Free Flashcard From Classical and Hellenistic Greece
Question:
ARISTOTLE
Answer:
384 - 322 B.C.- MOST FAMOUS PUPIL OF PLATO.- DEPARTED FROM PLATO'S THEORY OF EXTERNAL EVENTS (FORMS THAT CANNOT BE PERCEIVED BY THE SENSES).- INVESTIGATED ALL FIELDS OF LEARNING. HE AND HIS PUPILS MET IN THE LYCEUM (IN ATHENS) DEVOTING THEMSELVES TO COLLECTING AND SYSTEMATIZING KNOWLEDGE IN ALL FIELDS INCLUDING:- POLITICS - A STUDY OF GOVERNMENT OF OVER 150 CONTEMPORARY STATES. OF THE THREE PURE FORMS OF GOVERNMENT, i.e., MONARCHY, ARISTOCRACY, AND MODERATE DEMOCRACY, HE EXPRESSED PREFERENCE FOR MODERATE DEMOCRACY. CHIEF GOAL OF GOVERNMENT IS TO CREATE THE GOOD LIFE FOR BOTH THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE GOVERNMENT.- ETHICS - HAPPINESS IS THE GREATEST GOOD OF THE INDIVIDUAL. PEOPLE MUST SEEK MODERATION TO ACHIEVE THIS.- POSTULATED ON HIS CONCEPTION OF THE UNIVERSE MADE UP OF 5 ELEMENTS. STARS MOVE IN A CIRCULAR FASHION AND OUTSIDE THE WHOLE UNIVERSE THERE EXISTS AN EXTERNAL "PRIME MOVER", i.e., GOD WHO DOES NOT MOVE OR CHANGE.- ALSO WROTE EXTENSIVELY ON BIOLOGY.