Aristotle is a famous philosopher in ancient Greece. Together with Socrates and Plato, he is known as the "Three Greek Sages". He is a student of Plato and is known as an encyclopedic figure. He is proficient in many academic fields and has outstanding achievements, especially in biology, medicine and other fields. Aristotle founded the Lyceum Academy, also known as the "Xiaoyao School" because he advocated a relatively loose and free answer-based learning, which is somewhat similar to the Confucius Institute in ancient China.
The study of philosophy should be viewed from a historical perspective. In dialogues between multiple philosophers, philosophers will synthesize the thoughts of their predecessors and put forward refutations. Aristotle respected Plato very much, but he still criticized Plato's "theory of ideas." Let’s briefly review Plato’s “Theory of Ideas” and continue to use apples as an example. Plato believed that behind thousands of differentiated apples, there must be an apple model. All apples copy this model, but there is no model. Perfect, this model is an "idea", which is a completely separate world. However, Aristotle believed that ideas are not another world, and ideas are inseparable from specific things, or that ideas are characteristics of specific things. He does not deny the idea, but he denies that there is an idea independent of things.
Compared with Plato, Aristotle paid more attention to real things, which was quite materialistic and based on empiricism. Plato, on the other hand, focused more on abstract things and was obsessed with eternal forms.
We often learn in textbooks that Marxist philosophy criticizes "metaphysics" and lists "metaphysics" as the opposite of materialist dialectics. But the "metaphysics" proposed by Aristotle is not what Marx criticized. Aristotle's disciples classified what Aristotle said into categories. Aristotle's substance philosophy was actually the foundation of philosophy, but they didn't know which category to classify it into, so they classified it into categories. It is classified as "after physics" (metaphysic). When translating it into Chinese, it borrowed from the Book of Changes: "The metaphysical is called the Tao, and the metaphysical is called the implement." The metaphysical is the invisible truth, and the metaphysical is the real thing. In Western philosophy, metaphysics has always been the mainstream until Hegel. After Hegel, metaphysics became the object of criticism.
Philosophy was a broad category at that time and could be roughly divided into two categories: theoretical science and practical science.
In theoretical science, it is divided into physics, logic, and metaphysics, which is called first philosophy. Practical science includes ethics and politics, and is called the second philosophy.
In theoretical science, first philosophy is the most fundamental and important. The first philosophy is substance philosophy, which studies the question of what existence is. The second philosophy studies specific things, the form in which natural things exist.
To give a simple example, Li Lei is a person with a cheerful personality. The first philosophy studies what Li Lei is, and the second philosophy studies the characteristic of cheerful personality. In layman's terms, "what" is more important than "what it is".
Aristotle divided existence into two categories: the first category is accidental attributes, that is, accidents. The second category is necessary essence, also called category. Categories are further divided into ten categories: entity, quantity, quality, relationship, place, time, posture, state, action and suffering. Among these ten categories, the category of entity is the most important because entity carries all other categories.
Aristotle believes that entity is something that neither describes a subject nor depends on a subject.
For example, Li Lei is a person with a cheerful personality, in which Li Lei is the entity, "Li Lei" is a thing that is said, and "a person with a cheerful personality" is the thing that is said. Li Lei is an independent thing that does not depend on any object for its existence, while his cheerful personality depends on an object for its existence.
The cause of entity, that is, the "four causes theory"
First, the material cause, what materials an entity is made of. Secondly, formal cause, what form a thing is determined into. Again, the efficient cause, what is the driving force that makes this entity an entity. Finally, the final cause, what is the ultimate use of the entity.
For example, a table’s material cause is that it is made of wood, its formal cause is that it is designed to be like this by the designer, and its efficient cause is that it is made by craftsmen. Coming out, the final cause, it is used to feed people.
In man-made objects, these four causes are clearly distinguishable. But in natural species, the four causes can be reduced to two: material cause and formal cause. Both efficient cause and final cause can be reduced to formal cause.
What is happiness?
In the eyes of modern people, happiness is a psychological feeling, a state of inner joy and satisfaction. Happiness is usually associated with a sweet feeling.
Aristotle believed that happiness is the highest good. The pinnacle of all good that can be achieved by action is happiness. Happiness is the natural purpose of life, and this ultimate natural purpose is the highest good.
Some people think that material life, that is, the life of making money and pursuing wealth, is a happy life. It is a life of constantly satisfying sensual desires. Some people think that a political life with honor and power is a happy life. Some people think that a life of seeking knowledge, that is, a life of speculation, is a happy life. These are three definitions of life from low to high.
Aristotle believes that the principle to be followed to obtain happiness is the principle of the middle way, which is similar to the Chinese "golden mean". "The middle way emphasizes from the perspective of human emotions and behaviors. Be moderate and moderate, neither overindulge nor underindulge, but strive to be moderate.
This reading note is based on the lecture content and lessons after subscribing to "100 Questions on Philosophy" by Himalaya Book Master. Then review the essence and try to express it with your own understanding, in order to consolidate and sort out the knowledge you have learned.
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