...Aristotle Essay Adnan Ahmad Compare and contrast Aristotle‘s concept of mind with that of Descartes. Introduction In this essay I attempt to show Aristotle’s concept of soul/mind*[1]. Then I compare and contrast it with Descartes’ concept of mind. In order to understand Aristotle’s concepts of mind, I shall consider Aristotle’s De Anima, in which Aristotle mostly concentrates on soul/mind discussion. I will examine the work of Kahn and Sorabji, who both considered Aristotle’s and Descartes’ philosophy in relation to soul and body problem. In order to compare Aristotle’s concept of mind with Descartes’, I am going to introduce Descartes’ most famous philosophical work which involves the question of mind directly, namely hisMeditations. …………………………. …………………………… ………………………………. If we look at Aristotle’s De Anima we can understand that pre-Aristotle thinkers were already concerned with corporeal and incorporeal problems. For example, for Plato soul was an ‘incorporeal’ and immortal thing, but body corporeal and mortal. The first impression we get from reading De Anima is that the mind and body problem was unsolved. Perhaps the resolved problem didn’t satisfy Aristotle. Aristotle claims that an incorporeal thing cannot exist without a corporeal thing. Aristotle’s new theory for solving soul and body problems makes controversial debate among most post-Aristotelian philosophers. Rene Descartes was one of them who rejected the Aristotelian...
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...questions like: What is the ultimate source of knowledge? Or: How do we gain knowledge? They are rationalism and empiricism. Rationalism states that we depend on our reason capacities to gain real knowledge, which is inborn, independent and could not be determined by human beings. The most famous rationalist, Plato, contributes to metaphysics and epistemology. He explains his theory by using the example prisoners in a cave. The conclusion is that cognition comes from the appearance of the world not the reality. According to Plato, there exist two worlds: the real world and a supernatural realm which contains the eternal and perfect Forms. Everything we get from the real world is a reflection of the supernatural hence the essence is invisible. Reason is the only way in which we get the essence of appearance. Based on Plato’s metaphysics, Parmenides and Heraclites assert diverse opinions. Parmenides assumes that being is real and change is the characteristic of being while Heraclites considers change is real while being is not. Plato also holds the view that human beings are born with knowledge, and the immortal soul belongs to the supernatural. That we use our reasoning capacities to recover from the knowledge known before is called learning-by-recollection. On the other hand, there exists empiricism, represented by Aristotle who states that the source of knowledge is not reason but sensory experience. He disagrees with Plato’s two-worlds theory. For him, there is only one world--the...
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...The Greek philosopher Plato’s concept of philosophy entails it as a process in which there is constant questioning and the process of questioning is done by way of dialogues. The dialogues through which he represents his thoughts conclusively have no definite point of justification, instead they end in a way that raises questions in the mind of the reader making him/her think for themselves, rather than putting a definitive conclusion of logic. Some of the dialogues that do reach a conclusion are not simple statements of facts. Instead, they end up in doubts, casting parallel counterarguments on the doubts and their possibilities. Plato’s...
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...Political Science 201 November 12, 2013 Anna Umstead Plato and Aristotle, arguably two of the most influential Greek philosophers, discussed their differing views on virtue extensively throughout many of their works. Although they agree that virtue is a desirable characteristic that will lead to happiness, the ultimate good, there exists between the two philosophies salient differences. While Plato believes only philosophers are capable of true, inherent virtue, Aristotle believes all men can be virtuous with practice and dedication. GREAT. WAY TO GET TO THE POINT. BE SURE TO MENTION WHETHER OR NOT YOU'RE ARGUING THAT VIRTUE IS INTRINSICALLY GOOD. HAVE IT SMACK ME IN THE FACE IT'S SO OBVIOIUS. (LIKE THAT TYPO). Plato’s Republic contains one of the greatest recorded discussions on the nature of justice. His definition of justice can be interpreted today as virtue, or the proper working of the soul. Plato argues in this work that virtue is inherently good only when it is manifest in the perfectly ordered soul of the philosopher. This philosopher is born just and inherently good, thereby making him the only individual capable of loving and seeking after virtue completely. …..... I'M GUESSING THIS ATTACHES TO THE NEXT PARAGRAPH? AND I'M NOT SURE HOW I FEEL ABOUT “BORN JUST”. REMEMBER, IT ISN'T “INBORN” BUT IT IS NATURAL. YOU AREN'T BORN THAT WAY. YOU TEND TOWARDS IT, THOUGH. Only through virtue, or justice as he calls it, can a man receive happiness, and this hints at the inherent...
