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The Naturalist: Aristotle

Nathan Marabello
PHIL-1000-016
Alexander Israilefsky
11/23/2014
http://marabello.weebly.com/eportfolio.html

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Biography
Aristotle was born 384 B.C. He lived in a northern town of Greece called Stagira. He was
born into a family of a well known medical doctor, Nicomachus. Aristotle loved biology and
ended up being his father's assistant for a while. His father died when he was young and when
his older sister got married, he followed her husband, Proxenus of Atarneus, untill he became of
age. When Aristotle turned seventeen years old, he left Stagira and went to Athens to study at the
famed Plato's Academy. He had done exceptionally well in the academy and graduated with a
high ranking. He worked with Plato as a philosophy professor. Aristotle's philosophy was much
different than Plato's but Plato didn't really care. When Plato died, Aristotle applied to become
the president of the academy but was rejected because most of his philosophies were vastly
different from Plato's. Instead, Plato's miserable nephew got the presidency position. Angry,
Aristotle left Athens and traveled around Greece. Later he married his first wife, Pythias. They
had a daughter together, but the mother died in labor and the daughter survived. Aristotle named
her Pythias after her mother. He ended up remarrying and had a son born out of wedlock.
Aristotle later moved to Macedonia in 335 B.C. to teach King Phillip II's son. He would be later
known as Alexander the Great! Aristotle was loved by King Phillip and Alexander so the paid
him a large amount of money and he went back to Athens. He started his own college in 334
B.C. at about 50 years old. It was called the Lyceum. It was basically the first community
college. It was very accepting. It accepted girls, boys, wealthy, and the poor. It was very
respected by the middle class. He built a library and dorms for his students. The aristocracy of
Athens was not fond of his schooling but was backed up by Alexander the Great. During this
time Aristotle wrote the book "Nicomachean Ethics" and dedicated it to his son Nicomachus,
named after his father. When Alexander the Great passed away, Aristotle was not protected any

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longer. He fled to Euboea to get away from prosecution by the aristocracy. He stayed there for
the rest of his life till he passed away in 322 B.C. at the age of 62 years old.
Epistemology and Ontology
Aristotle was extremely into the more natural aspect of life. Always trying to figure out
explanations for certain things. He used observation and experimentation over all other ways to
get all of his data relevant to his searches. Aristotle analyzed to figure out the laws of his data.
The synthesis combined all the laws of data that he collected and turned it all into a
comprehensive theory. As well as the comprehensive theory, Aristotle came up with the
Scientific Method. Measurement, observation, indication, and reasoning.
Aristotle did not agree with a lot of what Plato had to say. Being the naturalist that
Aristotle was, he thought Plato's idea of the Eidos' were absolutely ridiculous and wrong. He did
not believe the kingdom of the Eidos did not exist. He believed only nature existed. Part of his
ontology was that nature is a sum total of all physical things. Within every physical thing had
two parts to it; The Hyle and the Telos. The Hyle is the physical body. The Telos is the form,
shape, or mold. The Telos didn't have too much to do with the outside physical appearance of the
thing, but it was the inner shape of the thing. It's almost like a computer being programmed, a
person's DNA, or potential to expand.
Moral and Political Philosophies
Aristotle's moral ethics were one of another kind. He believed in the destiny you were
received. He was born into an upper class family. Not nobility but high enough to have a good
amount of respect. His philosophy on this was Eudaimonia, literally translated into "Noble
Destiny". What his thoughts were is you may have to sacrifice your very own happiness to lead
this life of noble destiny. He found it as another reason to respect yourself. If you were

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sacrificing your own happiness for the destiny you've been given, the least you can do is make
sure you are respected. Under a large
Under a large umbrella is the guide to be a perfect gentleman to Aristotle's point of view.
The first part is Sophrosyne, or moderation. Basically he says to keep yourself moderated and
not a hog. Keep yourself with a healthy mind and soul. Next is to keep the mean. Keep a good
virtue about you, sort of like the Buddha. Keeping a good balance between to excesses. Next
Aristotle says to have no excesses. Last thing to be a perfect gentleman is to have a good taste.
Don't make a fool out of yourself and make sure you know what you like. Aristotle's meaning of
moral is to be reasonable. In a way it's like to escape excesses and be moderate. Not being too
rambunctious to keep yourself aligned. Under his umbrella of creative self-fulfillment are a few
more things. To fulfill your Telos with things you love like your talent or your gift. Don't hide
yourself completely but don't make yourself unwelcome by being too outgoing. Pleasure isn't the
main goal but pleasure can come from an activity that we love. Lastly is once you have hurt
someone else, you have already hurt yourself. Aristotle's view on a strong character is just a total
of all our habits combined. The glory of friendship is a deep relationship everyone needs. He
believes it is the most honorable relationship a human could have, and you can tell how real it is
with the mutual love for philosophy.
Aristotle believes that the best form of government is democracy. It has a welcoming
sense to the middle class and they are more likely to participate in relations such as defining
what they want for their political regime. In most cases the middle class holds at least half of the
population so they can usually decide what is the foundation for a healthy society.
Personal Opinions

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In my personal opinion I am a fan of Aristotle and his philosophies. I enjoy nature and the
realistic aspects of Aristotle's mindset. I agree with him in quite a bit of ways. I think Plato's
ideas were a little too extravagant. Plato's idea of the Eidos' was too bazaar and abstract. I find
Aristotle and the Buddha to be somewhat similar. They are both down to Earth. The Buddha and
Aristotle are emphasizing on being humble and not arrogant. I know many people who think they
are the perfect gentleman but they are way too excessive with their actions. Many people now
days are so focused on getting their pleasure they don't enjoy what they do to get it. I get
pleasure when riding my bicycle, but I do not aim for achieving my pleasure, I go out to ride
because it's my passion and it is what I enjoy doing as an everyday thing. Somewhere inside
myself is a perfect gentleman. I'm certain that I can find it some point in time. Inside every
physical body is a Telos, just like Aristotle says. It makes us unique to ourselves. My DNA is
unique to me and myself only. My brother and I look very similar. He is three years older than I
and we have similar genetic codes. But even as close as my brother may be to me and we may
have a similar Hyle, he can never have my Telos.
Aristotle's Lyceum is probably my favorite part about his life. He believed that everyone
should have an education so he made it possible. Similar to community colleges in contemporary
times, besides the dorms, it's affordable for the people who just can't pay for they expensive
universities. It's got pretty close to the same education to be given out. Resources are strong in
the community college. There is a wonderful library excellent professors who are willing to teach
student what they need to get a bright future. I really enjoyed that Aristotle was Alexander the
Great's mentor. He made enough money to go back to Athens and carefully show off his new
Lyceum to the aristocracy. Alexander the Great of Macedonia was a great student to have
because when Aristotle went back to Athens, he definitely needed the back up. Sadly when

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Alexander did die suddenly, Aristotle had to avoid being persecuted and escape. He later died a
depressed old man. Aristotle is one of the biggest and most important philosophers the world
knows. He may not have been right about a lot of things in the scientific era but he did make a
sense trying.

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Bibliography
"Aristotle." Pursuit of Happiness. Pursuit of Happiness, Inc, 2014. Web. 22 Nov. 2014.
"Aristotle." Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2014. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.
Michaud, Caroline. "Epistemology and Ontology in Aristotle's History of Philosophy in
Metaphysics." Epistemology and Ontology in Aristotle's History of Philosophy. N.p.,
2013. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.
Soccio, Douglas J. Archetypes of Wisdom: An Introduction to Philosophy. Belmont, CA:
Thomson/Wadsworth, 2007.