Aristotle

Question 1

Aristotle was an Empiricist, what does this mean?

Answer 1

• One who believes all knowledge is ultimately based on sense experience
• He did not look to another realm for understanding but rather through a detailed examination of the world around us

Question 2

What is Aristotles method ‘per genus et per differentia’?

Answer 2

• Meaning, by type and difference in Latin
• Aristotles method for defining things

Question 3

Give an example of Aristotles ‘per genus et per differentia’?

Answer 3

• For example if we were to look at a guinea pig we would establish it is a rodent - It’s type or genus
• We would then compare it to other rodents, e.g rats and squirrels and from this we would deduce more about guinea pigs
• Through this it would lead me to a clearer understanding

Question 4

What is Aristotles conception of knowledge and how does this differ from Plato?

Answer 4

• For Plato it is ‘remembering’ things from the Realm of the Forms
• For Aristotle knowledge is gained through sense experience, a process of reflection and practice
• E.g if we are taught mathematics or a sport we become more knowledgeable and better the more we experience/practice these things

Question 5

How does Aristotle differentiate between different ways in which knowledge is gained?

Answer 5

• For example we learn an instrument by practicing how to play, now by merely knowing how to do it theoretically
• Some things are learnt through experience, some through practice and Aristotle recognises this
• E.g The knowledge of an artist is different to that of a mathematician

Question 6

What was Aristotles greatest discovery and how does this support his method of learning?

Answer 6

• He observed an eclipse of the moon and watched a shadow make its way across
• He concluded that the shadow was the earth, and the shadow could have only been a spherical object
• This means the earth is spherical
• Shows the empirical method as useful for gaining knowledge

Question 7

How did Aristotles 4 Causes come about?

Answer 7

• Aristotle was very interested in the nature of the world
• The basis was substance, he argued this was self-evident through observation
• We are aware of things and how they change

Question 8

What is the Material Cause? (Quote)

Answer 8

• What is something made of? e.g material, wood, etc
• Without the material the thing could not be, without matter there would be nothing
• “that out of which a thing comes to exist”

Question 9

What is the Formal Cause?

Answer 9

• What form does it have? e.g the shape of the bowl is its form, without the shape it would not a bowl, just a lump of material

Question 10

How is Aristotles ‘Form’ in his Formal Cause different from Plato’s?

Answer 10

• He is not presenting the idea of a transcendent single form, when the individual is a more or less good copy
• He is replacing this with an immanence form, a form of a thing in itself that is present in our normal experience
• Aristotles form is not abstract

Question 11

What is the Efficient Cause?

Answer 11

• What brought it about? e.g a chemical reaction, a maker, a mechanical process etc
• E.g A statue does not just appear, there is a sculptor
• Something brings about the effect of the final outcome
• This is closest to our use of the word cause

Question 12

What is the Final Cause?

Answer 12

• The purpose for which something exists, the reason for its existence and its final goal
• E.g The creation of a bowl to hold fruit
• Aristotle assumed nature is purposive and teleological in its existence
• All things, even non-living have a purpose

Question 13

How does Aristotles Final Cause effect the universe?

Answer 13

• If everything within the universe has a purpose then it must maintain that the universe as a whole has a purpose
• This final cause is God (Prime Mover)

Question 14

How does Aristotle’s Prime Mover differentiate between Abrahamic Gods?

Answer 14

• Prime Mover is ‘Perfect’ and ‘Everlasting’
• But for him God is ‘everlasting’ in the sense that God and the world are co-eternal
• The universe did not have a beginning
• Aristotle’s God is transcendent and not immanent with the world
• His God is not interested in the world, God is only interested in what is perfect, and thus contemplates upon himself

Question 15

What is the Prime Mover’s relationship with the earth?

Answer 15

• As the final cause, a ‘goal’ or ‘purpose’
• Based around Aristotles idea of ‘motion’ which is not just moving but refers to change, e.g the motion of becoming from boy to man
• The God simply attracts us as God is the goal, he creates motion by attracting us to himself, the same way a cat is attracted to the saucer of milk

Question 16

What ‘cause’ does the universe not have and how does this relate to the Prime Mover?

Answer 16

• Does not have an efficient cause - it is eternal and has no beginning
• Thus the Prime Mover is not a creator but rather creates movement by exercising ‘pull’ on things
• It is the unmoved mover

Question 17

What is the link between Plato’s Form of the Good and the Prime Mover?

Answer 17

• Platos Form of the Good seeks refuge from the uncertainties of change
• Aristotles Prime Mover seeks to explain them
• May be answering the same question in a different way

Question 18

How did Aristotle contribute to modern science?

Answer 18

• His ‘per genus et per differentia’ was highly scientific
• Through this process he attempted astronomy, created hypothesis etc

Question 19

What are issues with Aristotles Efficient Cause?

Answer 19

• He gives it to name things which bring about a change, but it is a mistake to think that because someone named something they have thus explained it
• When something brings about a change the efficient cause tell us something HAS happened but not WHAT has happened
• Term is used to cover a wide range of change, e.g chemical biological etc, it is too broad to be informative

Question 20

What are issues with Aristotles idea of ‘purpose’?

Answer 20

• Normal use of the word purpose is to describe a mental intention
• People have purposes, through their goals, e.g if I make a cake my purpose is to eat it
• It is hard to understand how the cake, or the ingredients have purpose in themselves, they only have purpose because we give them purpose

Question 21

How does Aristotle suffer a fallacy of composition?

Answer 21

• Just because some things have a purpose, not all have one
• To say that because X and Y has a purpose so all must have is a mistaken enterprise, not even all body parts have a purpose
• E.g the Appendix and the male nipple

Question 22

How can it be said the universe has no purpose?

Answer 22

• Modern cosmology has shown empty and purposeless areas of the universe
• The Theory of Evolution
• Bertrand Russell ‘The universe just is’

Question 23

Should the Prime Mover be used as a singular explanation?

Answer 23

• The use of the Prime Mover as a singular explanation can be flawed, there are many different aspects of motions acting within the world, it is hard to attribute one cause for this

Question 24

The Big Bang Theory in objection to Aristotle?

Answer 24

• Casts doubt on a God who brings the world into motion by attracting it to himself
• Instead we see a violent beginning of expansion

Question 25

How can the religious oppose Aristotle?

Answer 25

• Ignores the idea of faith and that people believe in a God who is immanent with his creation
• Goes against the stories of the Abrahamic religions of a God who is good and loves his creation