ARISTOTLE’S LIFE AND WORKS - Some scholars attribute the inconsistencies in his

-JOLO writings to different periods of his life, evolving from

- Early Life: Platonic thought to a more independent, empirical
- Aristotle was born in 385 B.C. in Stagira on the approach.
Chalcidic peninsula. - Others, like Eric Voegelin, argue Aristotle was less
- His father, Nichomachus, was a physician to King concerned with systematic unity than with addressing
Amyntas II of Macedonia. diverse problems in his inquiries.
- This may have sparked Aristotle’s interest in biology, - Aristotle's Approach:
which is evident in his writings. - While Aristotle valued empirical details, his thought
- Education and Association with Plato: also culminated in metaphysical questions, reflecting some
- At age 17, Aristotle joined Plato's academy, staying alignment with Plato’s philosophical goals.
there for 20 years until Plato’s death.
- After Plato’s death, Aristotle left the academy due to ARISTOTLE’S METAPHYSICS
dissatisfaction with Plato’s successor, Speusippus. - Introduction to Metaphysics:
- He moved to Assus, where he became close with - Metaphysics is the search for the ultimate cause and
Hermias, a powerful ex-slave, and married Hermias's nature of reality.
niece, Pythias. - Aristotle’s collection of lectures on Metaphysics begins
- Tutorship of Alexander the Great: with: “All men by nature desire to know.”
- Aristotle moved to Mytilene and then was invited by - People seek knowledge in different ways, with most
Philip of Macedon to tutor his son, Alexander (later content in practical knowledge, while metaphysics is
Alexander the Great). knowledge for its own sake.
- Founding of the Lyceum: - Distinction from Modern Science:
- After Alexander became king, Aristotle returned to - Metaphysics studies "what is" in its essence (Being), not
Athens in 335 B.C. to establish his own school, the just practical consequences.
Lyceum. - Aristotle’s belief that such a science is possible
- He taught there until anti-Macedonian sentiments in contrasts with modern empirical conceptions of science.
Athens led him to flee to Chalcis in 323 B.C. - Modes of Being:
- Death: - Different modes of being exist: substances (things),
- While in exile, Aristotle was indicted for impiety in qualities (attributes of things), and processes (actions).
Athens. - Metaphysics primarily concerns unchangeable and self-
- He died in 322 B.C. and was buried in Chalcis. existent substances.
- Political Views: - Rejection of Plato’s Theory of Forms:
- Aristotle believed that political society was necessary - Aristotle criticizes Plato’s Forms for failing to account
for human potential but didn’t participate in Athenian for the physical world and for being unnecessarily doubled
politics due to his status as a non-citizen. versions of visible things.
- Although Aristotle acknowledged the potential of the - He argues that Forms, being motionless, cannot explain
Hellenes to rule if united, he dismissed mastery over others the movement of things.
as an unjust political goal. - Although he disagrees with Plato, Aristotle agrees that
- Writings and Philosophical Evolution: universals are essential for scientific knowledge.
- Only fragments of his earliest works survive; his early - Matter and Form:
style was heavily influenced by Plato. - Aristotle posits that all things consist of both Matter and
- His dialogue Eudemus follows Plato’s ideas on the Form.
immortality of the soul, while The Gryllus and - Matter is the substance out of which things are made,
Protrepticus echo other Platonic themes. while Form is the structure or essence of a thing.
- Aristotle eventually shifted from dialogue to treatises, - Prime matter refers to pure potentiality that does not
covering diverse subjects like metaphysics, logic, biology, exist independently but holds the potential to take on a
psychology, ethics, and politics. form.
- Later Works and Contributions: - Actuality and Potentiality:
- His major works, like Metaphysics and Nicomachean - Aristotle introduces the concepts of actuality and
Ethics, were collections of lectures, often edited by others potentiality to explain growth and development in plants
after his death. and animals.
- Aristotle’s works show an empirical approach, - Development moves from potentiality (what something
distinguishing him from Plato, though his writings were could become) to actuality (what it is).
unsystematic and sometimes contradictory.
- Scholarly Interpretations:
- Teleology: requiring both internal virtue and external goods like
- Nature has a purpose, and this purposeful development health and wealth.
toward an end is called entelechy. Politics: The Structure for Promoting Virtue
- Aristotle’s teleology suggests that all things have a - The Purpose of the Polis: The city-state (polis) exists to
purpose and are directed toward a final goal or end. promote the good life for its citizens, fostering virtue and
happiness.
- Four Causes: - Humans as Social and Political Beings: Aristotle argues
- Aristotle explains the existence of things using four that humans naturally thrive in social and political
causes: environments, and the state helps cultivate virtuous
1. Material Cause: The substance from which something behavior.
is made (the acorn for an oak tree). - Best Form of Government: A balanced government,
2. Formal Cause: The structure or form that defines especially one promoting the virtue of the middle class, is
what something is. best for achieving the common good.
3. Efficient Cause: The agent or action that brings - Corruption of Government: Tyrannies and oligarchies are
something into existence. corrupt because they prioritize the interests of the few over
4. Final Cause: The purpose or goal for which the common good.
something exists (e.g., the oak tree itself). Justice: A Key Virtue in Both Ethics and Politics
- Distributive Justice: Goods and honors should be
- Motion and the Cosmos: distributed fairly, in proportion to merit, rather than
- For Aristotle, motion includes the process by which equally for all.
things come into being and pass away. - Corrective Justice: Seeks to rectify wrongs and restore
- There must be an ultimate source of motion, which balance between individuals in civil and criminal law.
Aristotle calls the Prime Mover or First Cause. - Commercial Justice: Ensures fair economic exchanges,
- This Prime Mover, or God, is eternally in motion but is using money as a standard to measure value.
itself motionless and immaterial. - Equity: Allows for exceptions to laws in cases where
- Aristotle's Concept of God: strict adherence would lead to injustice, acknowledging
- God does not create the world but forms it by being the that laws cannot account for every situation.
object of desire. The Interdependence of Ethics and Politics
- God is indifferent to the world and is not a personal - Virtue Requires Society: Individuals cannot achieve
being to whom one prays or worships. virtue in isolation but need a well-ordered political
- God’s activity is contemplation, and humans share in community.
this divine activity through intellectual contemplation. - The Role of the State: The state fosters education and
- Contrast with Plato’s God: moral behavior, and in return, virtuous citizens help
- Aristotle’s God is indifferent to the world, while Plato’s maintain justice and stability.
God inspires humanity to fight evil and maintain order. - Goal of Human Life: The ultimate purpose is to achieve
- For Plato, love, not just cognitive activity, plays a role eudaimonia through reason, virtue, and political
in the realization of order in the cosmos. engagement.