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...lifetime current and not so current. This biography will focus on the philosopher Aristotle. The views and contributions of this man will come into play through this essay along with background information including birth, birthplace, and teen years leading to his last days. Aristotle will be described through his learning during the most critical years including his key concepts and style of philosophy during the period in which he resided and his key influences through his lifespan and the effects that he has on society today. Bright Future In 384 BC Aristotle was born in a small town called Stageira, Chalcidice around the fourth century in northern Greece. Aristotle was born to Nicomachus who was a very well know physician in his era. Aristotle’s father Nicomachus personally attended to King Amyntas of Macedon. During this time Aristotle became suited to be trained and educated like a member of Aristocracy through the will of his father due to their stature in the society, being they were middle class individuals. There is no clear and reliable source for information on Aristotle’s childhood all the way up until the age of seventeen or so. Nor were any information on siblings or childhood friends for that matter. In 402 BC, at the age of eighteen years, Aristotle went to Athens to further his education at Plato’s Academy. Aristotle head spent twenty years of his life at Plato’s Academy studying various things such as zoology, biology,...
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...Plato’s Allegory Plato is known today as one of the greatest philosophers of all time, allowing him a prominent place in the history of philosophy. To fully appreciate Plato's ideas and viewpoint, it is important to understand his contributions to rationalism and his perception of human knowing. It is also essential to know and appreciate how his Allegory of the Cave depicts rationalism and human knowing, and parallels Christian thought. Finally, comparing and contrasting Plato’s worldview with that of his students Aristotle will provide a broader understanding of rationalism and human knowing, and Plato’s allegory. Plato made many important contributions to philosophy as well as to the rationalist tradition. Rationalism is the philosophy that knowledge is acquired by reason without resort to experience (Princeton, n.d.). The first thing Plato taught was that our concepts and knowledge are gained independently of sense experience (Stanford, 2004). This teaching does not resonate with me, and I believe that while this may apply to some people, it does not apply to everyone—including myself. The second element he argued is that reason is superior to sense perception because sensation is incapable of providing the necessary elements which are present in knowledge (Nash, 1999). I partially agree with the reasoning of this element; however, I do believe that intuition—a sensory experience—can trump knowledge at times. Sometimes you may not have the knowledge to understand a situation...
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...and he believed in idealism. Plato’s metaphysics which is also referred to as the Theory of Forms explains that there are two sides of the world of Forms. One of them is separated from the reality and one of them is the reality of the world. (Moore, pg 38) Aristotle was Plato’s student and he disagree with Plato’s believes. He was the first philosopher to explain what existence and essence is (Moore, pg. 63). One of Aristotle’s strongest arguments against the Theory of Forms was his Third Man argument. He explains that there must be a third thing or person to tires together a Form (Moore, pg. 65). Plato and Aristotle have excellent views of Theory of Forms and the Third Man argument; however there are points I agree and disagree with. Plato was one of the most important philosophers. Plato spends most of his life living in Greek. He was the first metaphysics thinker Theory of forms was one of Plato most important idea. He believed that we are living in two worlds; the world of appearances and the world of ideas. The appearances world is the world we are living in where we can touch and see around us. Our senses help us guide us in the visible world. In the ideas world, we can only sense it with our thinking. The intelligible world is in our mind, we control what the intelligible world looks like. The material world is a shadow of the real world of the form. Therefore according to Plato we are living in two worlds. (Moore, pg 35). One of Plato’s main illustrations of the Theory...
