These are 6 pages of very detailed Aristotle notes for the new OCR specification (2016) for Religious Studies including many quotes, scholars and lots of evalutation. These notes helped me achieve an a* in the 2019 a level.
Aristotle
• Aristotle was an empiricist (knowledge gained after an event) who believed a
posteriori knowledge leads us to truths in the world. His whole approach is based
on scientific evidence and observation- “forget your heavenly realm of perfect
ideas. This is the real world”- to Plato.
• In his book ‘Metaphysics’ A argues that human purpose in live is to flourish and live
well- Eudaimonia meaning to flourish. Opposite to Richard Dawkins who said ‘What
did Plato say that was true’- He believes we are just here because of evolution. We
can create artificial meanings e.g love.
• Suggested there are four different types of causes of why any object exists
• A rejected Plato’s ideas of the existence of the Forms- believes we can work out
what was good or bad by looking at the world as it was.
Rapheael’s ‘The school of Athens’ Fresco (1509-10)
Aristotle
• Hand is straight out ahead of him with his hand flat. He is effectively saying to Plato
‘Forget your heavenly realm of perfect ideas, this is the real world’ You can’t
experience the forms or the cave, so he believed it could not be real. Believes
reality is here.
• He argued that something was good if it fulfilled its nature and it was bad if it was
not what is was intended by its nature to be. (e.g believes sex + marriage for
children- but what if infertile? and a lot of things are multi-causal)
• A is holding his book ‘Ethics’ flat to the ground- indicating ethics is ground in this
world
• A is wearing brown and blue to represent the natural elements of earth and water.
• In contrast to Plato, As feet are stationary as if to indicate a commitment to this
world.
Aristotle and Philosophy of religion
• Rejected Plato’s ideas that things which exist in some way imitate an ideal Form of
the object and this led A to suggests that there are 4 types of causes why objects
exist.
Aristotle's Four Causes: four different types of causes of why any object
exists:
Material Cause: What a thing is made of (e.g book is made of paper) (Car- metal)
refers to the matter or substance that something is made from.
Formal Cause:What makes a thing recognizable (book-pieces of paper arranged in
a particular way) (Car- shaped like a car, 4 wheels etc)
Efficient Cause:The cause of the thing coming to exist as it is/ why it exists (book-
because someone wrote it and printed it) (Car- inventor + designer) how it was acc
made- cause of its existence
FINAL (Ultimate) CAUSE: The ultimate reason why things exist (books- for ppl to
read) Its function and purpose. The Final Cause is teleological, concerned w the
function (purpose) of a particular object. According to A humanity purpose is to
flourish- Eudaimonia.
e.g Statue – Material cause- Made of marble, Formal cause-Shape of a statue,
Efficient cause- a mason made it, Final cause- to be a beautiful state that honors,
remembers or recalls someone or something
, The Prime Mover 1
• Aristotle observed three things : physical world was constantly in a state of motion
and change, Planets seemed to be moving eternally, Change of motion is always
caused by something-Cosmological argument- The domino effect- Domino is in
actuality when standing, but it has the potentiality to fall if something pushes it.
Therefore something must cause it to fall.
• From these points Aristotle concluded that there exists something that causes
the motion and change without being moved and that is eternal. This is called
the Prime Mover
• A did not suggests that the prime mover starts everything off like a domino effect-
Rather the prime mover is the originating cause of all motion eternally that
sustains the pattern of change from actuality to potentiality in the physical
world.
John Mayled- Aristotle and the 4 causes
• ‘observed that all objects in the physical world were in a state of potentiality and
actuality and concluded that this change or motion must be caused by something.
This something must be the unchanging cause of everything that exists’
Prime Mover 2
• According to A - the prime mover exists by necessity- human beings existence is
contingent- we didn’t have to be here- contrast to prime mover. G-d would exist
irrelevant of humans.
• The prime mover is not capable of change and so is pure actuality by nature and
so its nature is good, as it lacks nothing.
• Prime mover is the Final Cause and so the ultimate explanation of why things
exist.
• The Final Cause also leads to movement like the action of being loved in the sense
of attraction: the prime mover is the ultimate reason and final goal of movement
and so all action is ultimately aimed at the PM and this is like attraction between
the PM is the cause of all motion (Gerry hughes-cat)
• In Metaphysics , A concludes that G-d is the unmoved prime mover who is a ‘living
being,eternal,most good, so that life and duration continuos and eternal belong to
G-d, for this is G-d.’ Therefore for A, God is the prime mover- it is a deist type of
God- not personal.
• Prime mover has ‘divine simplicity’ it is without parts and indivisible
• G-d is pure actuality with no potentiality- ‘complete reality’- everything in the world
is changing therefore imperfect.
• Prime mover is impersonal (would not pray/worship- does not interact with the
world- eternal, transcendent and impersonal- I-it relationship) sharp contrast to
Judeo-christian G-d (Martin Buber- ‘I’ ‘Thou’) who is personal. Prime mover is more
limited.
Prime Mover 3
• A suggested that G-ds activity was thinking and thought (ultimate thinking)-
‘Therefore it must be of itself that the divine thought thinks (since it is the most
excellent of things’)
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