Aristotle(384-322 B.C.)

• pupil of Plato's Academy for almost 20 years
• Europe's first great biologist the great organizer who founded and classified the various sciences

No Innate Ideas

• The idea or form had no existence of its own; i.e. Plato's "idea" horse came after seeing other horses.
• form = characteristics that are common to all members of that species.
• form was in the things, not on a shelf(gingerbread cookie example flawed)
• highest degree of reality is what we perceive with our senses. Nature is the real world.
• Nothing exists in the consciousness that has not been perceived by the senses first. Things in the human soul are reflections of natural objects

The Form of a Thing Is Its Specific Characteristics

• reality = form + substance
• substance has the potential and strives to change into a specific form, from "potential" to "actual"

The Final Cause

• Four causes: material, efficient, formal, and final
• final = assigns everything in life a task or a purpose

Logic

• humans organize and classify everything by form and substance
• logic is based on a correlation of terms

Nature's Scale

• natural world can be divided into two main categories: living and nonliving
• only living things have the potentiality for change
• living things => animals and creatures
• creatures => animals and humans
• God is at the top of the hierarchy
• the hierarchy is established by what the creature can do

Ethics

• 3 forms of happiness: pleasure, freedom, thinking
• all 3 must exist at the same time for man to find happiness and fulfillment
• "Golden mean" = harmony, balance, and moderation

Politics

• Monarchy, as long as it is not tyranny
• Aristocracy, but not an oligarchy
• Democracy, but not mob rule

Views on Women

• woman = unfinished man
• she is passive and receptive
• man provides form, woman provides substance

Aristotle - a general biography and an outline of his scientific work Aristotle - his life and works and other internet resources Aristotle Texts Aristotle's Astronomy - Aristotle's view and description of atronomy

Aristotle - really great place to find out Aristotle's views on everyday things. Everything from prophesying by dreams to poetics. Overview of Aristotle and his Teachings - very detailed biography and overview of his life Aristotle's Influence on Contemporary Biology