Learning Record Form

05 JAN
QUESTIONS:

• Who is he? (Aristotle)

• When he was from?

• What is he known for?

• What is metaphysics, rhetoric, and linguistics?

SUMMARY:

• Ancient Greek philosopher and scientist

• Born 384 BCE, Stagira, Greece—died 322, Euboea

• His writings on physics, metaphysics, poetry, theatre, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology.

• Metaphysics - the branch of philosophy that deals with the first principles of things, including abstract concepts such as being, knowing,
substance, cause, identity, time, and space.
Rhetoric - the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques.
Linguistics - scientific study of language, and involves an analysis of language form, language meaning, and language in context.
05 JAN 2018
ANALYSIS AND OPINION:
• Aristotle is the student of Plato, Greek philosopher, and scientist during 384-322BC. He studied various of subjects and proposed many new
ideas/theories.
• Without the challenging of Plato’s ideas by Aristotle, the world might not be able to develop this far because people kept thinking about
things ideally while there is no such a thing in the real world.
• He is known as a first person who use scientific approach to study states. (‘Father of Political Science’)
• He was the teacher of Alexander the Great.
• He is famous for viewing the matters realistically, often saying there are truths on both side, and favoring the middle between two
unwanted ends.

REFERENCES:
Miller, Fred, "Aristotle's Political Theory", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2017 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), Retrieved from
https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2017/entries/aristotle-politics
Kenny, A. H. (2018, March 14). Aristotle. Retrieved from Encyclopædia Britannica : https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aristotle
Make up class
QUESTIONS:
• WHAT DO I ALREADY KNOW ABOUT PLATO ?
• WHAT ARE SOME OF PLATO’S MAIN IDEAS?
• WHAT ARE PLATO'S POLITICAL IDEAS?
SUMMARY:
• Plato is an Ancient Greek philosopher. (and a bad scientist)
• He believe that somewhere in the world, there is an ideal system which we could accomplish in one day if we keep trying.
• He always try to find the ideal/ perfect system (of everything); the world of form.
• His perfect system is all about having a philosopher king and separate the society in to parts (noble lie): the producer, ruler . He did not
believe that democracy will work out since people are too easily to be corrupted and not wise enough to (fairly) choose a proper leader.
Make up class
ANALYSIS AND OPINION:
- He is the ancient philosopher who is the foundation of many ideas.
- I believe that there should be a person like Plato in order to give hope to people. However, if the world consists of people like Plato, the
world might not be able to develop this far since people will keep thinking and dreaming of a perfect which (might) not exist in the real
world. Vice versa, without people like Plato, the world might lost the hope to improve itself because everyone believes that the perfect
system does not exist anyway so they will not try as hard to accomplish it.
REFERENCES:
- Materials given in class
12 JAN
QUESTIONS:
• WHAT ARE SOME OF ARISTOTLE’S POLITICAL IDEAS?
• WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PLATO’S AND ARISTOTLE’S IDEAS?
SUMMARY:
• While Aristotle focuses on realistic and observable ideas (Discussing other political ideas’ strength & flaws), Plato is more idealistic and
focuses on finding a perfect solution.
• It is more effective to have property privately owned. Plato, in contrary, said that property should be publicise.
• Middle class should be the ruler of the society since they are in the middle. Plato, however, believe that people who is capable and have
more resources should be the ruler of the society.
• Citizen should not be able to have political roles since they will be assuming others’ interest. Laws that lean towards a certain political side
will cause inequality. If the rich are in power then they will disregard the poor and focus on their personal needs. Laws create discontent
between people and damage the society. Political system should not be easily influenced by radicals or otherwise the system might
diverged too far. Plato..
• Education plays an important part sustaining a government. Democracy is defined as the control by majority and freedom. Political system
should not only benefit the majority but also protects the minority. Plato said that eduction is only for the ruler.
12 JAN
ANALYSIS AND OPINION:
- People might not be able to develop this far since they are not being realistic in the way that they keep will keep thinking and dreaming of
the perfect system. They might ended up with doing nothing since they could not achieve their perfect system.
- He is the one who favors equality in the society as he stated that there should be a universal law for particular action and all the judge
exercising it should be fair.
- He usually favors the middle instead of being extremes as he said that the society should be ruled by the middle class for the best
outcomes. As you can see here, he is not talking about the ‘perfect’ outcomes, yet he is talking about the ’best’ that we could achieve.
REFERENCES:
Socrates. (2015, October 2). Four Important Lessons From Aristotle's "The Politics". Retrieved from Classical Wisdom Weekly:
https://classicalwisdom.com/lessons-the-politics/
15 JAN
QUESTIONS:
• WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN HOBBES’ AND LOCKE’S IDEAS?
SUMMARY:

