Aristotle was Plato's student and Alexander's teacher. In 335 BC, he established a school in Athens called Lv Keang, called Minstrel. Marx once called Aristotle the most learned figure among ancient Greek philosophers, and Engels called him ancient Hegel.
Aristotle, like Plato, advocates that education is the function of the state and schools should be managed by the state. He first put forward the viewpoint of children's physical and mental development stage; He is in favor of the education of Athens bodybuilding and harmonious development, and advocates that natural quality, habit formation and rational development should be the three sources of moral education, but he opposes women's education and advocates "elegant" education, so that education can serve leisure.
Aristotle devoted his life to academic research, which involved logic, rhetoric, physics, biology, education, psychology, politics, economics, aesthetics and so on. , and wrote a lot of works. His works are ancient encyclopedias, and it is said that there are 400 to 1000 books, mainly including instrumentalism, metaphysics, physics, ethics and politics. His thoughts have had a far-reaching impact on mankind. He founded formal logic, enriched and developed various branches of philosophy and made great contributions to science.
Life:
Aristotle was born in Starkila, Thrace, and his father was a doctor of the king of Macedonia. In 366 BC, Aristotle was sent to study in Plato Academy in Athens, where he lived for 20 years until his teacher Plato died. After Plato's death, Aristotle left Athens because the new leader of the college was more sympathetic to the mathematical tendency in Plato's philosophy, which made Aristotle unbearable.
After leaving college, Aristotle accepted the invitation of his former classmate Hermias for the first time to visit Asia Minor. Hermia was then the ruler of Misia along the coast of Asia Minor. Aristotle also married Hermias' niece there. But in 344 BC, Hermias was murdered in a riot, and Aristotle had to leave Asia Minor and go to Terrini with his family.
Three years later, Aristotle was called to his hometown by King Philip II of Macedonia and became the teacher of Alexander the Great, who was only 13 years old at that time. Plutarch, a famous biographer in ancient Greece, believes that Aristotle instilled moral, political and philosophical education into the future world leader. We also have reason to believe that Aristotle also used his influence to play an important role in the formation of Alexander the Great's thought. It was under the influence of Aristotle that Alexander the Great always cared about science and respected knowledge. However, Aristotle and Alexander the Great may not have exactly the same political views. The former's political view is based on the declining Greek city-state, while the centralized empire established by Alexander the Great is tantamount to the invention of barbarians for the Greeks.
Although his students were already kings, Aristotle was not always with the king. He decided to return to Athens and set up his own college to teach philosophy. Aristotle attached great importance to teaching methods. He opposes rigid teaching methods, so he often takes students for a walk on Garden Avenue to discuss philosophy. So later generations called the Aristotelian School "Minstrel".
After Philip's death in 335 BC, Aristotle returned to Athens and established his own school there. The name of the college (Lv Keang) is named after the Wolf Killer (Lv Keang) near the temple of Apollo. During this period, Aristotle wrote many philosophical works while giving lectures. Aristotle has the habit of walking in corridors and gardens when giving lectures. Because of this, the philosophy of academy is called "carefree philosophy" or "wandering philosophy". Aristotle also wrote many works in this period, mainly about natural science and philosophy in Nature and Physics, and the language used was much more obscure than Plato's dialogues. Many of his works are based on class notes, and some are even the class notes of his students. So some people regard Aristotle as the author of the first textbook in the West. After Alexander's death, the Athenians began to rebel against Macedonian rule. Because of his relationship with Alexander, Aristotle was accused of ungodly and had to take refuge in Calais. His college was handed over to Theophrastos. A year later, in 322 BC, Aristotle died of a disease accumulated for many years. The rumor that he poisoned himself or committed suicide by jumping into the sea because he couldn't explain the tidal phenomenon was completely unfounded.
Main viewpoints and ideas:
Aristotle divided science into:
(1) theoretical science (mathematics, natural science and the first philosophy later called metaphysics);
(2) Practical science (ethics, politics, economics, strategy and decoration);
(3) The science of creation, namely poetics.
