The great Greek philosopher Aristotle was born in 384 BC and was most likely not Greek, but Macedonian. His father, Nicomachus, was a physician to the Macedonian king Amyntas.
At the age of eighteen, he joined Plato’s Academy in Athens. He stayed there for nineteen years, until the death of his teacher, with whom he was closely connected but also disagreed. After Plato’s death, Speusippus took over the leadership of the Academy, and Aristotle left Athens.
Around 343 BC, Philip of Macedon invited him to educate his son, Alexander, who was then thirteen years old. Aristotle accepted the invitation and went to Macedonia. His influence on Alexander was certainly significant, although it is known that they diverged in terms of connecting Greek and Oriental cultures because Aristotle did not consider it possible.
He returned to Athens in 335 BC and founded his own philosophical school, the Lyceum. There, while walking in the morning hours, he debated with his students about the deepest philosophical questions.
They named them Peripatetics (peripateo, Gr. to wander, to walk) because of that. In the afternoon, he presented more accessible topics to a wider audience: rhetoric, sophistry, and politics.
Alexander’s death (323 BC) caused an anti-Macedonian movement in Athens, which was also manifested in hostility towards Aristotle. He was accused of atheism, and Athens committed a third offense against philosophy (after the exile of Anaxagoras and the death of Socrates). He went to Chalcis, where Macedonian influence was strong. He died there in 322 BC.
Work
Aristotle had exceptional intellectual abilities. He consolidated invaluable scientific material, which allowed him to advance the knowledge of his time. He collected almost all of the available literature on Greek philosophy from its very beginnings, studied it, and built his philosophical system on it. We can freely say that with Aristotle, Greek philosophy reached its full and complete maturity.
However, his fundamental philosophical character The characteristic of Aristotle was rationalizing certain knowledge he received from Plato, and he presented it in a way that was close to the mentality and state of the historical period of Greece at that time.
He wrote exoteric books, intended for a wide audience, and others, philosophical or esoteric, which dealt with fundamental philosophical questions and were intended only for a narrow core of his students. Unfortunately, some of his written works have been lost, and of the remaining ones, only a small part is considered authentic Aristotelian texts because some were written by his students, and others were repeatedly edited centuries after his death.
Aristotle is recognizable in the history of philosophy because his works do not contain inserted myths and he does not have his own daemon speaking to him in moments of inspiration. He is purely and completely rational. He speaks a language that enables everyone to understand his doctrines and works.
Practical philosophy
For Aristotle, philosophy was not just a love for knowledge, but also a practical way of life. He believed that philosophy should not be separated from daily life, but should be applied to improve individuals and society as a whole. Aristotle saw practical philosophy as a means to achieve happiness and virtue.
Practical philosophy, according to Aristotle, encompasses ethics and politics (including economics, which can be attributed to politics as the comprehensive concern for the common good, the science of individual and social human life). By nature, man is a political being, or as we would say today, a social being, because only in community with other people can man fulfill his purpose through action or participation. Practical philosophy is man’s striving for the best life, achieved through conscious use of his will in action, in order to fully realize his humanity.
The good that is inherent to man is the activity of the soul guided by virtue… Virtue is a state of the soul in which the soul is detached from all passions and in complete tranquility.
One of the ethical works, out of the three attributed to Aristotle, is Nicomachean Ethics. It is the first fully preserved work in the field of Hellenistic ethics that expresses the morals and habits of the Hellenic people. It is named after Aristotle’s son Nicomachus, who edited the work for publication. In it, Aristotle states that the Good is the aim of all human actions. The aim of every science, every intellectual inquiry, is something good that we desire to attain. The goals we seek are different; for example, the goal of medicine is health.
So what would then be the highest Good? For Aristotle, the highest Good is eudaimonia (a good or flourishing spirit), and it is translated as happiness or bliss. Already in the first book of Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle says: As for the word itself, almost everyone agrees, because both the common people and the educated ones say that it is bliss, thus identifying “living well” and “acting well” with “being blissful.”