HOBBES LOCKE
15 JAN
ANALYSIS AND OPINION:
• It is noticeable that although Hobbes and Locke has a different and contrast view about how to rule, they all wanted the best for state.
• I believe that it all came from the different perspective towards human being. While Hobbes believe that human being is corrupted and
selfish, Locke believe in the contrary. The reasons why Hobbs promote the strong government because he believe that human should be
controlled. However, in the real world, none of them are correct or wrong. Human being is a very complex living things that cannot be
judged in general, just like the political spectrum that we should consider it subject by subject.
REFERENCES:
• Sheets given in class
19 JAN
QUESTIONS:
• WHO IS ROUSSEAU?
• WHAT ARE HIS MAIN IDEAS?
• WHAT IS THE STATE OF NATURE LIKE IN HIS VIEW?
• WHAT ARE HIS THOUGHTS ON SOCIETY?
• WHAT IMPACTS DID HIS IDEAS HAVE ON HISTORY?
SUMMARY:
• Rousseau is philosopher (kind of libertarian).
• Society is not progressing as other said, yet we are becoming worse and worse.
• Originally we were good, but civilization and society had corrupted people.
• Types of government and education that promote equality.
• Democratic and limited government - against monarchy
• Individual is more important than society
• Promote mother breast feeding their children for stronger bond.
19 JAN
ANALYSIS AND OPINION:
- In my opinion, I think his ideas are contradicting each others. His idea that we are originally good, but by progressing is making us worse is
contradicting to his supports on education which is meant to be progressing us to the next level. Therefore, suppose he believe that we are
originally good, he should not support the education. Moreover, although he is saying that individuals are important than society, he is still
concerning about the interpersonal relations as can be seen from the supporting of mother breast feeding which he said could promote a
better relation between child and mom.
REFERENCES:
- Materials given in class
Bertram, Christopher, "Jean Jacques Rousseau", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2017 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.),
Retrieved from https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2017/entries/rousseau/>.
22 JAN
QUESTIONS:
• WHO IS MACHIAVELLI?
• WHAT IS A GOOD LEADER LIKE IN MACHIAVELLI’S POINT OF VIEW?
• WHY DOES HE THINK IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO BE A GOOD PERSON AND A GOOD RULER AT THE SAME TIME?
• WHAT VIRTUES DOES MACHIAVELLI BELIEVE THAT LEADERS SHOULD HAVE? WHAT ARE CRIMINAL VIRTUES?
SUMMARY:
• Politician and theorist
• Good politician should be able to defend enrich and bring honor to the state by whatever they need; effectiveness is the most important
thing
• Not soft or easy to disobey nor not too cruel that society hate him
• Stable governance.
• Combination of love and fear; if necessary fear
• Good leader and good people cannot exist together.
• It is a weakness as leader to be good
Virtù - Wisdom, strategy, strength, bravery, and ruthlessness if necessary
Criminal Virtue - necessary of the leader to be cruel in the name of the state, yet not too often
22 JAN
ANALYSIS AND OPINION:
- For me, ideally, although good leader and good person require different qualities, this does not mean that they cannot exist together. I
agreed with him that it is hard for a person to be both a good person and a good leader in the same time, yet I do no think that it is
impossible. I think he is a bit too extreme. However, in reality, I believe there is no such a good person in this world. Everyone is good and
bad depends on which way others look at it. In addition, I believe that stable government is brought about by the combination of loving and
fearing the leader in the same time. Just like the most effective outcomes that could be achieve by being cruel in sometimes. However, I do
agree with him about the quality of the good leader. I would prefer an effective leader who could elevating our society to the next level
than a good leader that could do our society nothing. It is nature of every creatures on earth to do things that are beneficial for them this
includes the act of being selfish and corrupt. Therefore, talking about leader, it is important for them to be a good leader than a good
person which I believe it is our job to create a system that prevent the leader from doing bad things such as corruption.

