Before forming into our
discussion groups Dr. Oliver elaborated on the differences between Plato and
Aristotle, inferring that their core disparities include Plato’s insistence of
higher intelligence from an abstract and more unknown perspective, which disagrees
with Aristotle’s point of view that obtaining a higher understanding from our
senses and concepts which are actually relatable on a human level is what makes
the most sense. Personally I would have to agree with Aristotle on this one,
since it is almost impossible to properly justify that which we cannot relate
to as humans. Not to say that Plato’s idea is irrelevant, but rather it should
take a more secondary approach after we become as aware and familiar with the
physical as we possibly can.
Once
we got the ball rolling in our group, we discussed what could be considered the
general principles of Aristotle from our reading. Well first off, this man was
pretty much interested in anything and EVERYTHING at the time of his existence.
And why wouldn’t he be? During this time (384-322 BC) so little was known about
our world, and he, along with his predecessors Plato and Socrates, were
basically setting up humanity for all the big questions that we would
eventually start asking ourselves and others for the progression of humanity.
Aristotle was quite famous for his ethics, which makes sense considering whom
these information and ideas were passed down from, so of course he also taught
the notion that ethics are passed down from generation to generation.
The
largest portion of our discussion, however, went towards the “what is
happiness?” route, which Aristotle gets into pretty deeply throughout one of
the chapters. Although his concept of happiness is quite simple, it is
difficult to grasp the fact that not everyone in this Earthly realm is able to
understand the unimportance of materialism and temporary pleasures. "One
swallow does not a summer make” – this Aristotle remark, new to me, has become
one of my favorite quotes upon reading it. In terms of our discussion
interpretation, we agreed that Aristotle is implying that even though one
swallow (swallows representing a symbol for summer and good weather) may be
spotted, that one swallow does not entail summer’s arrival. Similarly, just
because we are temporarily made “happy” by material possessions or pleasures,
does not mean that we are reaching an overall happiness. These “brief
happinesses” do not add up to a happy life, typically, which is the point that
Aristotle was trying to make. One thing I found interesting is that Aristotle
disagrees that nonconformity can make us happiest since it furthers us away
from a sense of community. Maybe if he saw the world as were today, in the
obvious worship of material possessions, he would change his tune and embrace
nonconformity? Because generally these nonconformists are better off then the
rest of the sheep in the flock who are looking for happiness in all the wrong
places.
After going through this discussion again in my head, some questions derived for future discussion. Such as, how does religion fit into the picture for happiness? It’s an interesting focus because people seem to fall back to it or rely on it for happiness instead of finding happiness within themselves, which I find to be a dangerous scenario. Another question to further delve into is how exactly did Aristotle measure this “happiness” if he did at all? Could there be different levels of happiness, or would he see it solely as a happy or unhappy life? Just some things to ponder over the weekend.
Check out my video response to this post and others:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KcbMHa1Kyg
First off I doubt Aristotle would like to see the life that were living today. It would probably display more grief and corruptness rather than the happiness that he wanted to be percieved.
ReplyDeletegood point Cc but that ties in with on how you perceive happiness. Yes there is a lot of corruptness in society today but there was also grief and corruptness back in Aristotle's time.
DeleteOne other thing our group discussed is what is the meaning of life? In my opinion the meaning of life is happiness. If someone is not happy in life, what is the meaning of living. In my opinion i believe that Aristotle discovered something really fundamental about human beings when he thought about what makes them happy, what they want out of life and how they wish to organize society to achieve it. He found that people pursue many different activities. For instance, some want to get married and have children, others want to do business or play sports, or travel to distant lands, or read books, or they like to sit in parliament, or they want to be professional soldiers. As my group was discussing about happiness this question was brought up... "what makes people happy?" My answer to this question was "FAMILY" because as long as i have my family by my side i will always be happy because there is nothing like family. In other words my life depends on family. What i mean by that is if my family is not happy or living a happy life, my life would be a disaster or i will be living unhappy life. But not everybody agreed with my answer, everybody had different answers such as accomplishment or money.“Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence." one of my favorite Aristotle's quotes. As i was writing this there were many questions running in mind such as: Can everybody be happy? How can you archive happiness? Can you reduce happiness? Etc...
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Deletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8ZeyVOE6pI great video it kind of relates to our topic.
ReplyDeleteAristotle was the student of Plato, as Plato read Socrates’ really long novel in school people began to walk out when Plato looked up Aristotle was the only one still listening. Aristotle lived in a time when life was the most significant fact. Plato called Aristotle the mind of the Academy and appointed him as a teacher of rhetoric. Aristotle learned under Plato for twenty years until Plato’s death. Aristotle learned the difference between knowledge gained through analysis and discussion versus, knowledge obtained through observation and deduction. He also learned all the theories of early philosophers in which he later referred to as opinions of the wise. The discussion method at the Academy helped Aristotle and other students realize the importance of definition in language and orderly thinking. Arguments within the academy had to be made in a logical systematic way (Falcultywashington.edu). Alexander the great Aristotle's student claimed that his father gave him life but it was Aristotle who taught him how to live that life.
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