Western Civilization: Aristotle
By Ivana 11/2/16 Lesson 25 Tom Woods
Aristotle is a very significant ancient Greek philosopher. He lived from 384 to 322 BC. He studied many different fields, such as Politics, Science, Meteorology, Anatomy, and much more. He even tutored a young Alexander the Great!
His influence, and the influence of other Greek philosophers, is seen hundreds of years after their deaths. His philosophy was especially studied and taught in from the Late Antiquity all the way through the Renaissance, when everything Greek was adored and respected. Aristotle was so respected, many of his ideas were taken for truth, but we now know that he made many errors.
He started his own school called the Lyceum in 334 BC, and he and his students gathered all kinds of information.
He wrote a large manuscript called “The History of Animals”. This is a work that explores a vast topic. He categorizes and sub categorizes all the animal species he is studying. He covers locomotion, reproduction, digestion, sensation, heredity, disease, sleep, hibernation, and many more. Of course there are many mistakes.
Aristotle was very interested in how human beings should act, that is to say ethics. He believed that when we act, we are striving for a final good, which is happiness. The Greek word for happiness is eudaimonia, which can also mean contentedness and fulfillment.
He proposes that happiness is the key to a good life. You have to strive to make your life virtuous, and happiness is a virtuous activity. How does one become virtuous? Well, Aristotle believed that good upbringing and living in a morally healthy society would help people become virtuous. Also, having friendships would help you exercise virtue.
His political philosophy was all about the polis, or the “city state”. The polis was superior to the individual, the family, and the village, because they aren’t self sufficient. The state is.
The state doesn’t just exist for protection purposes; it has to foster the material and cultural well being of the people.
There is an argument going on, whether Aristotle was a libertarian or not. He probably didn’t know, but he might have given rise to some libertarian ideas. Yes, he did believe in the state to some degree, but he also had a notion of individual rights. It is wrong for you to do certain things to people; people have rights not to have those things done to them. The state is obligated to protect individual rights, and to ensure this, the state should be constitutionally arranged in a way to provide checks on government power. If a government doesn’t respect its citizen’s rights, it may legitimately be overthrown.
Idea Girl 