REFERENCES:
- Materials given in class
Niccolò Machiavelli: What Makes an Effective Leader. (2015, February 11). Retrieved from Nikos Marinos Consultancy:
https://www.nikosmarinos.com/niccolograve-machiavelli-what-makes-an-effective-leader.html
23 JAN
QUESTIONS:
• WHO IS JOHN STUART MILL?
• WHAT IS UTILITARIANISM?
• WHAT IS DEONTOLOGY?
SUMMARY:
• John Stuart Mill- Utilitarianist who expanded about how it should be working in society
• Utilitarianism- Whether the action is right/good or wrong/bad depends on the outcomes; the action which provides greatest happiness in
greatest number is morally justified
• Deontology- Whether the action is right/good or wrong/bad depends on the action that brought it about
23 JAN
ANALYSIS AND OPINION:
According to the idea of utilitarianism, since you never know the outcome at the moment you are deciding to do something, thus you will
never know at the moment that you are doing the right or wrong thing. The idea of deontology, in contrast, whether something is right or
wrong depend on the process of doing it. There are both advantages and disadvantages for both ideas, hence both ideas are being used in the
judgement in modern day laws : only thinking does not cause any penalty, trying to do but not successful does cause penalty, and succeeding
cause the greatest penalty.

REFERENCES:
Deontology. (2008). Retrieved from The Basics of Philosophy: http://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_deontology.html
26 JAN
QUESTIONS:
• WHO IS HERBERT SPENCER?
• WHAT WERE HIS IDEAS?
• WHAT IS SOCIAL DARWINISM?
• HOW IS IT DIFFERENT THAN EVOLUTION?
• WHAT DOES SOCIAL DARWINISM HAVE IN COMMON WITH DARWIN’S THEORIES OF EVOLUTION?
• WHERE DID SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST COME FROM, AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
SUMMARY: ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS HERE
• Herbert Spencer is 19th century philosopher and social idealist. He supports Darwin’s method of evolution.
• The ideas of ‘Social Darwinism’ was created based on his ideas; the ideas that the strong will succeed and the weak will perish. In addition,
they should be treated according to that.
• They not have to be the best in order to considered fit. Moreover, Darwin did not say anything about how to treat the fit or unfit one.
• The believe that not all of us have the same potential. Some are superior than others.
• Herbert Spencer’s idea about the ‘fittest’. By using the word ‘fittest’, instead of ‘fit’ as Darwin used, Spencer believe that there is only one
quality in order to be considered fit and be able to survive.
26 JAN
ANALYSIS AND OPINION:
• I do agree him about the idea that the person with fitter quality will survive and the weaker will vanished by the time pass. However, I
disagreed about the use of the word ‘fittest’ since I believe that there are many quality which could be considered as fittest depending on
which particular subjects. Moreover, as the circumstances change through time, we do not know exactly which one is the fittest since it is
changing through time.
REFERENCES:
Britannica, T. E. (2017, July 27). Social Darwinism. Retrieved from Encyclopædia Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/topic/social-
Darwinism
29 JAN
QUESTIONS:
• WHO IS MONTESQUIEU?
• WHAT ARE HIS POLITICAL IDEAS?
• HOW SHOULD THE GOVERNMENT BE ORGANISED ACCORDING TO MONTESQUIEU?
SUMMARY:
• Montesquieu is political thinker born in Medieval France (late 1600s). The time when society was organised into three main sections: the
monarchy, the aristocrats, and the commons.
• He stated that there are two types of power that monarchy had:
• the sovereign power (highest/ divine); makes the final decision
• the administrative power (the office workers);
- separated into three parts: executive (enforcer), legislative (creator), and judicial (judges)
• He strongly believe that no one organization should be holding the absolute power since it will lead to corruption. In addition, the
administrative power should be separated into three branches, equal to each other, and able to check and balance each other; “The
separation of powers”
• Therefore, he was worried about the medieval political structure because all three powers remained with the monarchy; Sovereign and
administrative power was not separated.
