Aristotle

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Some notes on Aristotle *Natural philosophy” dealt with the real world à  Influenced Scientific Method   * ethics is a practical science à  virtue ethics
 * A student of Plato and a teacher of Alexander the Great
 * first to create a comprehensive system of Western philosophy, encompassing morality and aesthetics, logic and science, politics and metaphysics.
 * virtue has to do with the proper function of a thing
 * City (gov’t) is created not to avoid injustice or for economic stability, but rather to live a good life
 * **Plato vs** || **Aristotle** ||
 * Ideas are reality || Physical world is reality ||
 * Objects are illusions || Objects are real ||
 * Two worlds || One world ||
 * Order || Freedom ||
 * Fate || Choice ||
 * Absolute Values || Relative values ||
 * Spiritual - Utopian || Scientific - Realist ||
 * Moralist || Logical ||

We are going to cross over now, live into the Hellenic theatre at Epidaurus, where the great Philosopher Aristotle is currently waiting to watch the entrants in this year’s “Festival of Dionysus”

Aristotle, thanks for agreeing to join us:

Let me think on that……yes I agree, it is good of me to be here

Back here at the network, we’ve been looking into some of your predecessors, the great Plato and Sophocoles, and discussing their insightfulness into the human condition, particularly in the area of thinking. Do you have anything to say about these men who taught you everything you know?

Taught me? Taught me! Clearly, you are not well educated – well that’s of course because you are a woman, and – just like the slaves and children - you lack wisdom for proper organisation of your own life. It’s therefore not possible for your to seek truth and knowledge…..Never mind, dear, I’m sure you will enjoy the play anyway. //(Looking around/or touching earplug) Is this guy for real? Who does he think he is?// Look, we were just wanting to get your opinion on a couple of burning issues…firstly, we understand you have a group of students back at the Academy who working very hard trying to Classify Knowledge….can you give us an insight into why this is important?

Really? An insight? Ah well….if you must: One must consider objects and the relative certainty with which one can know those objects. For instance, certain objects (such as in mathematics or logic) permit one to have a knowledge that is true all the time (two plus two always equals four). These types of knowledge are characterized by certainty and precise explanations. Other objects (such as human behavior) don't permit certain knowledge (if you insult somebody you may not make them angry or you may make them angry). These types of knowledge are characterized by probability and imprecise explanations. Okay..that makes sense. Can you tell the audience then what you mean by “Virtue”. It’s a word you’ve bandied around here in the city for a number of years now, but no-one is sure of what you’re on about:

Virtue, my dear lady – is either intellectual or moral. Now – look at this chart (I find I have to carry it with me, because I’m asked these questions all the time). You’ll see from the diagram that INTELLECTUAL virtue has it’s birth and growth in teaching. (I believe you have a few teachers in your viewing audience – hello there! Hope you have read my works – they are bound to provide the best way forward for you). Getting back to Virtue – the other part of the equation is MORAL virtue – now this is something we may have, but if we don’t learn how to use it, and work hard to practise using it, we won’t every achieve.

Can you give us an example of moral virtue?

Moral virtue can be destroyed by defect or excess – for example our friend Plato was harping on about his wrestling prowess. Now if we take strength as a symbol of moral virtue and apply excess to it – well then we may end up with a pumped-up over-developed man who trains to excess and who pulls a hamstring before his first fight! At the other end of the scale, defect might be Plato’s reluctance to train hard, and as a consequence he loses this physical conditioning and is not capable of even entering the ring!!! Ah, I see…that’s much clearer…. Look, the rumour mill has been running rampant around here….. Everyone is saying that you are ….well….shall we say….claiming to be h a p p y … would you like to fill us in?

Happiness…my dear. It comes from the ultimate intellectual virtue – that is a life of unbroken contemplation of being something divine….. (And I am divine, don’t you think??) Look, to put it plainly – for you are a woman, I understand, it is more about being all that you can, fulfilling your potential. The idea is that by living in a way that reaches your full potential you bloom or flourish and so display the best version of you that you can be. Thus at the practice of virtues (as I described earlier) equate to happiness, in the sense of being all you could be. By virtue I mean the act of  achieving **balance and moderation**. And I do hope the acts here tonight challenge my intellect and spur on my journey…. Finally, before we let you go, can you just give us an insight into your theory of education? The audience tonight would love to hear your thoughts on the matter….

Well essentially it’s broken into 8 Theories:

1. The theory of Value – what worth knowing 2. The theory of Knowledge – it’s always about an object 3. The theory of Human Nature – what is a human being and what is the limit of his potential? 4. The theory of Learning – How are knowledge and skills acquired? 5. The theory of Transmission – who is to teach, by what methods and what curriculum should they use? 6. The theory of Society – what is society, and what institutions are involved in the education process 7. The theory of Opportunity – who is to be educated? 8. The theory of Consensues – How is consensus achieved?

TO BE CONTINUED - ROUGH (VERY ROUGH) FIRST DRAFT - HOPEFULLY ON TRACK WITH EVERYONE JUDI.

[|Aristotle on Education] **What is learning? How are skills and knowledge acquired?** Education and teaching are always about an object and should have content. In the Aristotelian teaching act, the teacher instructs a learner about some object, some body of knowledge, or some discipline. Teaching and learning never represent merely an interpersonal relationship or the expression of feelings. They are always about disciplined inquiry into some aspect of reality. ... the school should cultivate and develop each person's rationality (112-113, Ornstein) **Who is to teach?** the state is a university which arranges the entire scheme of education and is itself the highest grade (174, Davidson) The state is both teacher and pupil (173, Davidson) [|The Big 3 on learning.] Socrates thought that an awareness of our won ignorance should create a desire for the knowledge that eludes us. Plato agreed with him, but went on to ask how such knowledge, which had managed to elude even Socrates, could ever be acquired. He found his answer in the theory of recollection, one of his most notorious philosophical legacies. What we now call learning, he claimed in the Meno, is in fact the recollection of knowledge had in a prenatal existence. …….. Aristotle, in obvious reaction to Plato, placed great emphasis upon perception and experience both in scientific and ethical learning.
 * IV. Theory of Learning **
 * V. Theory of Transmission **
 * By what methods?** observation
 * What will the curriculum be?** theoretical and practical (technical skills, liberal education, subjects, theoretical subjects) -