Life’s Ultimate Questions “Aristotle”
Life’s Ultimate Questions“Aristotle”Christopher Ullman, ProfessorChristian Life College1
Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) Born not in Athens but in Macedonia Connected to the court of King Philip Studied in Plato’s Academy Tutored Alexander the Great whenAlexander was a teenager Founded a rival school in Athens,the Lyceum During his life, he left Athens threetimes After Plato’s death After Philip II’s assassination After Alexander’s death2
Why Aristotle is Important He’s one of the 4 or 5 greatest thinkers ofall time Plato helped influence Augustine, andAristotle helped influence Thomas Aquinas His teaching on properties can help us tounderstand the Incarnation3
Aristotle vs. PlatoHe rejected MetaphysicalDualismThe Forms were not separate from FORMSparticular thingsThey were in the particular thingsReality was in the world ofparticular thingsThings have substanceThere is only one worldThe one we inhabit through ourbodiesTHINGSTHINGS,WITHFORMSINTHEM4
Aristotle vs. Plato, continuedBy rejecting Plato’sTwo Worlds theory, hecould reject Plato’sTwo Kinds ofKnowledge theoryHuman knowledge canbe grounded onThe SensesReasonEMPIRICALRATIONAL5
Aristotle vs. Plato,concludedBy rejecting Plato’sTwo Worlds theory, hecould also rejectPlato’s Body and SoultheoryBody and Soul are nottwo radically separatesubstancesHumans exist as aunified whole, a bodysoul complexThe soul is somethingabout the body6
Aristotle and Ultimate RealityReality consists of SubstancesThings that exist or have beingCrayonsCarsStudentsEvery substance has two kinds of propertiesAccidental (hule): nonessential attributes such as color orsizeA knife could have a wooden handle or a metal handle, and stillbe a knifeEssential (morphe): attributes which are necessaryconditionsA knife that has lost its ability to cut is no longer a knifeEssence and Form are synonymous7The Highly Morphic (Hule-Morphic) Composition of Substances
Four Causes(or Explanations)The Material Cause: what a thing is made ofBaseball Bat: woodThe Formal Cause: the essential properties ofa thingBaseball Bat: tapered, round, knobbed, length of 27– 36”The Efficient Cause: the activity that brings athing into existenceBaseball Bat: the sweat, skill and desire of thebatmakerThe Final Cause: the purpose for which a thingexistsBaseball Bat: a tool to swing at and occasionally hitbaseballs8
CategoriesA category is a predicate (a way ofdescribing and classifying things)S is P (Subject and Predicate)“The student is a person:”Person is the predicate or category that describes thestudentA dog is a mammal.Socrates was a philosopher.Harry Schmidt is an Iowan.The box is cardboard.Think of categories as headings under which allthings can be listedAristotle’s Categories are the ultimate headings9
Kinds of CategoriesThere are 10 kinds ofcategories“Socrates is ”(Several of A’s categories arenotoriously ambiguous)Human (substance)A human (quantity)Balding (quality)In prison (place)Plato’s teacher(relation)Alive in 400 B.C. (time)Sitting (posture)Dressed (state)Drinking hemlock(action)Being poisoned(passion)10
The Most Important CategoryWhich category isessential?SUBSTANCEAfter Socrates died, washe still human?If the bat is cut lengthwisefour ways, it’s no longer abatIf an eye can’t see, it is aneye in name only11
Only God Never ChangesACTUALITYYou actually existYou potentiallyAre a graduate of CLCThis would be analterationCould move to HawaiiThis would be alocomotionCould grow an inchThis would be anaugmentationPOTENTIALITYCould get hit by a busThis would be acorruptionCould be born againThis would be ageneration2 Corinthians 5:16-17Your entelechy (finalform) isEphesians 4:13Romans 8:29Romans 12:2God is Pure FormAll actualityNo potentiality12
You Change BecauseYou’re MatterYou are asubstance madeof matter1.2.3.4.A particular objectYou can changeYou cannot be inother objectsYou have causalpower(Note: I am reallynot much of anElton John fan)13
You Remain the Same BecauseYou’re Matter & FormYou are a substancemade of matter & formYou have properties youshare with other likesubstances. These are1.2.3.4.UniversalCannot changeIn other objects, tooNot able to cause anything they just are true14
Intellect: Passiveand ActivePassive intellectReceives info from thesensesOf particular objectsFulfills the function ofthe mind’s matterProvides a viewingscreen for an image(phantasm)It won’t survive the deathof the body“A RED BALL!”Active IntellectProcesses the info fromthe senses or from thereasonFulfills the function of themind’s formProvides the captionProvides the narrativeLinks the particular to theIt will universalsurvive the death ofthe body15
God, according to AristotleNecessary to realityUnmoved Mover of the UniversePure ActualityCan only thinkAbout himself!Radically transcendent & wholly “other”And therefore, unknowable“Falls short of being philosophically, morally orreligiously satisfying” -Nash16
Ethics, according to Aristotle(Part 1)Observe humans, andask, “What do eAre any of these thefinal goal?No, because you canhave each one, andstill not be happyWe seek each one ofthese in order to behappyOnly happiness issought for itselfHappiness is the final,supreme goal17
