Aristotle's Ethics, Politics, Cosmology, and Knowledge

Aristotle's Philosophy: Virtue, Ethics, and Happiness

Aristotle addresses the concept of virtue in his ethics as a means to achieve the highest good: happiness. He distinguishes between intellectual virtues, attained through the practice of contemplative life, and ethical virtues, cultivated through the habit of acting and aligning our behavior with the golden mean between two extremes—one of excess and one of deficiency.

Aristotle's View on Happiness and Perfection

Aristotle posits that virtue guarantees the enjoyment of happiness because every being achieves perfection within its kind. Happiness is derived from engaging in activities specific to one's nature. Given that human nature is defined by its specific form, the rational soul, a life lived according to reason—both intellectually and morally—is the most perfect and happy life possible.

The Interconnection of Virtue, Politics, and Happiness

This conception of virtue must also be understood in relation to politics. Happiness, as the highest good, should be pursued not only individually but also collectively, within the context of the polis. Aristotle famously defined man as a "political animal," naturally inclined to live in society with others. The aim is to lead a decent life, guided by justice, which allows for the actualization of the unique features of human rational nature through education and laws.

Aristotle's Cosmology

Aristotle distinguished between a supralunar world, beyond the moon—which he identified with the world of perfect ideas—and a sublunary world, the Earth, where material things exist in an imperfect state.

Aristotle's Theory of Knowledge

The key to a happy life, as previously mentioned, is a lifetime of knowledge. Aristotle interpreted knowledge as a process of abstraction. The soul retains the forms registered in the sensible world through the operation of the agent intellect on the patient intellect. This process leads to the formation of universal concepts, the foundation of scientific knowledge.

Key Aspects of Aristotelian Science

Two branches of science are particularly noteworthy in Aristotle's work:

• Physics: The study of natural things, examining their four causes (formal, material, efficient, and final) and explaining movement as a transition from potency to act. This process ultimately leads back to the First Unmoved Mover, pure act, which energizes the universe.
• Metaphysics: Also known as first philosophy or wisdom, metaphysics studies the first causes and first principles of being. This includes the study of substance (a hylomorphic compound composed of matter and form) and accidents (other predicates that inhere in the substance, such as quantity, quality, relation, action, and passion).