Aristotle Flashcards
Describe the painting of ‘The School of Athens’ and what is says about Aristotle vs Plato.
Plato’s hand is pointing up because he believed all knowledge and truth is in the world of the forms, but Aristotle’s hand is pointing down because he believed all knowledge and truth is in the material world. Aristotle is stood still because he believes we can explain everything from within our world, but Plato is moving because he thinks things are constantly changing.
Plato was a…?
Rationalist
Aristotle was a…?
Empiricist
What is are the key quotes from Aristotle?
‘Nothing would exist if it didn’t have a purpose’, ‘there is nothing in the mind except what was first in the senses’, ‘Plato is dear to us, but the truth is more dear’.
What was Aristotle’s theory?
The Four Causes
What did Aristotle think everything is made from?
Form and Matter
For Aristotle, what is a form?
What makes something recognisable, its shape or its structure
What are the four causes?
Formal, efficient, material and final
What is the formal cause?
The shape of something e.g. a knife is sharp
What is material cause?
What something is made out of
What is efficient cause?
How something is made?
What is final cause?
The most important cause; the reason why something was made
Aristotle said all objects have…?
Four causes and therefore a purpose
Something is good if…?
If fulfils its end purpose
What did Aristotle also talk about?
Change and movement and how things are constantly changing
What did Aristotle say things are constantly going from?
Actuality to potentiality e.g an acorn is potentially an oak treee
What reason did Aristotle postulate to explain why things are constantly changing?
The Prime Mover
Everything in the physical world is constantly…?
CHANGING (in a state of flux) e.g. I am getting older
What did Aristotle believe is the cause of all movement?
The desire and love for the Prime Mover
Why is the prime mover spiritual?
Because it is not constantly changing and therefore cannot be made of matter
What does the Prime Mover not know about and why?
The existence of the physical world otherwise he may cause a reaction so he must only think about himself
Who does Aristotle postulate the primer mover to be?
God
What are the weaknesses of Aristotle?
Not everything has a purpose e.g. appendix, fallacy of composition e.g. human body, existentialism e.g. only people have purposes which they choose for themselves
What are the strengths of Aristotle?
It is based on empiricism which can be tested, the idea of four causes makes logical sense and can still be applied to modern day
How does Aristotle describe God?
As only a thought and does not know of the existence of the physical world: he only thinks of himself