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...Aristotle was born circa 384 B.C. in Stagira, Greece. When he turned 17, he enrolled in Plato’s Academy. In 338, he began tutoring Alexander the Great. In 335, Aristotle founded his own school, the Lyceum, in Athens, where he spent most of the rest of his life studying, teaching and writing. Aristotle died in 322 B.C., after he left Athens and fled to Chalcis. Aristotle - Mini Biography (TV-14; 03:02) Learn more about the life of Greek philosopher Aristotle, whose work profoundly influenced the modern scientific method, in this mini biography. Early Life Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle was born circa 384 B.C. in Stagira, a small town on the northern coast of Greece that was once a seaport. Aristotle’s father, Nicomachus, was court physician to the Macedonian king Amyntas II. Although Nicomachus died when Aristotle was just a young boy, Aristotle remained closely affiliated with and influenced by the Macedonian court for the rest of his life. Little is known about his mother, Phaestis; she is also believed to have died when Aristotle was young. After Aristotle’s father died, Proxenus of Atarneus, who was married to Aristotle’s older sister, Arimneste, became Aristotle’s guardian until he came of age. When Aristotle turned 17, Proxenus sent him to Athens to pursue a higher education. At the time, Athens was considered the academic center of the universe. In Athens, Aristotle enrolled in Plato’s Academy, Greek’s premier learning institution, and proved an...
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...investigation. His conversations with his fellow Athenians, as recorded by Plato, are the first records we have of an individual, by his own careful reasoning, trying to discover the guiding principles of moral choices. METAPHYSICS Because Socrates always claimed that his only wisdom was that he knew nothing, it is difficult to determine his metaphysics, his view of reality. However, in some accounts of his conversations, like Plato’s EUTHYPHRO, we may catch glimpse of his beliefs. Socrates seemed to hold that individual entities, like holy actions, have universal characteristics, like Holiness, which can be discovered by the mind after careful investigation. This may mean that he anticipate Plato’s metaphysics that thee is higher, eternal world of truths (like Holiness) which exists independently of this world. EPISTEMOLOGY Socrates’s epistemology, his theory of how knowledge is possible, is very difficult to determine because he appears not to have a great deal of interest in the subject. Socrates would much rather have talked about the purpose of life, than the process by which the minds gains knowledge of the purpose of life. His claims that he knew nothing, except that he knew nothing, might make...
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...Aristotle Name: Aristotle Occupation: Philosopher Birth date: c. 384 BCE Death date: c. 322 BCE Education: Plato's Academy, Lyceum Place of birth: Stagira, Chalcidice, Greece Place of death: Chalcis, Euboea, Greece Synopsis Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle was born circa 384 B.C. in Stagira, Greece. When he turned 17, he enrolled in Plato’s Academy. In 338, he began tutoring Alexander the Great. In 335, Aristotle founded his own school, the Lyceum, in Athens, where he spent most of the rest of his life studying, teaching and writing. Aristotle died in 322 B.C., after he left Athens and fled to Chalcis. Early Life In Athens, Aristotle enrolled in Plato’s Academy, Greek’s premier learning institution, and proved an exemplary scholar. Aristotle maintained a relationship with Greek philosopher Plato, himself a student of Socrates, and his academy for two decades. Plato died in 347 B.C. Because Aristotle had disagreed with some of Plato’s philosophical treatises, Aristotle did not inherit the position of director of the academy, as many imagined he would. After Plato died, Aristotle’s friend Hermias, king of Atarneus and Assos in Mysia, invited Aristotle to court. During his three-year stay in Mysia, Aristotle met and married his first wife, Pythias, Hermias’ niece. Together, the couple had a daughter, Pythias, named after her mother. Teaching In 338 B.C., Aristotle went home to Macedonia to start tutoring King Phillip II’s son, the then 13-year-old...
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...Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) entered Plato’s academy at the age of seventeen and spent twenty years with Plato. During his stay with Plato, he expressed his brilliance such that Plato considered him as the brilliant mind of the academy. Given this relationship, Plato influenced Aristotle in one way or the other such that some people even considered Aristotle a successor of Plato when Plato died. However, this never distracted Aristotle from taking a different path in his career. In fact, Aristotle contrasted with Plato in many areas. He also criticized him because he argued in different manner (Newport, 1998). On the other hand, Aristotle had various components in his system. This paper evaluates the key components of Aristotle’s system and the various contrasts of his philosophical works in relation to that of Plato. The paper starts by evaluating the key components of Aristotle’s system before it evaluates the contrasts between their worldviews. Key components The first key component of Aristotle’s system is metaphysics. This component explains Aristotle’s philosophical views and the history of philosophy. Based on this component, Aristotle showed the relationship between the form and nature of history. He also became the first person who identified the technological language because of this component (Masih, 1999). With the help of this component, Aristotle also established both practical and theoretical reasoning. The second component of the Aristotle’s system is logic. This is...
