belong and not belong to the same subject
and in the same respect

Law # 3. Law of the excluded middle or excluded third. There

cannot be an intermediate between two contradictories, but
of one subject we must either affirm or deny any one
predicate.
Syllogism is a kind of logical argument that applies deductive
reasoning to arrive at a conclusion based on two or
more propositions that are asserted or assumed to be true.
“Metaphysics”
- “First Philosophy” that studies “being as being”

- Composed of 14 books (Alpha, Alpha The Lesser, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Eta,
Theta, Lota, Kappa, Lambda, Mu , Nu)

- According to Aristotle, the being of any individual thing is primary defined by what is it.

• ONTOLOGY- the study of being and existence

• THEOLOGY- the study of God of gods

• UNIVERSAL SCIENCE- the study of first principles, such as the law of noncontradiction (logic), which Aristotle
believed were the foundation of all other inquiries
“ A thing is not only in the place defined by its
immediate container but also in whatever contains
that container”

“Forms are intrinsic to the objects and cannot exist

apart from them”
“Nicomachean Ethics” &“Politics”

- Dealing with human happiness, virtue, pleasure & friendship

- he considered ethics to be a practical rather than theoretical study

“happiness is not merely a condition of the soul but

a kind of right activity”

Example:

One aimed at becoming good or doing good rather than knowing for its own sake
Politics
- the best form of government is monarchy, and the next best is
aristocracy. However, because monarchy and aristocracy frequently
devolve into tyranny and oligarchy, respectively, in practice the best form
is polity.

- According to Aristotle, states may be classified according to the number of

their rulers and the interests in which they govern. Rule by one person in the
interest of all is monarchy; rule by one person in his own interest is tyranny. Rule
by a minority in the interest of all is aristocracy; rule by a minority in the interest
of itself is oligarchy. Rule by a majority in the interest of all is “polity”; rule by a
majority in its own interest is “democracy.”
 meaning that human beings
naturally form political
communities. Indeed, it is
impossible for human beings to
thrive outside a community, and
the basic purpose of communities
is to promote human flourishing.
Aristotle is also known for having
devised a classification of forms of
government and for introducing
an unusual definition of
democracy that was never widely
accepted.
“Rhetorical” & “Poetics”

- Aristotle’s Rhetoric is a comprehensive treatise on the art of persuasive speech

LOGOS - logical reasoning

ETHOS - character

PATHOS - emotion
Poetics
 Poetics is a scientific study of writing and poetry where Aristotle observes,
analyzes and defines mostly tragedy and epic poetry.
 poetry is an imitative use of language, rhythm and harmony that represents
objects and events in the world, Aristotle posited. His book explores the
foundation of storymaking, including character development, plot and
storyline.
THANK YOU!