EDF 1005- Reflection 14

Aristotle has been called “The Great Philosopher” because he was the first to have laid out logic and utilize it to articulate and communicate. Not only was he the first to formulate logic but he also started writing for academic purposes. Aristotle also made his own school, like Plato did. He started the Lyceum. Aristotle was influential because he brought many ideas into our minds. He founded Western Philosophy and showed us how we are different from animals by giving us the idea of a chain in which humans are the highest and strongest link. We are different from animals because we can reason. Aristotle also believed that the penis in men made them able to reason better than women, and therefore have stronger will. He believed men could reason to conclusion to have a stronger will. He did believe women could also reason to conclusion, but that passion would get in the way, making them unable to reach a conclusion. For this reason, Aristotle believed women were of a different species. Aristotle brought up the idea of Eudemonia, which means the highest level of happiness. He believed that eudemonia cannot be reached while on Earth. Aristotle and Plato had many debates over their beliefs. Aristotle critiqued Plato’s ‘Word of Forms’ by asking what does language such as ‘resembles’/participates in’ mean? Plato has always defined resemblance between objects as those objects each resembling something further, in the world of forms. Aristotle argues that this view would go on and on ad infinitum. To reduce this absurdity, there would have to be something that the world of form also resembles. Plato made his stopping point by saying the form of the good is what everything resembles and it doesn’t resemble anything else. Aristotle believed that form and matter equaled sensible objects. He believed that forms are in the objects themselves but should not be understood as separately existing entities. He believed that form is just the shape that matter takes. Aristotle believed that for all things there must be a cause. While Aristotle argued that Plato’s ‘World of Forms’ went on ad infinitum with stopping point, Aristotle’s view also went to infinity with no STARTING point. In order for Aristotle to make sense of his chain of causes that could end ad infinitum, he must identify ‘first cause.’ This is how the idea of Aristotle’s ‘Unmoved Mover’ arose. The Unmoved Mover is that thing which causes itself and is not caused by anything else, and sets the universe in motion. Both the world of forms and the unmoved mover are God-like concepts that have been brought into our world today.