Philosophical:
Aristotle was first and foremost a great philosopher. Although he was a student of Plato, he gave up the idealistic view held by his teacher. Plato believes that idea is the prototype of physical object, which exists independently of physical object. Aristotle believes that the real world is made up of all kinds of things, and their forms and materials are harmonious. "thing" is the substance of things, and "shape" is the individual characteristic of all things. Just like a chicken flying around with wings, the "shape" of this chicken is that it can flap its wings, coo and lay eggs. When the chicken dies, the "form" no longer exists, leaving only the material of the chicken. Plato asserted that feeling cannot be the source of real knowledge. Aristotle believed that knowledge originated from feeling. These thoughts already contain some materialistic factors. Aristotle, like Plato, thinks that rational scheme and purpose are the guiding principles of all natural processes. But Aristotle's view of causality is richer than Plato's, because he accepted some views of ancient Greece on this issue. He pointed out that there are four main reasons. The first is the material reason, that is, the main substance that constitutes an object. The second is the form factor, that is, the design pattern and form given to the main substance. The third is the dynamic reason, that is, to realize the mechanism and function provided by this design. The fourth is the purpose, that is, the purpose of designing the object. For example, the Potter's clay provides the material reason for pottery, while the design style of pottery is the form reason, the Potter's wheels and hands are the motivation reason, and the expected use of pottery is the purpose reason. Aristotle himself took a fancy to the formal reason and purpose reason of objects, and he believed that formal reason was included in all natural objects and functions. At first, these formal reasons are potential, but once an object or creature develops, these formal reasons are revealed. Finally, when an object or organism reaches the completion stage, its finished product is used to achieve the original design purpose, that is, to serve the purpose. He also believes that in concrete things, there is no form without matter, and there is no matter without form. The process of combining matter with form is the movement of transforming potential into reality. This theory shows the idea of spontaneous dialectics.
Aristotle's greatest contribution to philosophy lies in the establishment of formal logic, an important branch of discipline. Logical thinking is the pillar of Aristotle's outstanding achievements in many fields, and this way of thinking runs through his research, statistics and thinking. Of course, he also made mistakes, but not many times.
Astronomy:
Aristotle believes that the running celestial bodies are physical entities, the earth is spherical and the center of the universe; The earth and celestial bodies are made up of different substances. Matter on the earth is composed of four elements: water, air, fire and earth, and celestial bodies are composed of the fifth element "ether".
In physics:
Aristotle opposed atomism and denied the existence of vacuum. He also believes that an object will only move under the impetus of an external force, and when the external force stops, the movement will stop.
In biology:
He classified more than 500 different plants and animals, studied the anatomy of at least 50 animals, pointed out that whales were viviparous, and investigated the development process of chicken embryos. Alexander the Great often brought back various animal and plant specimens in his explorations.
Logic and mathematics:
Aristotle thinks that analysis or logic is the tool of all sciences. He is the founder of formal logic. He tried to link the form of thinking with existence, and expounded the category of logic according to the objective reality. Aristotle applied his findings to scientific theory. As an example, he chose mathematics, especially geometry, because geometry has changed from the experimental stage in which Thales wanted to give a reasonable explanation to the empirical law of land survey in the early stage to a relatively complete deductive form in the later stage. However, logical syllogism is really useless to experimental science. Because the goal of experimental science is discovery, not formal proof from recognized premise. Based on the premise that elements can no longer be divided into simpler objects, it is necessary to put forward a correct list of known elements in 1890, but by 1920, if this premise is used again, all radioactive elements will be excluded. Since the premise has changed, the meaning of the word "element" has also changed. However, this fact does not prove that syllogism is useless, nor can it be concluded that modern physics is wrong. Fortunately, modern experimenters no longer worry about logical forms, but under Aristotle's authority, Greek and medieval scientific circles used deductive methods to say that many wrong authorities were absolutely correct and made many wrong inferences with deceptive logical forms.
Education:
Aristotle believes that rational development is the ultimate goal of education, and advocates that the state should educate the children of slave owners. Make their bodies, virtues and wisdom develop harmoniously. In teaching methods, Aristotle attaches importance to the role of practice and practice. For example, in music teaching, he often arranges children to perform on stage, experience the scene, master the technology and improve their level. In the relationship between teachers and students, Aristotle did not blindly listen to his mentor but only followed Nuo Nuo, but dared to think, stick to the truth and dare to challenge on the basis of inheritance. His character of "I love my teacher, especially the truth" inspired him to push Plato's teaching theory to a higher level.
Aristotle's teaching thought is based on his theory of human nature, epistemology and his investigation of children's physical and mental development. He divides human soul into two parts, one is irrational soul, whose function is instinct, feeling and desire, and the other is rational soul, whose function is thinking, understanding and cognition. He believes that in the process of human cognition, the main function of the soul is feeling and thinking. The soul perceives external things with the help of sensory organs, and the perceived things are not transferred by human will, thus acknowledging the position and role of feeling in the cognitive process. But he thinks that feeling only plays an inductive role here, and truth and knowledge can only be obtained through rational thinking. So Aristotle's teaching purpose is to develop the rationality of the higher part of the soul.