• Even though the aristocrats were there to check and balance the monarchy’s exertion of such power, it was not enough.
29 JAN
ANALYSIS AND OPINION:
- In my opinion, I believe that he is correct. Although I did not think that human are bad by nature, I believe that people are hidden with
selfishness as an instinct for survival. Therefore, giving someone too much power could be harmful not for only the state but also for
himself or herself. Even though that particular person might be a good person, with his or her power it is possibly that there will be
someone who wanted to take advantages from that and lure that person. In addition, people often not be able to handle everyone
especially the people who is behind them (poorer, inferior). Therefore, giving the power to only one person seems to cause negative effect
than positive.
- I think he is right!!!
REFERENCES:
Bok, Hilary, "Baron de Montesquieu, Charles-Louis de Secondat", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2014 Edition), Edward N.
Zalta (ed.), URL = <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2014/entries/montesquieu/>.
2 FEB
On this day, I and my partner (Pin) did a project proposal which include the timeline of our project.
• https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xultma5N01CdjOwbMXiZfr2ZI-A1wBlM4c23dV6oOL8/edit?usp=sharing
12 FEB -3 MAR
Research about
• His life — such as but not limited to: his personal life, how he was raised, the political climate in his time, his profession, and how his
backgrounds influence him.
• His ideas — such as but not limited to: his ideas and belief in how the society should be, nature of human, and his view on other subjects
than political (ex. science).
**Change to His life and His influence on 20 Feb.
• Influences on the society — Relating to his work and idea this topic will be included but not limited to: how does his comment on the
society changes people thought, how does it influences political philosophy and ideology, how does it influence political institution or
system we have today, and how does it influence the idea of ideal state.
12 FEB -3 MAR
QUESTIONS:
Aristotle life? (in timeline)
SUMMARY:
Timeline
384 BCE Born in Stageira (Northern Greece)
375 BCE Aristotle’s father died so he was take care by the man named ‘Pronxenus’
367 BCE Enrolled the Academy and became the student of ‘Plato’
347 BCE Aristotle left the Academy following the death of ‘Plato’
Aristotle married ‘Pythias’
343 BCE Became the teacher of ‘Alexander the Great’
335 BCE Founded his own school called “Lyceum”
323 BCE Left Athens following the death of ‘Alexander the Great’
322 BCE Died in Euboea because of stomach disease
• Father ‘Nichomachus’
• Daughter and Son named after his wife and dad; Pythias and Nichomachus
12 FEB -3 MAR
ANALYSIS:
It is surprising that a philosopher who challenged the great philosopher ‘Plato’ is his own student, Aristotle. Aristotle father is a doctor who
died since Aristotle was still a little kid. Imagine, it is very challenging for kids to come up and challenge his their teacher especially suppose
that teacher is very famous. Hence, Aristotle should think very carefully before coming up with his idea. He is a very great people in my opinion
as he is the one who thinks very logically and use the reasoning carefully. As can be seen, although his ideas are different with Plato, he still
considered himself as Plato’s student and did not have a fight with his teacher.
SOURCES:
Aristotle Biography. (2017, November 16). Retrieved from Biography: https://www.biography.com/people/aristotle-9188415
Kemerling, G. (2011, November 12). Aristotle: Politics and Art. Retrieved from Philosophy Pages: http://www.philosophypages.com/hy/2t.htm
Miller, Fred, "Aristotle's Political Theory", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2017 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), Retrieved from
https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2017/entries/aristotle-politics
12 FEB -3 MAR
QUESTIONS:
What is his impact to the modern world?
SUMMARY:
On the way of thoughts
• Reject rationalism and idealism created by Plato. He studied in matters in more realistic or practical ways.
• He influences the learning through your senses.
• Gaining knowledge through experiments.
• He is the first people who dealt with philosophy in practical manner
• Example:
• The idea that morality is a practical, not a theoretical so if a person is to become virtuous, he must perform virtuous activities, not
simply study what virtue is.
On Politics
• Using scientific approach in studying the state, thus he is known as Father of Political Science.
• Diverse political persuasions can lay claim to Aristotle as a source. For his method often leads to divergent interpretations.
• There is truth on each side.
• Favoring the use of reasoning.
• He believed that people should not be over eager to alternating the law, but at the same time not be too bound to traditional.
• The law must be exercised fairly and equally to everyone.
12 FEB -3 MAR
ANALYSIS:
Without Aristotle, this world would be very different. It is very amazing how he thinks differently from other philosophers back then: Aristotle
viewed matters realistically while others viewed idealistically. His influence is very important, especially in politics and science. It is amazing
how he study and approach political matters scientifically. Back then, people is doing nothing but dreaming about the perfect system which
they believe they will be able to achieve it in someday. However, none of them is really studying what it is really is. Starting form divide
different types of government and put them into groups, Aristotle study many existed government and constitution by using scientific
methods. His way of thoughts is very important especially in the field of sciences. I think that many scientific and way of thinking nowadays are
based on his way of thoughts which favors the proves. Moreover, even though his idea that Earth is the central was wrong, his idea about
thinking (to question and find proves) is the foundation of many later discoveries including the one that proves he wrong (Galileo’s finding:
Earth is not central, the Sun is). Lastly, I believe that Aristotle’s ideas are with the religion. For example, Aristotle favors the middle from two
unwanted extremes this idea is similar to what Buddha said about not being too tight or too loose, be in the middle.
SOURCES:
Aristotelianism. (n.d.). Retrieved from The Basics of Philosophy:
https://www.philosophybasics.com/movements_aristotelianism.html
Aristotle. (n.d.). Retrieved from Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: https://www.iep.utm.edu/aristotl/#H8
Aristotle. (n.d.). Retrieved from The Basics of Philosophy: https://www.philosophybasics.com/philosophers_aristotle.html
How did Aristotle fundamentally change philosophy and science. (n.d.). Retrieved from DailyHistory.org:
https://dailyhistory.org/How_did_Aristotle_fundamentally_change_philosophy_and_science
Staff, H. (2009). Aristotle. Retrieved from History.com: http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/aristotle
12 FEB -3 MAR (Make up work)
QUESTIONS:
• What is Aristotle's opinion on law?
• How does this influence how we look at law today or how laws are created?
SUMMARY:
• He believed that people should not be over eager to alternating the law, but at the same time not be too bound to traditional.
• There should be an universal law to a particular cases.
• The law should be fairly exercised by the judge.
ANALYSIS:
He is the one who make law become law in this modern day since law by definition is the rule that include penalty for anyone who breaks it.
Without Aristotle, the law would not be universal in the way that the same action done by anyone should receive the same penalty and
everyone will be judged personally (unfairly). This is very important for especially in the past people might not concern about this since the
power is being given to ‘someone’ and that ‘someone’ could exercise his or her excess power in any way. A person who is the leader’s favorite
might receive less or none penalty than others. Therefore, this is the thought that stimulate people to believe that they are all equal and
should be treated fairly and equally. (Raise concern!!)
SOURCES:
Miller, Fred, "Aristotle's Political Theory", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2017 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), Retrieved from
https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2017/entries/aristotle-politics
Zahnd, E. G. (1996). The Application of Universal Laws to Particular Cases: A Defense of Equity in Aristotelianism and Angloamerican Law.
Retrieved from https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4318&context=lcp