Aristotle's Philosophy: Ethics, Politics, and Logic

Aristotle's Philosophy: Ethics, Politics, and Logic

Thought and Intellect

Thought, the highest function of the soul, projects into language and thought. Intelligence is the highest form of the soul. Aristotle distinguishes two aspects of intelligence:

• Understanding: Patient and receptive.
• Intellect: Active, editing, and creating.

Ethics and Politics

Aristotle believed that happiness (felicity) is the ultimate goal, though its definition varies among individuals (some seek wealth, others honor). He explains that happiness consists in the exercise of a uniquely human activity, distinct from vegetative functions. We might translate virtue as human excellence. Aristotle offers several definitions of virtue, specifying that it is a habit by which one becomes good. It is defined as a selective disposition, a mean relative to us, between two vices: one of excess and one of defect. Virtue is a habit incorporated into our being.

Dianoetic Virtues

Dianoetic virtues develop in the intellectual realm. Their objective is that which is necessary and cannot be otherwise. Aristotle distinguishes three types:

• Art: Develops the ability to create objects.
• Practical function: Refers to the contingent and changing aspects of life.

Politics

The qualities discussed in Aristotle's ethics find their meaning in politics. The polis is the adequate space in which men deliberate and choose. Being in the human world requires that the impulses driving us be free. Overcoming mere appearance involves cultivating virtues or excellences that bind us to society.

Logic

The study of words and the logos of dialogue led Aristotle to another of his great discoveries: logic. The formal aspects of language were given the name Organon.

Propositions

Formal structures that exist and serve as research tools.

Categories

The most general forms of discovering what exists; fundamental structures that organize reality. Supreme genera of being.

Syllogism

Consists of three sentences or propositions: the first two are known premises, and the third is their necessary conclusion.

Definition

In Analytics, Aristotle also explores definitions and inductive demonstration. The determination of particular propositions through induction reaches general forms of knowledge. Aristotle's tools aim to build a scientific body to explain the causes of things and thus achieve knowledge of their constitution.

Science

Man acquires art and science through experience. But experience comes from many memories, merely knowing that something exists, and is apparent only to individuals and objectives.