NICOMACHEAN ETHICS THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL REASON

Ethics: The Foundation of Human Virtue Intellectual Virtues and Sciences:
- Interrelationship of Ethics and Politics: Ethics provides - Theoretical vs. Practical Sciences: Aristotle distinguishes
the moral foundation, while Politics focuses on creating between:
institutions that foster virtue. - Theoretical Knowledge (Episteme): Unchangeable,
- Moral and Intellectual Virtues: Human excellence is universal truths (e.g., metaphysics, physics, mathematics).
achieved through the cultivation of virtues, both moral - Practical Knowledge: Concerned with action and
(courage, temperance) and intellectual (wisdom, subject to change (e.g., ethics, politics, economics).
understanding). Types of Rational Faculties:
- Virtue as a Mean: Virtue lies between extremes of excess - Theoretical Reason: Seeks knowledge for its own sake.
and deficiency (e.g., courage between rashness and - Practical Reason: Aims at knowledge for action and
cowardice, temperance between indulgence and decision-making.
deprivation). Theoretical Sciences:
- Virtue through Habit: Virtue is not innate but developed - Metaphysics, Physics, and Mathematics: Based on
through repeated virtuous actions and practice. universal, unchangeable truths.
- Happiness (Eudaimonia): The ultimate goal of life, - Intellectual Virtues:
achieved by living virtuously over a complete lifetime,
 - Insight (Nous): Grasping fundamental truths, defining - The polis arises from associations of families and villages
terms. for self-sufficiency and the pursuit of the good life.
- Syllogistic Thinking: Reasoning from premises to - Life in the polis is natural and essential for human
conclusions. flourishing, as humans are social beings who need
- Wisdom (Sophia): Combines intuition and scientific community to realize their potential.
knowledge to contemplate ultimate reality. - Unlike animals, humans have a sense of good and evil,
just and unjust, making political life distinct from mere
Practical Knowledge and Skills: biological instincts.
- Practical Sciences: Ethics and politics focus on actions, - Justice is the bond of the polis, ensuring order and the
changeable by human volition. pursuit of virtue.
- Art (Techne): Skill in making or producing (e.g., a - Political institutions and laws are essential to human
surgeon applying theoretical knowledge in practice). development, contrary to the views of Sophists.
- The polis exists not just for survival but for a good and
Practical Wisdom (Phronesis): self-sufficient life.
- Prudence: Deliberation over the best means to achieve - Aristotle rejects the modern distinction between state and
human good. society; the polis serves to educate citizens in virtue.
- Differs from cleverness, which is indifferent to moral - Education is a key function of the polis, with laws and
ends. institutions designed to encourage moral development.
- Requires moral virtues like courage and self-control. - Unlike modern liberal theory, which emphasizes freedom
and views morality as a private matter, Aristotle believes
Political Science vs. Engineering: the polis should foster virtue and moral education.
- Political Science: Concerned with human actions, - The unity of the polis is maintained by a common moral
fostering the good life in society. purpose, dependent on education for its continuation.
- Engineering: Manipulates materials to create useful
objects, while political science deals with human beings HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT
and cannot "engineer" them. - Aristotle’s view of the household includes husband, wife,
children, and slaves, with different forms of relationships:
Relationship Between the Good and the Pleasurable: marriage, paternal, and master-slave.
- Pleasure: Accompanies activities but varies in quality - Each relationship type is determined by its purpose and
and depends on the nature of the activity. the nature of participants, resulting in unequal power
- Contemplation: The highest form of human activity, dynamics.
involving the intellect and leading to the most pleasurable - Husband and wife: The male is superior and rules,
life. though the female is distinct from a slave.
- Parent and child: Children lack full reason and are not
Friendship: equals to their parents.
- Three Types of Friendship: - Master and slave: Slaves lack reason and are naturally
- Friendship of Utility: Based on mutual advantage (e.g., suited for subordination.
business relationships). - Slavery justification: Aristotle argues that some people
- Friendship of Pleasure: Based on shared enjoyment, are "natural slaves" due to their lack of reasoning abilities
often short-lived. and are fit to be ruled.
- True Friendship: Based on mutual love of the good, rare - Slavery by convention (e.g., military conquest) differs
but most fulfilling. from natural slavery, which Aristotle tries to justify.
- However, Aristotle's acknowledgment of slaves’
- Friendship and Happiness: True friendship is essential reasoning abilities and potential virtues (e.g., courage,
