ARISTOTLES

CONCEPT OF A PERSON

LIFE
OF ARISTOTLE

 was born in Stagira, Northern

Greece
learned basic anatomy and
dissection from his father
his parents died when he was
young

At the ACADEMY

Aristotle earned a reputation as the mind and the

reader of the school.
PLATO: The Academy consisted of two parts: the
body of his students and the brain of Aristotle.
Aristotle disagreed with some of Platos important
philosophies, but he built an altar for Plato at his
teachers death.
Upon the death of Plato, Aristotle was expecting to
be the new master of the Academy, but a native
athenian was chosen.
Was married to HERMIAS and had a son named,
NICOMACHUS

 Aristotle was invited by King

Philip of Macedon to train his 13
year old son, ALEXANDER THE
GREAT.
ALEXANDER as a boy he was
wild and rude, but ARISTOTLE was
able to instill into the mind of
Alexander respect for knowledge
and science.

school founded by Aristotle

the pattern of the Academy was
duplicated ( a closed community,
friendly, intent on learning, given to
much dialogue particularly while
strolling along the garden part.
middle class
the method of teaching of Aristotle

 ARISTOTLE saw dangers in Platos rationalistic idealism.

CHANGE and CHANGELESS
A thing would undergo change only insofar as the nature
of such thing permits it to be such.
*** there must be a principle within such a thing to allow
for the change

ARISTOTLE VS PLATO

Plato- the Idealist

Aristotle- the Materialist

FORMS
Plato
Theory of forms
- World of objects the
material world is only
apparent

Aristotle
Critique
- Forms caused neither
movement nor
change.

- World of Ideas or
Forms which is real

- Substance is a fusion
of Matter and Form.

Matter

Form

= Substance

Thus, form is inseparable from matter.

Body and Soul

The SOUL is the form of the body.

Entelechy

REASON
Every act of human beings
is geared towards an end.

Done for its own sake

Done as means for other ends

A person is considered to be
GOOD if he is functioning as
a human person.

Humanity has a distinctive mode of activity.

The end of the human person is not merely to
exist because that will make him/her to be of no
difference from the plants and the animals.

Human good is the activity of the soul in

accordance with virtue.
Main activity: Reason

 Every human person is naturally seeking towards the attainment of

happiness.
EUDAIMONIA the word Aristotle used that is so often translated as
happiness
- implies being really alive rather than just existing: fully
aware, vital, alert
- more than being free of cares or worries
- great joy, great passions
- implies a full like, not a pinched, restricted one

Happiness should not be connected with pleasure.

A life devoted solely to pleasure is a life fit only for a
cattle.
Pleasure is not the goal of life nor is the acquisition of
wealth.
Rejected fame and public success as leading to
EUDAIMONIA

The more self sufficient we are, the

happier we are.

WHERE DOES HAPPINESS COME

FROM?
Comes from a life of reason and contemplation
not a life of inactivity or imbalance, but a rationally
ordered life in which intellectual, physical and social
needs are all met under the governance of reason and
moderation

LIVING A FULL LIFE

If a person would be living with the society
RICH and FULL LIFE is SOCIAL LIFE
no man would choose to live without friends
human beings are political (social) creatures
designed to live with others

JUST MIDDLE

 For Aristotle, in order for the human person to be sure that his/her
action is done in permanent disposition, it should be done in the ACT
of CONTEMPLATION.
Performing such activity is said to be related to the MORAL
VIRTUES.
Whenever an action is performed based on CONTEMPLATION,
such action is said to be coming from PHRONESIS or PRACTICAL
WISDOM.