The work, which plays a pre-eminent role in defining Aristotelian ethics, consists of ten books, originally separate scrolls, and is understood to be based on notes from his lectures at the Lyceum,... More > which were either edited by or dedicated to Aristotle's son, Nicomachus. The Nicomachean Ethics is widely considered one of the most important historical philosophical works, and had an important impact upon the European Middle Ages, becoming one of the core works of medieval philosophy.< Less
Biology was a natural pursuit for Aristotle, given his family's medical background. In the zoological sciences, some of his observations were confirmed to be accurate only in the 19th century. On... More > his work in The History of Animals, Aristotle draws the most important distinctions between animals with and without blood. Animals that reproducing offspring within the female's body, as generally the case with mammals and reproducing through the hatching of eggs. He shed some insights into the questions of reproduction and heredity. He also believed that no organ was given to an animal without a purpose. Final characteristics were those essential to an animal species, while variable characteristics consisted of qualities that develop rather than being naturally endowed.< Less
The Rhetoric was developed by Aristotle during two periods when he was seconded to Plato in the Academy, and when he was running his own school, the Lyceum. Aristotle is generally credited with... More > developing the basics of the system of rhetoric that influenced the development of rhetorical theory from ancient through modern times. One of the most important contributions of Aristotle's approach was that he identified rhetoric as one of the three key elements along with logic and dialectic of philosophy. According to Aristotle, logic is concerned with reasoning to reach scientific certainty. Dialectic is a tool for philosophical debate; it is a means for skilled audiences to test probable knowledge in order to learn. Rhetoric is a tool for practical debate; it is a means for persuading a general audience using probable knowledge to resolve practical issues. Dialectic and rhetoric create a partnership for a system of persuasion based on knowledge instead of upon manipulation and omission.< Less
This text is Aristotle’s general principles on the motion of animals. Aristotle attempts to combine a physiological explanation of animal locomotion in terms of spirit or pneuma and with a... More > psychological account in terms of desire and thought, which also includes imagination and perception. He thinks it possible to account for animal movements purely in terms of the physical events taking place in the body, while at the same time he wants to explain action, at a philosophical or analytical level, by way of the interaction of desires and beliefs.< Less
Aristotle's Politics is a work of political philosophy. The end of the Nicomachean Ethics declared that the inquiry into ethics necessarily follows into politics, and the two works are frequently... More > considered to be parts of a larger treatise, or perhaps connected lectures, dealing with the "philosophy of human affairs." After studying a number of real and theoretical city-state's constitutions, Aristotle classified them according to various criteria. On one side stand the true (or good) constitutions, which are considered such because they aim for the common good, and on the other side the perverted (or deviant) ones, considered such because they aim for the well being of only a part of the city. The constitutions are then sorted according to the "number" of those who participate to the magistracies: one, a few, or many.< Less
Aristotle's (c. 335 BCE ) Poetics is the earliest-surviving work of dramatic theory and the first extant philosophical treatise to focus on literary theory. In it, Aristotle offers an account of what... More > he calls "poetry" (a term which in Greek literally means "making" and in this context includes drama—comedy, tragedy, and the satyr play—as well as lyric poetry, epic poetry, and the dithyramb). He examines its "first principles" and identifies its genres and basic elements. His analysis of tragedy constitutes the core of the discussion. The Poetics is specifically concerned with drama. At some point, Aristotle's original work was divided in two, each "book" written on a separate roll of papyrus. Only the first part–that which focuses on tragedy–survives. The lost second part addressed comedy.< Less
Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. Aristotle is considered as one of the most important people in creating... More > Western philosophy. Aristotle's writings were the first to create a comprehensive system of Western philosophy, encompassing morality, aesthetics, logic, science, politics, and metaphysics. His treaties On the Soul centers on the kinds of souls possessed by different kinds of living things, distinguished by their different operations. He believed that the possession of soul is what makes an organism an organism at all. The notion of a body without a soul, or of a soul in the wrong kind of body, is unintelligible. He talks about many different aspects about what the soul could be. Aristotle also presents the idea that the soul could be one thing or that it could be expressed as being the parts that make up a whole.< Less
Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. Aristotle is considered as one of the most important people in creating... More > Western philosophy. Aristotle's writings were the first to create a comprehensive system of Western philosophy, encompassing morality, aesthetics, logic, science, politics, and metaphysics. Aristotle is said to have written 150 philosophical treatises. The 30 that survive touch on an enormous range of philosophical problems, from biology and physics to morals to aesthetics to politics. In his treatise on Longevity and Shortness of Life, Aristotle attempts to answer some of the questions on the reasons for some plants and animals being long-lived and others short-lived; and the causes of the length and brevity of life.< Less
Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC) is one of most important philosophers of all time and remain a fountain of inspiration for modern thinkers.. His work included logic, physics, politics, metaphysics,... More > rhetoric and zoology, biology, poetic tragedy and ethics that are still relevant today. He also preferred to define things in more concrete and scientific manners and seemed to always have had explanations for everything around him. That is, he tried to reason things based on direct observations and cataloging of phenomenon. His views on dreaming are developed out of his concepts of mind and imagination, and his observation of how people deal with sleeping and waking. While awake we have the easy ability to distinguish between what is an external object and what is our imagined object. In sleep however this faculty disappears or is almost completely absent. This produces the sense of enormous reality we have in dreams, and the feeling that we are facing actual events and people.< Less
Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. Aristotle is considered as one of the most important people in creating... More > Western philosophy. Aristotle's writings were the first to create a comprehensive system of Western philosophy, encompassing morality, aesthetics, logic, science, politics, and metaphysics. Aristotle is said to have written 150 philosophical treatises. The 30 that survive touch on an enormous range of philosophical problems, from biology and physics to morals to aesthetics to politics. In Aristotle's work, Meteorology he writes about his observations and ideas on the earth sciences. These include early accounts of water evaporation, weather phenomena, and earthquakes. All the affections we may call common to air and water, and the kinds and parts of the earth and the affections of its parts.< Less