Aristotle offered an encyclopedic course for his philosophy school. He advocates the all-round development of students' morality, intelligence, physique and beauty, with different emphasis in different periods. Early childhood is dominated by physical development (exercise); Music education is the core of adolescence, and moral, intellectual and physical beauty is the main content; Senior students should study grammar, rhetoric, poetry, literature, philosophy, ethics, politics, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music and other subjects. But in any case, the focus should be on developing students' intelligence. He particularly emphasized the role of music in cultivating children's comprehensive quality. It is believed that music has three functions: entertainment, temperament cultivation and rationality cultivation. It can relieve fatigue, cultivate the mind, mold the character, stir the soul, and then enter the rational and noble moral realm through meditation. In physical education class, he disapproved that teachers should only let students have harsh and even painful training, and should teach "simple gymnastics" and "light martial arts", focusing on the normal development of children's bodies.
Aristotle's important works:
Aristotle's contribution to the world is shocking. He wrote at least 170 works, 47 of which have been handed down from generation to generation. Of course, it is not enough to measure by numbers. More importantly, his profound knowledge is convincing. His scientific works were an encyclopedia at that time, covering astronomy, zoology, embryology, geography, geology, physics, anatomy and physiology, in short, all the subjects known to the ancient Greeks. His works include three aspects: first, the accumulation of previous knowledge, second, the investigation and discovery of his assistants, and third, his own independent opinions.
Aristotle's works express the view that every aspect of human life and society is the object of thinking and analysis; Everything in the universe is not controlled by gods, opportunities and fantasies, but operates according to certain laws; It is worthy of systematic and in-depth study of nature; We should draw our own conclusions through experiments and logical analysis. Aristotle's anti-tradition, anti-superstition and anti-mysticism had a far-reaching impact on western culture.
Aristotle's important works include Metaphysics, Ethics, Politics and Analysis. These works had a great influence on the later development of philosophy and science.
In Metaphysics, Aristotle believes that there is a relationship of "cause" in nature. This concept of "cause" is different from the modern concept of "cause and effect". "Cause" corresponds to "Why" but not to "Result". That is, objective reasons, material reasons, dynamic reasons and formal reasons. The so-called "material cause" is to show the existence form of a thing from a pile of parts, components, foundations or raw materials, and trace the composition of the matter back to the parts (elements, components), and then form a complete (system, architecture, mixing, synthesis, compound or combination). "Formal cause" can tell us what kind of definition, form, shape, essence, synthesis or prototype a thing is made of, and explain the basic principles or laws that make up a thing, which is only a part of the whole thing (a set of causality) (macro structure). "Causation" refers to the motive force and reason of changing things, and studies "what changed what and what caused this change", which includes all the media between things, including living or inanimate, motive force or the origin of changed things. "Final cause" refers to the reason why a thing exists or changes, including purposeful actions and activities. The purpose of a thing is the reason why it exists, or why it changes. This also explains that modern so-called psychological motives, including will, demand, motivation, rationality, irrationality and ethics, are the source of creative behavior.
Another work of Aristotle, Physics, discusses natural philosophy, principle of existence, matter and form, movement, time and space. He believes that in order to make an object move endlessly, there needs to be a reason to keep working.
Aristotle began to discuss matter and destructible things in his book "On Heaven", and then discussed occurrence and destruction. In this process of occurrence and destruction, the opposing principles of cold and heat and dry and wet interact to produce four elements: fire, fire, soil and water. In addition to these elements on the ground, he added ether. The ether moves in a circle, forming a perfect and immortal celestial body.
Meteorology discusses the area between heaven and earth, that is, the zone of planets, comets and meteors; There are also some primitive theories about vision, color vision and rainbow. In the fourth book, some primitive chemical concepts are described. At present, Aristotle's meteorology is far less satisfactory than his biological work, but this work had a great influence in the late Middle Ages.
The methodology of poetics has two characteristics: one is strict logical reasoning; The second is the combination of natural science method and social science method. Poetics is the first monograph on aesthetics and literature in the west, which is relatively complete in both theoretical content and theoretical form and deeply embodies Aristotle's methodology. The general artistic principles in Poetics reveal the essential characteristics of "the art of beauty", which is not only the requirement of the development of ancient Greece for theoretical brewing, but also provides a foothold for Aristotle to answer Plato's attack on poetry. Based on this, this paper expounds the fundamental rationality of "poetry" around its essence and function.
Aristotle's logic works were later compiled into a book by his annotators, called "On Tools". They inherited Aristotle's view that logic is neither theoretical knowledge nor practical knowledge, but a tool of knowledge. Instrumentalism mainly discusses deduction, which lays the foundation for formal logic and has a far-reaching influence on the development of this science.
