384 BC - 322 BC: Aristotle

Aristotle

The Greek with an impact:

Aristotle had ideas including metaphysics, ethics, politics, deductive logic and physics. He had a great impact to the people of his time and his impact stayed until others such as Descartes (1600's) came along much later and suceeded in disproving some of his theories as science advanced.

Russell writes that we need to look at Aristotle in the context of those who came before him and those who suceeded him, in both lights his achievements and later being disproved are equaly gigantic. Russell writes that 'it was two thousand years before the world produced any philosopher who could be regarded as approximately his equal' (Russell 1946). It is interesting to learn that Aristotle became a student of Plato at the age of eighteen and remained his pupil until Plato dies twenty years later (348-7 B.C). Thirteen years old Alexander then became the pupil of Aristotle, people like to think that in each case the elder influenced the pupil although great differences can be spotted. Apparently Alexandar was quite horrible in nature, probably forced by his father to take instruction from Aristotle and therefore having a bad attitude about it. Russell argues that Alexander's arrogance or drunken behaviour couldn't have possibly come from Aristotle.

Aristotle was so different to those who went before him, he wrote like a proffesor and he divided his ideas into more structured methods of readership. Russell writes that 'the Orphic elements in Plato are watered down in Aristotle and mixed with a strong dose of common sense' and that 'Aristotle's metaphysics, roughly speaking, may be described as Plato diluted by common sense' (Russell 1946). This is difficult because Plato's work and sound judgent don't blend very well together.

My understanding of Aristotle's doctrine is a divide between adjectives (descriptions) and propper names (real substantial things). For example a person can exist without playing with barbie dolls but a person can't exist without doing something. Same as a descriptive word such as gentleness cannot be without some sort of subject. These syntactical differences can then be understood in a metaphysical manner; substances and universals. This builds onto ideas of matter and form, ' in the case of a calm sea, water is the matter and smoothness is the form' (Russell 1946).

Aristotle felt that form cannot exist without matter and matter cannot exist without form and that everything consists of matter and form.







Bibliography:

Gap System. (online) (last accsessed 4 November 2009). Available at:
http://www.gap-system.org/~history/Mathematicians/Aristotle.html

Russell, B (1946) History of Western Philosophy London: Routledge. Pages 157, 159, 162,


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peRqNZ4Tpm0