The Ancient World - MT1 - Part 5 Flashcards
What skill did Aristotle have but didnt use?
His ability to write
- he scribbled notes
Aristotle’s modification of Plato’s idealism
Forms are ideas and they are in the world, not outside it
What is the formula for actuality?
Potentiality + form
What is potentially?
Matter
What does form give?
Matter reality
What was Aristotle’s idea of reproduction?
Though there was an asymetery to what both male and female contributed
What is the form in reproduction?
Semen
Catamenia
Blood and other matter discharged from the uterus at menstruation
What is semen from strong men? And what does it create?
It is warm and it creates males
What is semen from weak men? And what does it create?
It is cold and it creates women
What was Aristotle’s view on living functions?
Nature does nothing without a purpose
- similar views to Plato
What does Aristotle’s scale of nature show?
Some kind of relationship between organisms
What was Aristotle’s systematics?
He never tried to establish a formal classification of things, but he understood that natural groups existed
- eg) vertebrates vs invertebrates
animals with blood vs animals without blood
What are natural groups?
Groups whose members have correlated attributes
Why do some attributes lead to natural groups and other lead to unnatural groups?
Attributes that lead to natural groups are inherited from the same common ancestor and are correlated with other things because of relatedness
- Attributes that do not lead to natural groupings are not inherited from the same common ancestor
What did Aristotle think about anatomy?
It should be comparative
- dissect a few animals and compare the insides
What did Aristotle think of the heart as an organ?
It was the organ of soul and intelligence
Where did Aristotle think food was “cooked”?
In the gut
- as well as fermentation
What were 3 of Aristotle’s conception of nature?
- Believed everything had a purpose
- We are all related in some sense
- Views of motion
How many scrolls were in Alexandria’s library at the time of Cleopatra?
700,000
Ptolemy
Ruler of Egypt
- eg) Cleopatra
What was the museum of Alexandria?
It was a university?
What did the museum of Alexandria contain? (6)
- Research labs
- Dissection rooms
- An observatory
- A zoo
- A botanical garden
- Large lecture halls
What did the observatory allow?
It allowed you to draw accurate maps and the movement of the planets throughout the year and how the moved through the sky
- it was a place for static figures