Introduction to Aristotle
Aristotle (384–322 BCE) was Plato’s most famous student at the Academy, but he eventually broke away from his teacher’s idealism. While Plato looked toward the heavens (the Forms), Aristotle looked toward the earth. He was a polymath who made foundational contributions to logic, biology, physics, ethics, and politics. He founded his own school, the Lyceum, and tutored Alexander the Great.
Rejection of the Forms: Hylomorphism
Aristotle rejected Plato’s idea that “Forms” exist in a separate, perfect realm. He argued that the “essence” of an object is not somewhere else, but within the object itself. He proposed Hylomorphism—the view that every physical object is a combination of Matter (hyle) and Form (morphe).
- Matter: The “stuff” something is made of (e.g., the wood of a chair).
- Form: The “structure” or “essence” that makes it what it is (e.g., the design that makes it a chair).
Without matter, form has no place to exist; without form, matter is just an undifferentiated heap.
The Doctrine of the Four Causes
To truly know a thing, Aristotle argued we must understand its four causes:
- Material Cause: What is it made of? (e.g., marble)
- Formal Cause: What is its shape or definition? (e.g., the shape of a statue)
- Efficient Cause: How did it come to be? (e.g., the sculptor)
- Final Cause (Telos): What is its purpose or function? (e.g., to honor a god)
Aristotle’s focus on the Telos (purpose) is known as a teleological worldview. He believed everything in nature has a goal toward which it strives.
Ethics: Eudaimonia and Virtue
In his Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle asks: What is the “highest good” for human beings? He concludes it is Eudaimonia, often translated as “happiness” or “flourishing.” Unlike fleeting pleasure, eudaimonia is a life-long state of living well and doing well according to reason.
Virtue (Arete)
To achieve eudaimonia, one must develop Virtue. For Aristotle, virtue is not an innate quality but a habit (hexis) formed through practice. We become brave by performing brave acts.
The Golden Mean
Aristotle famously proposed the Doctrine of the Mean. Virtue is the “golden mean” between two extremes: a deficiency and an excess.
- Courage is the mean between Cowardice (deficiency) and Rashness (excess).
- Temperance is the mean between Insensibility (deficiency) and Self-indulgence (excess).
- Generosity is the mean between Stinginess (deficiency) and Wastefulness (excess).
Determining the mean is not a mathematical calculation; it requires Phronesis (practical wisdom)—the ability to do the right thing, in the right way, at the right time, for the right reason.
Political Philosophy: The Zoon Politikon
Aristotle famously called man a zoon politikon—a “political animal.” He argued that humans can only realize their full potential (their telos) within a community or city-state (polis). For Aristotle, the purpose of the state is not just security or trade, but the promotion of the “good life” and virtue among its citizens.
Unlike Plato’s utopian Republic, Aristotle’s Politics was based on the study of 158 actual constitutions. He preferred a mixed government (a “Polity”) that balanced the interests of the rich and the poor, ensuring stability through a strong middle class.
Legacy
Aristotle’s logic (Syllogisms) dominated Western thought for over 2,000 years, and his empirical approach laid the groundwork for the modern scientific method. In the Middle Ages, he was simply known as “The Philosopher.” His emphasis on character and habit remains the foundation of modern “Virtue Ethics.”