Aristotle

• How does Aristotle's approach differ from Plato's?

  • Aristotle's approach is empirical and anti-Platonic, focusing on sense observation to build a scientific system. He emphasizes understanding through observation, wisdom, exactness, and doing science for the sake of knowing (teoria).
• What is the hierarchy of scientific disciplines according to Aristotle?

  • Aristotle's hierarchy includes:
  • Biology: Rational explanation about life.
  • Psychology: Definition of life.
  • Physics: Understanding how things move.
  • Metaphysics: Dealing with the essence of being.
  • Theology: The study of the highest being.
• What are Aristotle's four causes, and how do they relate to earlier "philosophers of nature"?

  • Aristotle's four causes are:
  • Aim (Final Cause): The purpose or goal of a thing.
  • Form (Formal Cause): The design or structure that defines something's usefulness.
  • Matter (Material Cause): What a thing is made of.
  • Maker (Efficient Cause): The agent or force causing motion.Aristotle introduced these to explain the acting things, diverging from earlier philosophers who did not have a systematic approach with these causes.
• What characterizes Aristotle's scientific system?

  • Aristotle's system is based on observation, not experimentation. He rejects a one-sided focus on mathematical concepts, emphasizing that nature has a purpose and reason should guide observation.
• How does Aristotle's perspective on bird beaks differ from Darwin's?

  • Darwin viewed bird beaks in terms of evolutionary adaptation to feeding (changeable form), while Aristotle considered them as designed for specific purposes, reflecting eternal form.
• What are Aristotle's 10 questions for describing the world, and how do they relate to categories?

  • Aristotle's 10 questions are:
  • What? Quantity? Relation? Quality? Place? Time? Activity? Passivity? Attitude? Wearing?
  • These correspond to his categories (qua-functors), where substance defines what something is, and accidents represent the nine other properties, indicating changeable quantities.
• What is hylomorphism in Aristotle's philosophy?

  • Hylomorphism is the idea that form and matter explain the static perspective of things. Form represents essence, while matter constitutes the physical substance of things.
• What is teleology, and how does Aristotle view the soul?

  • Teleology in Aristotle's philosophy is the belief that purpose determines what things are. The soul serves as the purpose in natural things, with three kinds that represent different species:
  • Vegetative: Soul that feeds the body (plants).
  • Vegetative + Sensitive: Soul with locomotion to find objects of desire (animals).
  • Vegetative + Sensitive + Rational: Soul aiming towards rationality (humans).
• How does Aristotle explain the dynamic perspective on reality?

  • Aristotle describes act and potency, where act represents the static perspective, and potency indicates the potential state of something. Act is the current condition, and potency shows what it can become in the future.
• What are Aristotle's two types of knowledge related to rationality?

  • Aristotle distinguishes between:
  • Theoretical Knowledge: Understanding universal things.
  • Practical Knowledge: Learning to behave successfully in real-world situations.
• How does Aristotle describe God?

  • Aristotle describes God as pure form, pure act, pure thought, and the first unmoved mover. God is the ultimate cause of movement but not a creator. Aristotle describes God's thought as "thought thinking itself."