Biography
Aristotle was the student of ___________. After his teacher's death, Aristotle became the tutor of this famous figure for three years ______________.
Plato.
Alexander the Great
What did Aristotle believe was Plato's fundamental mistake in relation to Forms?
Plato believed Forms exist in a perfect world of eternal forms above the physical world.
Why is Aristotle's ethics known as virtue ethics?
His focus is on the virtous character of moral agents and not on the consequences of actions
How does Aristotle view friendship? What is its place in our lives.
Friendship is fundamental to happiness and a major good.
The material stuff that something is made of. Wood. Flesh and bone.
Aristotle opened his own university in Athens to rival Plato's Academy. What did Aristotle call his school?
The Lyceum
What, for Aristotle, is the Form of Man/Woman?
What is Aristotle's Golden Mean?
The mean are moral virtues that exist between two vices. Courage, for example, is the mean between recklessness and cowardice. To become moral one must consistently act in accordance with the mean.
What are the three types of friendships?
Useful friendships, pleasant friendships, good friendships
Explain formal cause for both living and non-living things. What is the form of The Statue of Liberty? What is the form of apple seed?
Form is the shape of non-living things and the purpose of living things. Robed woman holding a lamp. Flourishing apple tree.
What does Aristotle believe is the source of knowledge?
Experience
What is a substance?
Formed matter (matter + form)
What is the greatest good for humans? How does Aristotle define this good?
Eudaimonia - divine well-being, human flourishing. He defines it as an activity of the rational soul done in accordance with virtue.
Why are pleasant and useful friendships less perfect than good friendships?
They are only instrumentally good and are easily broken up, whereas good friendships are intrinsically good and based on the moral character of individuals.
This is the concept that is closest to our modern idea of "cause" or "triggering event" that sets things in motion and initiates change, transforming a potential into an actuality. What is it for chocolate chip cookies?
Efficient cause. Baker.
Aristotle was born in this Greek region north of Athens. His father was the royal physician in King Phillips' court.
Macedonia
What happens to form after matter decays?
What is one limitation of Aristotle's theory of the Golden Mean? Does it make it easier for regular people to become morally good?
It is a subjective standard and does not offer clear guidelines for behavior. What courage means for someone may be different for others.
He says young people tend to have friendships of pleasure because they act instinctively and desire what can satisfy immediate needs. These friendships, based on wims, are short-lived.
"Nature does nothing in vain", said Aristotle. How does this relate to his ideas about Final Causes.
Aristotle believed every object or living thing has a reason for being, a purpose. Nature is always oriented towards the good.
After Alexander the Great's death, Aristotle felt Athenians turnin against him. He fled Athens, saying, "I will not let Athens sin against philosophy twice." What did he mean?
He believed Athens would condemn him to death unfairly like they had done with Socrates
For Aristotle, matter provides the potential for form to become actualized. What is the form of living things, for Aristotle?
The essence or purpose of that living thing
"But the virtues we acquire by first exercising them, as is the case with all the arts, for it is by doing what we ought to do when we have learnt the arts that we learn the arts themselves; we become, for example, builders by building and harpists by playing the harp." Use the quote to explain Aristotle's views on moral virtues.
Aristotle believes moral virtues must be practiced daily to form a moral character. It is not enough to know what the right thing to do is. One must do it deliberately, consistently, as an expression of an established moral state.
Explain why good friendships are unselfish.
It is based on mutual admiration for another's moral character, not on some lesser good that one friend temporarily provides for another.
What is the Final Cause of the Universe. Why does Aristotle need a first final cause?
The prime mover, pure thought , pure form. Each of the previous causes assumes the existence of something that came before. In order to avoid an infinite regress of causes, must have a first cause that is itself uncaused.