Aristotle

Charles, Celeste, Ward, And Leila

Historical Context•The Greek world of Aristotle’s time was made up of small city-states all with its own autonomous government.

•The cities usually had slaves noncitizen manual laborers, children, women, aliens, and citizens living within it.

•The citizens where the ones to govern the states while the slaves, laborers, and women did all the work to provide the necessary food, shelter, and equipment.

•The citizens were freed of meeting day-to-day needs so they had a lot of time for luxury and freedom.

The leisure they enjoyed was highly valued and made possible one of the greatest periods of intellectual energy in human history.

It also produced a large array of philosophy, drama, art, and architecture.

There were not a lot of citizens that everyone in a city would usually recognize if not know and they were all expected to take part in public office.

Unlike our modern system of representative democracy, like how we elect officials to speak for us, all Greek citizens were expected to voice their own opinions in large deliberative and judicial meetings.

There was a strong bond in citizenship, as the same people lived together, governed together, served in the army together, and enjoyed leisure time together.

About Aristotle•Greek Philosopher•Birth date: 384 B.C.•Born in Stagira•Died: 322 B.C.

Family•Married to Pythias & had a daughter with her (Pythias)•Pythias died and he began a relationship with another woman named Herphyllis,who was said to be his slave.•They had a son named Nicomachus, who was named after Aristotle’s father.

Aristotle’s Studies• When he was 7 his father sent him to study at the Academy.

• The academy was taught by Plato- Aristotle started off as a student and progressively moved on to be become a teacher of the Academy.

• He adopted and developed Platonic ideas and expressed them in dialogue form

• Aristotle attended for 20 years until Plato passed away and gave the Academy to his nephew.

• The year Plato passed away Aristotle left to go to Assos to open a branch of the Academy.

• They focused mainly on biology than the other Academy which relied on mathematics.

• They also started to break away from Platonism and developed his own ideas

Studies Cont.

• In 343 B.C. King Phillip invited Aristotle to the capitol to tutor his 13 year old son,

Alexander

• In 359 BC King Phillip left Alexander in charge, which stopped Aristotle’s tutoring.

• Aristotle returns to Athens in 335 B.C.

• He found his own school named Lyceum, named after Apollo Lyceus.

• They researched wide range of subjects, which were of interest to Aristotle

(Such as botany, biology, logic, music, astronomy, etc.)

• In 323 B.C. Aristotle retired from the city and withdrew directly to Chalcis.

• He died in Chalcis in 322 B.C. from natural causes.

Contributions to Philosophy

• One of his big contributions to philosophy was the theory of the four kinds of causes.

• Aristotle's ideal state would be ruled by the virtuous citizens.

• Aristotle thought the state had a duty to morally improve its citizens.

• Aristotle didn't think that the state should be barred from religion and censorship.

Aristotle’s logic

• His philosophy aims at the universal• Aristotle’s method is both inductive and

deductive• examining the phenomena of the natural

world, and includes fields that would be regarded today as physics, biology and other natural sciences.

• For Aristotle, "all science is either practical, poetical or theoretical"