The influence on later generations and the study of this world.
As one of the most encyclopedic scientists, Aristotle's contribution to the world is unparalleled. But his achievements are far more than that. He is also a true philosopher, who has contributed to almost every subject of philosophy. His works cover morality, metaphysics, psychology, economics, theology, politics, rhetoric, science, education, poetry, customs and Athens Constitution. One of his research topics is to collect and compare the constitutions of various countries.
In terms of philosophy, Aristotle's thoughts have had a far-reaching impact on the fundamental tendency and content of western culture. In ancient and medieval times, his works were translated into Latin, Syrian, Arabic, Italian, Hebrew, German and English. Later, Greek scholars studied and praised his works, as did Byzantine scholars. His thought is the pillar of medieval Christian thought and Islamic scholasticism. Avero is the most important thinker in the Islamic world. He integrated the traditional Islamic theory with Aristotle's rationalism and formed his own ideological system. Maimonide, the most influential Jewish thinker, explained Jewish teachings with rationalism and made great achievements in reconciling science, philosophy and religion.
Aristotle showed a turning point in Greek science. Before him, scientists and philosophers tried to put forward a complete world system to explain natural phenomena. He was the last person to put forward a complete world system. After him, many scientists gave up trying to put forward a complete system and turned to study specific problems.
However, by today's standards, some of Aristotle's thoughts seem extreme. For example, he agrees with slavery and the unequal treatment of women, which is the arrangement of nature (of course, these thoughts are the portrayal of his time).
With the continuous discovery of Aristotle's works, a new era of studying Aristotemism appeared in the Middle Ages, and scholars used it as the basis for obtaining true knowledge in all aspects. Aristotle is used to criticizing past and contemporary theories in research methods, proposing and discussing theoretical blind spots, and using deductive reasoning to demonstrate in the form of syllogism.
abstract
Aristotle devoted himself to the study of ancient knowledge. In the hundreds of years after his death, no one had a systematic investigation and comprehensive grasp of knowledge like him. His works are ancient encyclopedias, and his thoughts once dominated the whole of Europe. Engels called him "the most learned man".
Aristotle's famous words, aphorisms, aphorisms, quotations
Living according to moral standards is a happy life.
Happiness belongs to the contented.
Happiness is the best.
Happiness lies in self-sufficiency.
Life is full of opportunities and changes. When people are most proud, they also have the greatest misfortune.
The ultimate value of life is to be able to wake up and think, not just to survive.
In misfortune, useful friends are more necessary; In luck, noble friends are even more essential. In misfortune, it is necessary to find friends; In luck, finding friends is noble.
Birds with the same feathers will get together.
A true friend is the soul of two people.
Career is a vivid unity of idea and practice.
The root of education is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.
There are many kinds of fallacies, but there is only one right one, which is why failure is easier than success, and missing is easier than hitting the target.
Those who are scientifically advanced and morally backward are not advancing, but retreating.
Anyone who is good at thinking must be able to pursue the person who is most beneficial to mankind through action according to his thinking.
What God has done is better than all imaginary happy behaviors, which is pure thinking, and the activity closest to this happiness in human behavior may be the activity closest to thinking.
When man reaches the acme of virtue, he is the best of all animals; But if he goes his own way without law and justice, he becomes the worst of all animals.
For virtue, we just know it is not enough. We should also try to cultivate it, use it, or adopt various methods to make us become good people.
Habit has actually become a part of nature. In fact, habit is a bit like nature, because there is little difference between "often" and "always". Nature belongs to the category of "constancy" and habit belongs to the category of "constancy".
Virtue can be divided into two kinds: one is the virtue of wisdom, and the other is the virtue of behavior. The former comes from learning, while the latter comes from practice.
True virtue cannot be without practical wisdom, and practical wisdom cannot be without virtue.
Humans are naturally gregarious animals.
Pity is because of a person's love and fortune, and fear is because this unlucky person is similar to us.
Politics does not create human beings, but it separates human beings from nature and controls them.
Someone asked: Does it depend on genius to write a good poem? Or by art? In my opinion, it is useless to study hard without rich talent, there is talent and no training; The two should use and combine with each other.
The ultimate value of life is to be able to wake up and think, not just to survive.
I love my teacher, and I love truth more.
War can bring peace.
aristelian society
Aristotle's Society is a British academic group called Aristotle, which studies and promotes the development of philosophy. Established in 1880. Located in London. The purpose is to devote to the general discussion of philosophical methods, methodologies and related theoretical issues. The Journal of Aristotle's Society has an annual publication and the Supplement of Aristotle's Society.