Essays on Aristotle

Aristotle and the Philosophy of Logic Among the first of the great philosophers to study the philosophy of logic was Aristotle. Aristotle used logic as a way to discover meaning, through his work he developed a system of logic that when followed would lead an...

In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle presents a theory of moral responsibility that involves actions and character acquisition. He examines when and how individuals are responsible, and provides an objection to when people are never responsible for what they do. I first describe the concepts of moral...

Aristotle doctrine about living well begin with a good point of ends and means. Life doesn’t mean- the car is my end or goal. There is more an ultimate end, goal or purpose for human life. We as a human in life, everyone tries to...

Ancient Greece was arguably one of the greatest civilizations of all time. Beginning in the 8th century BC and ending around 146 BC, this era introduced some of the greatest innovations in literature, technology, and philosophy. But with such a large civilization came many conflicts...

Happiness It is safe to say that happiness is probably one of the most goals people from all around the globe pursue to achieve. The concept of happiness, for each individual, is not the same. Even though happiness is a universal goal, each individual has...

There are many characters in the television show SpongeBob SquarePants. These characters share many traits, but also have their share of differences. Eugene Krabs and Squidward Tentacles are a great example. Mr. Krabs is the owner of the successful fast-food restaurant, the Krusty Krab, where...

The following will analyze Aristotle’s Categories 9a4-9a13 in which Aristotle shares his definitions of habit and disposition. This paper will show how even though Aristotle’s The Categories was written in 350 BCE, his definitions of dispositions and habits are still referenced in science to better...

Consider the following list: justice, citizenship, law, happiness (or another goal of human existence). Which of these four is the most important foundation for a political existence, a civilized life? Defend your position by a close analysis of Herodotus and Aristotle. One potential answer is...

Aristotle’s reasoning as to why he believed the Greek polis to be superior to other forms of associations can be found in Book 1.2 of his teachings in Politics. It contains an analysis of the individual components which make up a polis, the household and...

The Alfarabi and Averroes texts take unique approaches to topics discussed by Aristotle in Politics and by Plato in his Republic. It is important to understand these approaches in relation to each other because it is the similarities and differences between all four texts that...

Plato and Aristotle both reject the moral relativism of the sophists and address the question of how man can achieve absolute virtue. In The Republic, Plato constructs an existence proof, a kallipolis that produces philosopher-kings who grasp the eternal Good and rule benevolently. Aristotle discusses...

For most people today, being a good person simply means following a set of commonly agreed upon moral guidelines. However, those guidelines have increasingly been getting blurred and convoluted from culture to culture and generation to generation. The question remains whether the definition of morality...

Happiness is a world that is often characterized as subjective and or synonymous with success which too can be just as personal as the word happiness. However, Aristotle would describe happiness with an activity. An activity that pushes us toward a state of Eudaimonia. So,...

In Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle puts forth his theory in relation to one’s responsibility, their character acquisition, and their actions in his book. He also provides objections to his claims, most notably in 1114b, where Aristotle suggests that people may not be responsible for any...

The idea of deliberation day as set out in the paper co-authored by Ackerman and Fishkin proposes a new national holiday for large scale deliberative polling which gives citizens the opportunity to become better informed about upcoming major elections, to intensely question the candidates on...

As we get older, we realize that not many things in life are timeless, but rather fads. That shirt that was trendy in high school, or that band that was always on the radio. Trends come and go, but ethos pathos logos is here to...

The study’s epicenter of discussion is the comparison between the Indian Buddhist logic, initiated by the founder of Buddhism – Gautama Buddha and then carried further and deeper into the intricate and finer details by the various scholars of the Buddhist school of thought, with...

In today’s modern age originally, Aristotle defined rhetoric by any way of persuasion while appealing to emotion. Aristotle defines rhetoric as the counterpart of dialectic. A more definitive description of rhetoric is using symbolisms as a method of persuasion to clarify or an understanding. How...

Courage and justice have been two highly discussed values throughout the semester, and in this essay I will seek to connect the two together as well as relating the ideas in accordance with Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, The Illiad, and The Epic of Gilgamesh. According to...

Aristotle defines courage as the mean between cowardice and rashness. (Aristotle,49) On one end stands the ultimately fearful man who, for example, allows others take advantage of him or flees the country in the face of being drafted into a war. On the other hand...

Aristotle’s favorite tragedy was Oedipus the King by Sophocles. The play begins with the Laius and Jocasta, the king and queen of Thebes. Upon the birth of their son, Oedipus, an oracle proclaims that he will kill his father and marry his mother. Petrified the...

How can you classify forms according to Plato? According to Plato’s Theory of Forms, the physical world isn’t necessarily the real world, rather reality exists beyond the physical world. There are two realms; the physical realm and the Realm of Forms. The physical realm consists...

Psychology is something we can learn from the weather from history, current concerns or future considerations. However, by looking at it right now is insufficient to explain why modern psychology evolved as it did. In order to understand its interests and dealings with life, we...

Tragedy is a serious play in which the main character is characterized to have some psychological weakness, thereby going through a series of misfortunes that lead to his destructive end. Aristotle in his Poetics posited that catharsis is the defining feature and definitive end of...

The Major of Casterbridge Aristotle was one of the greatest philosophers of Ancient Greece. His analysis of the ideal form of tragic plays has become a guideline for later playwrights in Western Civilization. The most important element of Aristotelian tragedy is the experience of catharsis...

As A.E. Haigh notes, Aristotle treats Aeschylus with complete indifference in the Poetics. Throughout his writings, the standards of dramatic writing are supplied by Sophocles and Euripides. He fully recognizes Aeschylus’ role in the introduction of a second actor and in the expansion of dialogue,...

The rationale of the Dalai Lama has been a concept passed down from many generations. Being a line of reincarnations, very rarely have the morals deviated from the original Dalai Lama. Said to embody compassion, the Dalai Lama defined his duty to serve humanity. In...

Not all are equal in Plato’s Republic or Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics and Politics. Plato and Aristotle argue that people possess a certain natural ability that determines their role in society. The fundamental character of one’s soul, in part, determines this natural ability. As not all...

What does it mean to be human? We are “decision-making creatures capable of overruling [their] own instincts.” It naturally follows that those tools which enable humans to exhibit these unique characteristics are the most essential to human existence and evolution. For thousands of years, Rhetoric...

The leadership of the Leviathan, or, the ‘mortal god’, is a central theme in Thomas Hobbes’ theoretical masterpiece, The Leviathan. Literally, the word Leviathan comes from the Hebrew word livyathan, which etymologically denotes “to wind, turn, twist”[1]. In biblical tradition, it refers to the “dragon,...