Bliss is not the same for everyone: some place it in pleasure (the realm of the senses), while others place it in completely opposite realms. From poverty to wealth, from illness to health, etc. It depends on a person’s life direction and position they find themselves in.
Aristotle is teaching Alexander the Great.
Furthermore, one wonders what kind of happiness would be inherent to human nature? It cannot be mere vegetative existence, as that would equate humans with plants. Similarly, it cannot be sensory life, as animals possess that as well. It must be something unique to humans, which is the life of the soul harmonized with reason.
Aristotle states: The good inherent to humans is the activity of the soul guided by virtue. And if there are multiple virtues, then it is the activity guided by the most perfect and sublime one. Therefore, true human satisfactions are actions in harmony with virtue. Can this be learned? Yes, but how? Aristotle says that happiness is not bestowed by the gods, it is acquired through practicing virtue and gradually adopted over time. Since happiness is the result of specific actions of the soul guided by the highest virtue. m, it is necessary to study virtues.
Some of the virtues are called intellectual virtues (wisdom, knowledge, talent, prudence, etc.), while others are called moral virtues (nobility, temperance, etc.).
Intellectual virtues are born out of learning, while moral virtues are born out of habits, out of customs. Nature has made us capable of acquiring virtues, but it is action that develops them within us: one becomes a musician by composing music, and by enacting justice, one becomes just. Therefore, we must practice virtues in order to cultivate certain qualities within ourselves. Accordingly, morality is a matter of practice, an activity whose goal is the activity itself.
It is necessary to act in accordance with Reason, which means to distance oneself from extremes, from any excess or deficiency. We should always strive for a balance, for the middle way. Thus, virtue arises from moderation, from the right measure, and vice arises from excess or deficiency in the same.
If the noblest qualities in the human soul are corrupted by pleasure or if some virtues are not properly practiced, then our character becomes weakened and our actions become distorted. Our actions should be guided by reason and virtue in order for our lives to be truly fulfilling and for us to reach our full potential as human beings. Whether it is pleasure or pain, we must say that virtue is a state of the soul in which the soul is separate from all passions and in complete tranquility. Virtue is what guides us in the best possible way in terms of pleasures and pains.
By repeatedly performing acts guided by virtue, the soul will learn to distance itself from everything that can occupy its attention. Virtue is a habit, a characteristic that depends on our will, and is directed by the mind as a true wise person would. It cannot be imposed because it is a chosen and acquired state through personal free will.
Aristotle concludes his Nicomachean Ethics by introducing his next work, which is Politics. For him, ethics and politics were inseparable as ethical action determines the quality of politics.
Aristotle systematically addressed the problems of society and the state in eight chapters of his book Politics. Unlike his teacher Plato, he builds his approach to practical philosophy using the inductive method. He starts from the existing state of current Greek reality. Aristotle’s approach to ethics encompasses both individual life and the benefits of prudence, as well as the approach to society and politics.
He believes that the connection between ethics and politics is necessary for the development of individuals in a community, expressing themselves as members of the state.
Aristotle argues that ethics and politics share the same goal of caring for the soul and educating citizens. Therefore, the fundamental concept shared by ethics and politics is justice, seen as the highest virtue in both individual actions and the harmonious organization of the state.
His student Alexander the Great expanded the connection between ethics and politics beyond the boundaries of the polis and Greek culture by connecting the Greek culture with Oriental culture, which led to the emergence of Hellenism.
Later, the Roman Stoics further advanced the understanding of practical philosophy by introducing the ethical and political concept of a citizen of the world.
Aristotle’s work, together with the teachings of his teacher Plato, forms the foundation of philosophical and scientific thought in Western civilization. Emija and licej are still names of the most important educational institutions in today’s world, the question is only to what extent the goal of these modern institutions is aligned with the idea of justice as the greatest virtue in individual action and in the structure of a state.
1 Virtue or excellence is excellence, honor, nobility.