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...necessary that each philosopher to choose a point to disregard and prove to be unnecessary. Plato chose to reject the claim that the world experienced through the senses is what is real, while Aristotle rejected the claim that knowledge must be of what is fixed and unchanging. This presented problems to be overcome by each philosopher: Plato had to give an account of where knowledge could be found while Aristotle had to account for how to have knowledge of that which is undergoing change. This led the philosophers to overwhelming differences in...
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...I. THE THEORY OF THE IDEAS AND PLATO’S ONTOLOGY I. 1. The ontological dualism The theory of the Ideas is the base of Plato’s philosophy: the Ideas are not only the real objects ontologically speaking, but they are the authentically objects of knowledge epistemologically speaking. From the point of view of ethics and politics, they are the foundation of the right behaviour, and anthropologically speaking they are the base of Plato’s dualism and they even allow him demonstrate the immortality of the soul. Plato defends a clear ontological dualism in which there are two types of realities or worlds: the sensible world and the intelligible world or, as he calls it, the world of the Ideas. The Sensible World is the world of individual realities, and so is multiple and constantly changing, is the world of generation and destruction; is the realm of the sensible, material, temporal and space things. On the contrary, the Intelligible World is the world of the universal, eternal and invisible realities called Ideas (or "Forms"), which are immutable and do not change because they are not material, temporal or space. Ideas can be understood and known; they are the authentic reality. The Ideas or Forms are not just concepts or psychic events of our minds; they do exist as objective and independent beings out of our consciences. They are also the origin of sensible things, but although they are the authentic beings, Plato, unlike Parmenides of Elea, do not completely...
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...means physical which refers to the works on matter by Aristotle in antiquity (Statile, et al. 2006). Therefore, it is literally after physics. Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy that is concerned with the understanding and the explanation of the fundamentals of Nature of being and the world (Statile, et al. 2006). It seeks to investigate the principles of reality; state of things as they exist and whether or not they are observable or comprehensible. Aristoterian hylomorphism Aristotelian hylomorphism is a philosophical theory that was developed by Aristotle, which analyzes substances into matter and form. Aristotle theory seeks to understand the inherent quality in matter that a substance conceives as forms (Statile, et al. 2006). Aristotle’s hylomorphism theory, therefore, seeks to relate matter and form, soul and body and substantial form, accidental form and prime matter. This theory has given rise to many debates by scholars as according to this theory; it is workable especially in proximate and non proximate matter. According to the definition of matter and form hylomorphism theory, is not workable with regards to body and soul. Matter and form According to Aristotle, the fundamental question is not “Is X matter?” but rather “what is the matter of X?” (Statile, et al. 2006). Aristotle, therefore, defines the matter of X as its constituents. According to Aristotle hylomorphism theory, something can be matter without being physical. The theory seeks to explain the...
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...The Soul The concept of the soul is an integral point of concern in the writings of both Plato and Aristotle. Plato views the soul as beyond the body, something that must be released from the grip of mortality. Despite being the student of Plato, Aristotle has his own line of reasoning in regards to the soul, tying the existence of the soul to the existence of life. I will endeavor to show the differences between their thoughts on the soul and its purpose in their philosophical ideology, with the purpose of explaining how Aristotle’s beliefs on the matter of the soul are preferable. One of Plato’s clearest exposition on the soul occurs during the recounting of the death of Socrates, wherein Socrates tells of how “the wise man will want to be ever with him who is better than himself” and further that “the real philosopher has reason to be of good cheer when he is about to die” (Plato). These statements on death will serve as an opening for the rest the Plato’s theories on the soul; the idea that for true knowledge to be grasped, the soul must be freed from the prison of the body. Plato argues that the soul, as an immortal expression of being, is capable of existing beyond the mortal world. He asserts that the body is a detriment to the pursuit of pure knowledge, that it “is a source of endless trouble to us…” (Plato), leading to the idea that purity can only be achieved once the soul is freed. One of the arguments Plato employs as his reasoning for the idea of the Soul...
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