for happiness and political stability, forming the basis for moderation) reveals an inconsistency in his argument.
justice and order in society. - Household management vs. wealth acquisition:
- Household management focuses on caring for people
THE POLITICS: THE NATURE OF THE POLIS and promoting human excellence, especially freemen.
- The term "state" is a modern concept, unknown to the - Aristotle distinguishes between natural wealth
Greeks; they used the term "polis." acquisition (farming, hunting) and unnatural wealth
- The "polis" refers to a small political community, similar acquisition (money, trade).
to a large county or small city. - True wealth has limits based on the needs of the
- Aristotle viewed the polis as the highest form of community, while the pursuit of unlimited wealth is
community, aimed at achieving the highest good. viewed negatively.
- Critique of money and wealth: Aristotle condemns the 2. Definition of Citizenship:
accumulation of money for its own sake, seeing it as - In Book III, Aristotle refines the concept of citizenship,
contrary to living well, emphasizing that wealth should limiting it to those who actively participate in political
only be pursued to the extent necessary for a good life. functions. He excludes women, children, slaves, and
certain other groups, focusing on those who have the
ARISTOTLE’S CRITICISM OF PLATO’S leisure and virtue to contribute meaningfully to political
REPUBLIC life.
- Aristotle’s Critique of Plato’s Republic: 3. Ideal Polity:
- Criticism of Community of Wives, Children, and - Aristotle's ideal polity is an aristocracy where citizens
Property: are mature and virtuous. The best polis is one where the
- Aristotle argues that Plato's proposal for a community good citizen is also a good man, with governance shared
of property, wives, and children is overly unified and equally among those with virtue.
unnatural. 4. Practical Political Realities:
- Aristotle claims Plato’s proposal would dilute parental - In Book IV and beyond, Aristotle addresses the
responsibility, leading to neglect and lack of genuine practicalities of existing polities, noting that the best
familial bonds. theoretical polity may be unattainable for most states. He
- He suggests that Plato’s intention to avoid nepotism explores different forms of government, blending elements
and favoritism is undermined by the natural resemblance of democracy and oligarchy to create a more practical and
of children to their parents, which fosters natural familial stable regime.
bonds. 5. Revolution and Stability:
- Impracticality and Unnatural Unity: - Aristotle examines causes of revolution, such as
- Aristotle believes such a community would not disputes over justice and equality, and provides advice on
achieve Plato’s intended purpose and could result in preserving political stability, including frequent rotation of
negative outcomes, including offenses against natural officeholders and avoiding the concentration of power.
piety (e.g., incest, matricide). 6. Varieties of Government:
- Property System: - He identifies various forms of government and their
- Private Property vs. Communal Property: subtypes, emphasizing the importance of a balanced
- Aristotle argues that individuals care more for their middle class to mitigate the extremes of wealth and
own property than for communal property due to human poverty.
nature. 7. Best Regime:
- He criticizes Plato’s idea of communal property as - The best regime is an aristocracy of virtuous
unlikely to resolve issues of covetousness and discord individuals, but practical constraints often lead to a more
inherent in human nature. achievable mixed regime, combining elements of
- Aristotle suggests that instead of equalizing property, democracy and oligarchy.
reform should focus on cultivating self-control and 8. Educational and External Factors:
managing natural desires. - In the incomplete Books VII and VIII, Aristotle
- Human Nature and Institutional Arrangements: discusses the need for appropriate education and other
- Aristotle contends that institutional arrangements external factors to support the ideal regime, focusing on
alone cannot change human nature or address the inherent cultivating virtue in citizens.
defects in familial and property relations.
- He emphasizes the importance of working with natural Aristotle’s approach combines theoretical ideals with
tendencies rather than trying to impose unrealistic practical considerations, aiming to find a workable balance
regulations. between the best possible government and the realities of
- Education vs. Regulation: human nature and society.
- Aristotle criticizes Plato for neglecting the role of
education in favor of institutional solutions, arguing that
education should address moral issues rather than relying
solely on regulations.

TYPES OF POLITICAL ORDER

1. Nature of the Polis:
- Aristotle views the polis as a natural entity that emerges
to help individuals achieve their full potential. It is not
merely an artificial construct but a natural extension of
human social inclinations.