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Summary GV100: Aristotle Reading/ Lecture Notes
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Notes on Aristotle based on GV100 lectures and wider reading. Ideal for exam revision.
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Aristotle Lecture 1 NotesVideo 1:
Aristotle was from Macedonia but was taught by Plato in Athens
In 335 BC, Aristotle retuned to Athens after tutoring the Macedonian King to establish his own
school (the Lyceum)
Aristotle eventually fled Athens due to anti-Macedonian sentiments
Plato= Rationalist (truth lies in the heavens)
Aristotle= Naturalist (truth exists in the world)
Aristotle challenged Platonic metaphysics such that he rejected the separation between
appearance and reality (appearance is reality according to Aristotle)
In studying 158 constitutions, Aristotle is arguably the first political scientist in the history of
Western philosophy
Aristotle criticizes Plato through several counterarguments: e.g., the problem of infinite regress
questions how anybody can know whether a particular ‘Form’ is a true one
To know of an object’s true form, one requires knowledge of what that form might look like (and
so on and so forth ad infinitum)
Video 2:
Plato: Truth is identified through rational introspection/ self-interrogation; there is also one
universally valid form of justice which real states seek to imitate
Aristotle: Knowledge is gained through observation; justice= universal standard but takes on a
variety of manifestations
Aristotle’s Teleology: Everything in nature has a purpose and is fitted to realize that purpose
(e.g., acorns are meant to become oak trees); Aristotle’s teleology is not the same as evolution
as there is a predetermined outcome and order (Darwinism is defined by random mutations)
Aristotle: all things have a telos (a good towards which they grow)
Identifying those aspects of nature which assist or frustrate the telos is the purpose of science
Eudaimonia= the flourishing towards happiness (man’s telos)
Ethics= science of human flourishing (how happiness can be attained/ what constitutes the
virtues needed to attain human excellence)
Virtue= aspects of character appropriate for living a good life
Virtues are not rules or norms but inward traits
For Aristotle, political science is a practical vocation insofar as it is intended to inform action
rather than truth
In turn, Aristotle’s study of constitutions is motivated by the desire to identify which political
system best serves the practical function of allowing the flourishment of human goodness
(eudaimonia)
Video 3:
Man has an innate capacity for Eudaimonia though virtue is nonetheless acquired through
education/ practice
Eudaimonia leads to human fulfilment and happiness
Virtues capable of acquisition include courage, temperance, generosity, justice, friendship etc
There is no concrete pathway to acquiring the virtues nor is there a formula for which particular
virtues should be acquired and when
By nature, man is equipped to become virtuous but is nonetheless not born virtuous
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