Aristotle
In his day, Plato and his “ideals,” made a lot of noise and allowed him to abundant opportunities to teach his ism. At its height, there were many students of his Academia (which was just a fluid version of a school, where pupils followed the teacher all day long). However, one student in particular would become his greatest adversary — and would go on to sow the seeds of division between materialism and idealism for centuries.
This student’s name was Aristotle. He lived during the 4th Century prior to the birth of Christ.
The fact of the matter is, Plato was the lone architect of the first philosophical system, while Aristotle erected the ‘worldview paradigm.’
According to Aristotle, there are three types of science:
– theoretical science
(includes physics, mathematics and pre-philosophy / metaphysics)
– practical science
(includes ethics, politics)
– poetic science
(artificiality)
Let’s start from metaphysics.(formed out of Greek root word of “meta — ” meaning, ‘after’).
Aristotle pulled from all natural philosophers known to him at the time, and hand-picked the best ideas — except atomic one (Aristotle preferred to cite God as a power source). In that way, he made a conclusion that the natural world is able to exist because it comprises four distinct parts.
The first — ‘Matter,’ is the largest and most crucial of the quartet. In fact, it’s the main reason the teachings of Aristotle contradicted his own teacher, Plato; due to matter tying itself in to materialism.
Let’s take a wooden table, for example. When Plato sees the table, he recognizes that what he’s looking at is merely a copy, made out of pure goodness, projected. For Aristotle, however, the same table is an object that exists in the same form, existing as the same thing regardless of who or what is viewing it. It doesn’t depend on the viewer’s personal subjectiveness, nor perception.
That’s due to the fact that Matter can’t be destroyed completely nor created. It can’t just appear out of thin air. In other words, Matter is passively existing. One of the most asked questions posed by philosophy scholars since the time of these two teachers has been, “Okay, but what’s the point to listening to the philosophers themselves? After all, I’m capable of creating number of my own philosophies, none of which would be considered “worse” than the original teachings of Plato….The guy only talked about his own vision.”
Actually, this is an incorrect philosophical understanding. All philosophical ideas were formed one after another, with the latter ideas ones influenced or steered by those conceived previously. To show evidence of this fluidity (in the context of basic elements and the content of matter itself), Aristotle pointed to five natural elements-
1)air
2) earth
3)water
4)fire
5)ether
The second reason is Form.
The form is a reason things are created out of matter. The engine of Form is God — single being which acts as a link between Matter and Form.
At this point, if you read this post patiently, you have to ask me “What da fuck!?” Afterall, “How can Aristotle be a materialist? Because if God exists, then this doesn’t make any sense.”
And indeed this would stand as a prudent question. In the view of Aristotle, Matter is much bigger than God, so it can (theoretically) contain thousands of God(s?) within it. Not to mention that, in the idealistic religious conception, God was the Creator of all matter. I stopped at this fact because it’s very important- especially nowadays.
Creationist theory is absolutely similar to Aristotle’s view. They tell us, “Science is right in everything, and mobile phones, cars, and drugs are ok, but god is the reason for existence.”
I say to them, “Why?” For what fucking reason you put this guy into the concept of materialism?
We simply don’t need him in here.
The reason he’s in there is because there was no concept of “will,” or “intent.” This can be explained by the general lack of the scientific knowledge about the world during his time.
Why these guys are so dumb, I really don’t know. Whatever.
“Acting reason,” (time).
Specifically, the point in time where things begin to exist. But it is not time only; it also draws upon the sense of things being created. The beginning of all beginning by Aristotle — is a God.
One more time, Ladies & Gentlemen — this ‘guy’ is back in here again. So, let’s say hello to creationists one more time. Their concept is a merely fake copy of Aristotle’s work (honestly, Christianity has also stolen ideas from Plato, and other contemporaries and so it’s no surprise to see they’ve done the same with Aristotle, but we’ll come back to this in a later post). So, time begins to exist only when God comes into the mix.
The fourth and final reason is referred to as the “final cause.”
It’s basically the purposes and goals that sustain the existence of things.
Main final cause for all beings — is a boon, (a benefit or blessing).
This, of course, is same as Plato’s.
Categories, epitomes and souls by Aristotle
Actually, categories are the markers for any dilemmas and their solving mechanisms. According to Aristotle, categories are no equal. The main category is a Substance or Essence. The substance has its nine predicates, nine preferences. Why is substance the main category? In order to understand the phenomenon, we have to cut its shell first and detect its substance, its own options virtually equal to phenomenon being. By the way, substance splits to primary substance:
– individual being
– secondary substance — type being.
Type being is a key to combine phenomena to the resembling groups. Other categories, as I said before, just options of the substance being, and there is no need to talk about it. As a matter of fact, Aristotle made three categories as a result of his thoughts — Time, Place (Location), Relation (Status).
Notably, until Aristotle’s conception, time and space were not classified as categories, just an options, which were not combined with the system. We already know the difference: separate options can be added or taken away without any harm, system options work together. Aristotle turned philosophical terms into a scientific field, he created science. Aristotle’s ideas produced two conceptions of time and space:
1. Substantial, a conception which understands the time and space like separate beings caused world creation
2. Relativity conception (hi, Einstein) — time and space are not self-sufficient phenomena, it is a system constructed by interaction of material objects.
At this point we have to finish all our @DailyEmChat discussions about the comparison of philosophy and science — science is a product of philosophy.
Aristotle created a classification of being types from lowest levels to highest ones. Basics start with the non-organic world, followed by flora and fauna as the second tier, “more complicated” animals were on the third level, and human occupies fourth one.
In our modern life, we can hear word “episteme” quite often (the second thing after Elon Musk usually). Episteme term was promoted by French philosopher, Michel Foucault. Episteme by the Foucault is a knowledge of the era, to simplify — memory. By Aristotle, episteme is a reservoir filled with the knowledge except for sensual knowledge, skills, and experience. It is kind of abstract knowledge, the spirit of the time. If we standing in this position, then the appearance of any phenomenon is a result of filling episteme reservoir, other words — phenomenon appearance theoretically proved.
Aristotle said that philosophy bore from the roots of science, that’s why we argue till nowadays about its priority. Yet Aristotle was wrong, and he has disproven thousands of times. However, it is not about me but about him, according to Aristotle — philosophy is a system of scientific knowledge.
By Aristotle, historical action (world action), is a product of single engine. Step by step, reason after consequence, Aristotle came to the god-like creator and worker of this universal engine. We have to understand the way of god justification according to Aristotle. Any consequence has its reason, and any reason has its own reason. One day going back through this chain, we would find that world creation has to be justified, and of course there no another choice, but god. Ok. Actually, it works if we can’t suppose random. But we live in an age of artificial intelligence and open-world computer games such as Minecraft. Fuck! We have cryptocurrencies, which work without any center (I hope u got it), so we know that random works, and works great. But we gave priority to the science, and science can’t suppose random, variable is a maximum. So I don’t agree with Aristotle.
Also, Aristotle gives us very interesting soul understanding. His soul is inseparable from body principle, source, and method of individual self-regulation. From Aristotle’s soul, we have Schopenhauer’s will, Existential project, Marxists bright future etc., and it doesn’t make them similar.
