ARISTOTLE - OVERVIEW

<BODY> <TABLE width=400 BORDER=0 CELLSPACING=2 CELLPADDING=1> <TR> <TD><IMG ALIGN=Left SRC="0501a.jpg" WIDTH="117" HEIGHT="150" ALT="ARISTOTLE"></TD> <TD><CENTER><FONT SIZE=5><B><FONT SIZE=6>ARISTOTLE</FONT><BR> THE REALIST<P> (384-322 BC)</B></FONT><P> "Every realm of nature is marvellous."</CENTER></TD> </TR> </TABLE> <FONT SIZE=4><B>Overview</B></FONT><P> Aristotle was a <A HREF="../t03/g030.html" TARGET="_top">materialist</A> philosopher who developed <A HREF="../t03/g017.html" TARGET="_top">Ethics</A> and <A HREF="../t03/g027.html" TARGET="_top">Logic</A> as newly important elements of philosophy and whose thought had the most profound effect on medieval scholars.<P> Aristotle undertook objective, scientific study of all major fields of knowledge: logic, physics, natural history, politics, ethics and the arts. He also gave an account of what he termed the First Philosophy, <A HREF="../t03/g032.html" TARGET="_top">metaphysics</A>, the science of being, which underlay all sciences and was thus primary. For Aristotle, the essence of being was not perfection but change. Everything has a potential and a goal or end towards which it progresses. Man is a "political animal" who best fulfills his potential and natural end within a society with laws and customs. His highest goal is the "good life", not a life of ease, but a life of virtue which results in "eudaimonia" , or having a good spirit, often translated as happiness. Ultimate happiness lies in pursuit of wisdom for its own sake.<P> At a cosmic level, Aristotle conceived of an "Unmoved Mover", an initiator of all motion but perfect and unchanging itself. This is the final end towards which all things are drawn. To the medieval scholastics this was God. <BR clear=left><BR> <HR width=100%> <A HREF="http://www.creatorix.com.au"><IMG SRC="../creatorix.gif" WIDTH="85" HEIGHT="40" BORDER="0" ALT="Creatorix" align=right></A> </BODY>