exists independently of man, not
inside his head. Plato, on the other
hand, said that this world is only
semi-real and a reflection of true
reality, the World of Forms.
Epistemology
His greatest achievement is the view
that the universe can be known by us
through exercise of reason and logic.
Every human achievement, before or
since, scientific, artistic, or other,
stems from employment of reason
and logic. Plato, on the other hand,
said that knowledge of true reality
could only be obtained through a
mystical experience.
Ethics and Politics
Aristotle said that ethical guidance
should be obtained from observations
of wise Athenians. Plato, on the other
hand, advocated a strict dictatorship,
with a hierarchical structure to
society. On top would be the dictators,
the philosopher kings, and below them
would be the soldiers and farthest
down would be farmers and tradesmen.
Why, then, didn’t Aristotle’s
philosophical system prevail as
number one in the world? His views
contained weaknesses, some of
which may have stemmed from when
he was still aligned with Plato.
Metaphysics—An entity known as
the “Prime Mover” seemed to have
the function of holding the earth
together. This entity did not
interfere in earthly affairs and
did not possess what we consider
as God-like characteristics.
Epistemology—Later philosophers
attacked reason and logic as
qualities that could not be proven.
Evidently, Aristotle never invoked
the doctrine of self evidentially.
Reason and logic are not provable,
since any attack on them involved
the attacker’s acceptance and use
of reason and logic in his assertions.
Aristotle’s theory of Universals
was quite flawed. This pertains
to what is “man-ness”,
“horsiness”, etc.
Statue in
Aristotle’s
Park Stagira
He claimed that every living
entity contained two types of
literal material elements, a
“particular part” and a “universal
part.” Antagonists replied rightly
that, upon dissecting any living
entity, only particular parts
existed. In other words, the
entity’s species, sex, height,
weight, etc. were all unique.
102
On ethics, Aristotle advocated
a “Golden Mean”, to result from
observing wise Athenians. In other
words, the right amount of golden
mean of “courage” was the mean
between two extremes, cowardice
and foolhardiness. Similar golden
means were developed for
all virtues.