Aristotle

About Aristotle

 “Good habits formed at youth make all the difference” - Aristotle

"Teaching is the highest form of understanding" - Aristotle

About :

NAME : Aristotle 

OCCUPATION : philosopher 

BIRTH DATE :  384 BCE DEATH DATE : 322 BCE 

EDUCATION : Plato's Academy , Lyceum 

PLACE OF BIRTH : Stagira , Chalcidice , Greece

PLACE OF DEATH : Chalcis , Euboea , Greece 

BRIEF HISTORY :

• He was a Greek philosopher and polymath . Also a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great .

• His writings cover many subjects , including physics , metaphysics , poetry , theatre , music , logic , rhetoric , linguistics , politics , government , ethics , biology , and zoology .

• Aristotle's writings were the first to create a comprehensive system of Western philosophy , encompassing ethics , aesthetics , logic , science , politics , and metaphysics .

• Aristotle , whose name means " the best purpose " in Ancient Greek , was born in 384 BC in Stagira .

• His father Nicomachus was the personal physician to King Amyntas of Macedon . Both of Aristotle's parents died when he was about thirteen , and Proxenus of Atarneus became his guardian .

• At the age of seventeen or eighteen , Aristotle moved to Athens to continue his education at Plato's " Academy . " He remained there for nearly twenty years .

• Aristotle then accompanied Xenocrates to the court of his friend Hermias of Atarneus in Asia Minor .Aristotle divided his Metaphysics into three parts

• Ontology : The study of being and existence ; includes the definition and classification of entities , physical or mental , the nature of their properties , and the nature of change .

• Theology : The study of a God or gods ; involves many topics , including among others the nature of religion and the world , existence of the divine , questions about Creation , and the numerous religious or spiritual issues that concern humankind in general .

• Universal science : The study of first principles , such as the law of noncontradiction ( logic ) , which Aristotle believed were the foundation of all other inquiries .

Aristotle and Ethics :

• Ethics , also known as moral philosophy , is a branch of philosophy that involves systematizing , defending and recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct . 

• Aristotle considered ethics to be a practical rather than theoretical study , i.e. , one aimed at becoming good and doing good rather than knowing for its own sake .

Logic and Aristotle:

• Logic 

• The term " logic " came from the Greek word logos , which is sometimes translated as " sentence " , " discourse " , " reason " , " rule " , and " ratio " . 

► logic as the study of the principles of correct reasoning 

► actually quite a controversial matter . 

Aristotle was the first to systematically study and catalogue the rules of correct logical reasoning

His logic is important because it dominated all western thought , including scientific thought , until the 19th century CE ; it also had enormous influence on the development of Jewish , Christian and Muslim philosophy . It is still influential today .

Although other types of logical systems exist , Aristotelian logic is still a powerful tool used to teach reasoning skills in numerous academic disciplines .

ARISTOTLE'S LIFE ( Summary ) 

Born in BC 384 in Stagira .

In 367 BC , Joined the famous ' ACADEMY ' of the greatest philosopher Plato at the age of 17 year .

In 347 BC left ACADEMY at the age of 37 year .

In 342 BC became the tutor of Alexander the Great at the age of 42 year . 

In 335 BC established ' LYCEUM ' at the age of 49 year . 

Died in 322 BC in Euboea at the age of 62 year .

ARISTOTLE'S ART AND POETICS

 Art is defined by Aristotle as the realization in external form of a true idea , and is traced back to that natural love of imitation which characterizes humans , and to the pleasure which we feel in recognizing likenesses . Art however is not limited to mere copying . It idealizes nature and completes its deficiencies : it seeks to grasp the universal type in the individual phenomenon . 

" Poetics " : six parts 

• Introductory remarks on poetry and its classification 

• Tragedy . 

• Poetic diction 

• Narrative poetry and tragedy 

• Epic is compared with tragedy 

• Objections are answered

THEORY OF IMITATION AND TRAGEDY :

• Theory of imitation Three ways of imitation

1. Means or medium of imitation ( serious action ) . sound , form , colour 

2. Objects of imitation ( men in action ) . 

3. Manner of imitation ( verse in dialogue ) . 

    ➤ narrative 

    ➤ dramatic 

Plot :

• Plot should be whole

• It should have a magnitude 

• Probability and Necessity

• Willing suspension of disbelief

• Organic unity . 

Plot is the ordering of incidents :

Simple: Plot is simple when the change in the fortunes of the hero takes place without peripety and discovery . 

Complex : Complex plots are those which have Peripety and Anagnorisis or Discovery or Recognition . 

• Peripeteia : Peripeteia means that human actions produce results exactly opposite to what was intended : it is working in blindness to one's own defeat .

 Anagnorisis : Anagnorisis or recognition is the realization of truth , the opening of the eyes , the sudden lightning - flash in the darkness

Character:

 Characters are the agents for moving according to plot . Essential features of characterization .

• Characters should be good . 

• Characters should be appropriate .

 • Characters should be true to life . 

• Characters should be consistent .

Superiority of Tragedy over Epic:

 It has all the elements of an epic and has also spectacle and song which the epic lacks . 

Unity of action only in a tragedy not in an epic . 

Simply reading the play without performing it is already very potent . . 

Tragedy is shorter that is more compact concentrated effect .

Ideal Tragic Hero:

He should not be an utter villain .

 He should neither the perfectly good not utterly bad . He must be intermediary sort of person . 

He must posses both qualities and weakness .

 He must be a human being . 

Hamartia ( tragic flaw ) .

2)

Othello     -by William Shakespeare 

In Othello, Shakespeare creates a powerful drama of a marriage that begins with fascination (between the exotic Moor Othello and the Venetian lady Desdemona), with elopement, and with intense mutual devotion and that ends precipitately with jealous rage and violent deaths. He sets this story in the romantic world of the Mediterranean, moving the action from Venice to the island of Cyprus and giving it an even more exotic coloring with stories of Othello's African past. Shakespeare builds so many differences into his hero and heroine—differences of race, of age, of cultural background—that one should not, perhaps, be surprised that the marriage ends disastrously. But most people who see or read the play feel that the love that the play presents between Othello and Desdemona is so strong that it would have overcome all these differences were it not for the words and actions of Othello's standard-bearer, Iago, who hates Othello and sets out to destroy him by destroying his love for Desdemona. As Othello succumbs to Iago's insinuations that Desdemona is unfaithful, fascination—which dominates the early acts of the play—turns to horror, especially for the audience. We are confronted by spectacles of a generous and trusting Othello in the grip of Iago's schemes; of an innocent Desdemona, who has given herself up entirely to her love for Othello only to be subjected to his horrifying verbal and physical assaults, the outcome of Othello's mistaken convictions about her faithlessness. 

' Hamartia ' means an error which is derived from ignorance of some fact or circumstance . It is often translated as ' tragic flaw '

Plot:

The basic plot of Othello centers on the downfall of the black general , Othello , who is tricked by lago , a remorseless and vengeful villain full of hatred and resentment . lago convinces Othello to distrust those who love him , Cassio , his lieutenant , and Desdemona , his wife . Othello , who is a respected and heroic general at the beginning of the play , is brought by lago to a murderous rage , and takes both Desdemona's life and his own .

Although Othello is noble and relatable by the audience he manages to fall out through a string of events . Othello is thus flawed , unlike the epic hero . The flaw turns his heroism into a tragedy as insisted by Aristotle's classic model . These actions and flaws drive the play .