Ethics, according to Aristotle(Part 2)Happiness isHaving lived a trulygood lifeImpossible for oneto have happinessas a young personOnly possible byreflecting back onthe life one haslivedDid I live well?Did I live rightly?If happiness is thedestination, virtue is theroadHow to be, not how to actCharacter, not rules, is tobeTaught through thefamily and through thestateFormed by habitThe Golden MeanSomewhere in betweenthe extremes of excessand deficiencyThe Paradox ofHedonism18
Properties and the Incarnation,Part 1According to the Bible,What are God’s enceEternalitySinlessnessIf God lost even one ofthese, God wouldn’t beGodDo humans havethese essentialproperties?NOThen, how couldJesus Christ be bothman and God?Let’s think about this19
Properties and the Incarnation,Part 2What are a human’sessential properties?Having a capacity toreasonHaving a capacity toexperience emotionsHaving a capacity tochooseIf a human lost evenone of these, hewouldn’t be humanWhat are some commonproperties of humans?Born on EarthHaving two legsLacking omniscienceLacking omnipresenceSinfulThese aren’t essential,howeverThey are accidental andnon-essential20
Properties and the Incarnation,Part 3A person can be fullyhuman only if hepossesses all theessential propertiesA person is merelyhuman only if hepossesses all theessential properties PLUS some additionallimiting propertiesis merelyhuman.Jesus is FULLYhuman Without being merelyhumanIf we understand thata human’s essentialproperties excludethose which arelimiting properties The Incarnation makesa lot more sense21
PLATO and ARISTOTLE - IP: The Ideal is RealityThe Ideal exists apartfrom particular thingsIn a separate place: theRealm of the FormsA: The Ideal is RealityThe Ideal exists in particularthingsHence, no need for a separateRealm of the Forms22
PLATO and ARISTOTLE - IIP: Senses tell us only ofparticular thingsDon’t rely on themRely solely on Reason &IntuitionA: Senses tell ussomething of theIdealUse them, along withReason & Intuition23
PLATO and ARISTOTLE - IIIP & A: Reality isFullyKnowableFully GoodP: EmphasizesBeing, toexplain RealityA: EmphasizesBecoming, toexplain RealityFuture philosophers willattempt to combinethe best of Plato’sworldview with thebest of Aristotle’sworldviewNone of them will rejectPlato for AristotleAristotle for Plato24
Life’s Ultimate Questions “Aristotle” . Aristotle and Ultimate Reality Reality consists of Substances Things that exist or have being Crayons Cars Students Every substance has two kinds of properties Accidenta
Aristotle Aristotle's Poetics aims to give an account of poetry. Aristotle does this by attempting to explai n poetry through first principles, and by classifying poetry into it s different genres and component parts. The centerpiece of Aristotle's work is his examination of tragedy. This occurs in Chapter 6 of "Poetics:" "Tragedy, then, is an
iii Abstract I examine Aristotle’s account of nous, the intellect or power of understanding, in the De Anima (DA) and the implications this account has for Aristotle’s conception of the human being. At the beginning of the DA Aristotle presents what I argue is a condition for separability in existence: the soul is separable from the body if it has some activity that can be done without the
PUBLICATIONS OF JOHN CORCORAN ON ARISTOTLE Indeed, one of the great strides forward in the modern study of Aristotle’s syllogistic was the realization that it is a system of natural deduction. —Kevin Flannery, SJ [2001, 219]. Corcoran [ ] has convincingly shown that the best formalization of Aristotle’s reductio ad impossibile is by
ARISTOTLE BIBLIOGRAPHY Poetics Aristotle Poetics: Introduction, Commentary, and Appendixes by D. W. Lucas, Oxford, 1968 (this, the most recent commentary, itself contains a useful brief bibliography). H. House, Aristotle's Poetics, London, 1956. The translation
Aristotle also wrote about his thoughts on the concept of justice in the Nicomachean Ethics. In these chapters, Aristotle defined justice in two parts, general justice and particular justice. General justice is Aristotle’s form of un
May 29, 2012 · Aristotle The Nicomachean Ethics, London: Penguin. (The most recent edition is 1976 – with an introduction by Barnes). Aristotle The Politics (A treatise on government), London: Penguin. Biographical material: Barnes, J. (1982) Aristotle, Oxford: Oxford University Press. An lively and concise introducti
aristotle, Eudemian Ethics Our purpose is to consider what form of political community is best of all for those able to realize their ideal of life. aristotle, Politics A man got to have a code. omar little, The Wire ix. 0 Introduction 0.1 This is mainly a dissertation about Aristotle, and even more centrally about a certain
ARO37: Wilkhouse: An Archaeological Innvestigation . noted that this 75-year term was a breach of the 1705 entail which limited wadsets on the . Sutherland lands to 19 years and was deemed to be “a mark of exceptional favour” towards Hugh Gordon. Hugh Gordon was succeeded by his son John Gordon of Carrol who in turn died in 1807. He was then succeeded by his son, Joseph Gordon of Carrol .
