Aristotle Essays and Term Papers
Last update: August 29, 2014-
Aristotle on Tragedy - the Nature of Tragedy
The Nature of Tragedy: In the century after Sophocles, the philosopher Aristotle analyzed tragedy. His definition: Tragedy then, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative; through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions. Aristotle identified six
Rating:Essay Length: 1,040 Words / 5 PagesSubmitted: December 4, 2008 -
The Mind: Aristotle Kant and Socrates
Daniel C. Dennet said in A Glorious Accident that, "our minds--if you like-- [are] just as real as our dreams"(Kayzer, 37). The implications of this statement are substantial, for if this is true--if our minds and our consciousness are just dreams or the constructs of our brain, what we perceive, our memories, and our sense of reality are nothing more than illusions. Not only is this scientifically a valid statement, but it forces us to
Rating:Essay Length: 2,327 Words / 10 PagesSubmitted: January 9, 2009 -
Hamlet Analyzed in Terms of Aristotle's Poetics
Hamlet Analyzed in Terms of Aristotle's Poetics Aristotle's Poetics is considered the guide to a well written tragedy; his methods have been used for centuries. In Aristotle's opinion, plot is the most important aspect of the tragedy, all other parts such as character, diction, and thought stem from the plot. Aristotle defines a tragedy as "…an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind
Rating:Essay Length: 974 Words / 4 PagesSubmitted: January 11, 2009 -
Aristotle’s Eudaimonia
ARISTOTLE'S EUDAIMONIA Eudaimonia stands for happiness in Greek. Aristotle argues that the highest good for human beings is happiness. He insists that every action performed by humans is to pursue happiness. Aristotle also argues that human action is always aimed at some end or good. This "good" may not be viewed as a good action or any good by others, but for the doer of the action ("good"), the activity will be perceived as good
Rating:Essay Length: 1,039 Words / 5 PagesSubmitted: November 8, 2009 -
Philosophies of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle
Philosophies of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle The philosophies of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle had different points of-view but they were also similar in some ways. For example, all three philosophers had their own thoughts on the subject of justice and government. Socrates belief on this matter was that democracy was an unwise form of government. He thought that the electing of the people was unfair justice. Plato had some of the same beliefs. He believed
Rating:Essay Length: 425 Words / 2 PagesSubmitted: November 8, 2009 -
Aristotle Ethics
Ekta Yadav Phil.322 2/19/07 Aristotle Ethics Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics provides a sensible account for what true moral virtue is and how one may go about attaining it. Aristotle covers many topics that help reach this conclusion. One of them being the idea of mean between the extremes. Although Aristotle provided a reliable account for many philosophers to follow, Rosalind Hursthouse along with many others finds lose ends and topics which can be easily misinterpreted in
Rating:Essay Length: 657 Words / 3 PagesSubmitted: November 9, 2009 -
Aristotle and Virtue
Aristotle believes that we need virtue, both of thought and of character, to achieve that completeness leading to happiness. This is the function: activity in the soul in accord with virtue, where soul is defined as what is in us that carries out our characteristic activity. Aristotle is right in believing we need virtue. The end of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics Book I introduces the idea that since happiness is “a certain sort of activity of
Rating:Essay Length: 513 Words / 3 PagesSubmitted: November 14, 2009 -
Aristotle
As Aristotle viewed the world around him, he observed that things are moving and changing in certain ways. Aristotle discovered that certain things cause other things, which in turn cause something else. Aristotle believed that an infinite chain of causation was not possible, thus, a prime mover of some kind must exist as the first cause of everything that changes or moves. The first evidence that Aristotle viewed was the world around him. He
Rating:Essay Length: 2,154 Words / 9 PagesSubmitted: November 15, 2009 -
Achieving Excellence in Terms of Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics
Before actually focusing on the main details of Aristotle's Argument, we must pay careful attention to the opening remarks he makes in Book I about the nature of his inquiry. The first important point that he stresses is that the study of the character of human beings is dependent on what a human being is. Aristotle states that that a human is not a man that lives in isolation, but a man that also lives
Rating:Essay Length: 815 Words / 4 PagesSubmitted: November 16, 2009 -
Aristotle’s Theory of Human Nature
Aristotle (together with Socrates and Plato) is one of the most important founding figures in Western philosophy. He was the first to create a comprehensive system of philosophy, encompassing morality and aesthetics, logic and science, politics and metaphysics. Aristotle believed that human beings are “featherless bipeds”. This has to do with his theory of politics because Aristotle’s view on politics is essentially fascist. I personally don’t agree with Aristotle on the fact that he thinks
Rating:Essay Length: 374 Words / 2 PagesSubmitted: November 16, 2009 -
Aristotle’s Critique of Plato
Aristotle's Critique of Plato Aristotle took a distinct path verging from the foundation of Plato's philosophy. In order to control society Plato used the noble lie, so people under the state wouldn't question their place in life. Aristotle, on the other hand, used the idea of "civic virtue of friendship" to create a sense of community. "For Aristotle, friendship is a virtue "most necessary for our life." Without friendship, life would be missing a major
Rating:Essay Length: 477 Words / 2 PagesSubmitted: November 17, 2009 -
Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics
Aristotle In Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle makes the case for the fulfillment of Eudimonea, the greatest happiness and good that a person can achieve. He states that there are 3 ways in which creatures, human specifically go about trying to fulfill Eudimonea. The first is through pleasure, be it sensual, tactile or mental. Through this basic ingredient me experience such things as food, games, and science fiction novels. The 2nd part of Aristotle’s Eudimonea is honor
Rating:Essay Length: 428 Words / 2 PagesSubmitted: November 18, 2009 -
Aristotle - the Great
Aristotle the Great Aristotle was born in 384BC and lived to 322 BC. He was a Greek philosopher, logician, and scientist. Along with his teacher Plato, Aristotle is generally regarded as one of the most influential ancient thinkers in a number of philosophical fields, including political theory (Hines). Aristotle was born in Stagira in northern Greece, and his father was a court physician to the king of Macedon. As a young man he studied in
Rating:Essay Length: 1,557 Words / 7 PagesSubmitted: November 18, 2009 -
The Poetics by Aristotle & Hamlet by Shakespeare
Poetics and Hamlet Centuries ago, Aristotle laid down guidelines for criticizing dramatic works in his Poetics. This paper considers whether that structure is adequate for analyzing William Shakespeare’s Hamlet that was composed after Aristotle. The Poetics is too short to go into great detail, so we’ll have to use only the most basic of his definitions and guidelines for what dramatic works should entail. He begins by discussing poetry, then moves to tragedy, which he
Rating:Essay Length: 396 Words / 2 PagesSubmitted: November 22, 2009 -
Educating Ethical Behavior - Aristotle's Views on Akrasia
EDUCATING ETHICAL BEHAVIOR: ARISTOTLE'S VIEWS ON AKRASIA Deborah Kerdeman University of Washington "Can the teaching of ethics really help cleanse the business world of shady dealings?" Asked by Newsweek magazine during the height of the recent Wall-Street scandals,1 this query resonates with perennial concerns about whether or not virtue can be taught and how such instruction might best be effected. The problem, Newsweek declares, is not that students lack ethical standards or are incapable of
Rating:Essay Length: 2,901 Words / 12 PagesSubmitted: November 25, 2009 -
Reactionary Essay to If Aristotle Ran General Motors, by Tom Morris
Introduction In the book, If Aristotle Ran General Motors, Tom Morris argues that the teachings of the ancients can and should be applied to today's corporation. His message is that the four virtues - truth, beauty, goodness, and unity - form the foundation of human excellence. Putting them into practice leads not only to self-fulfillment, but ultimately to an open, nurturing, and ethical workplace that is more productive and successful in the long-term. The purpose
Rating:Essay Length: 1,306 Words / 6 PagesSubmitted: November 25, 2009 -
Philosophy В– Plato and Aristotle
Aristotle goes into a great detail discussing the life and nature of the city-state as well as the divisions within in. Like everything else that exists, the aim of the city is that it is there for the sake of something good. The city is in existence to serve some good purpose and to make the lives of those who live within it (its members) better. The city has the character of completeness and is
Rating:Essay Length: 2,480 Words / 10 PagesSubmitted: December 2, 2009 -
Aristotle
Aristotle, along with Plato and Socrates, are generally considered as the three most influential ancient Greek philosophers in Western thought. Among them they transformed Presocratic Greek philosophy into the foundations of Western philosophy as we know it. The writings of Plato and Aristotle form the core of Ancient philosophy. Aristotle placed much more value on knowledge gained from the senses and would correspondingly be better classed among modern empiricists (see materialism and empiricism). He also
Rating:Essay Length: 288 Words / 2 PagesSubmitted: December 3, 2009 -
Aristotle - the Greek Philosopher
The Greek philosopher, Aristotle, is known as one of the greatest philosophers and thinkers of all time. He was the student of another important philosopher, Plato, and is known for writing on a multitude of subjects. Aristotle was born in 384 BCE in Stagira, a city located in northern Greece. His father, Nicomachus, was a physician to King Amyntas of Macedonia. Because of his father, Aristotle had the same education as the aristocrats of that
Rating:Essay Length: 604 Words / 3 PagesSubmitted: December 5, 2009 -
Aristotle’s Happiness and Virtue
In Aristotle’s piece entitled “Happiness and Virtue,” he discusses the different types of virtues and generally how one can achieve happiness. According to Aristotle, human happiness is a life long process. It is continuously ongoing and the purpose has the end in itself. Happiness is an activity of the soul and in that is an ongoing actualization of the soul’s potential for virtue. Being virtuous is self- sufficient in itself and therefore leads to human
Rating:Essay Length: 442 Words / 2 PagesSubmitted: December 5, 2009 -
Aristotle's Model of the Universe
Aristotle's Model of the Universe It is important to point out that Aristotle used his theory of violent motion to develop a model for the Universe. Aristotle, and philosophers before him, knew that the night sky experienced many different cycles: day and night, monthly phases of the moon and the yearly cycle of the Sun (seasons). Thus they thought the celestial objects must be on perfect crystalline spheres (the circle and sphere were thought to
Rating:Essay Length: 3,948 Words / 16 PagesSubmitted: December 10, 2009 -
Aristotle on Poetry
The great British philosopher and mathematician Alfred North Whitehead once commented that all philosophy is but a footnote to Plato. A similar point can be made regarding Greek literature as a whole. It may be an exaggeration, but the ancient Greeks created masterpieces that have inspired, influenced, and challenged readers to the present day. Their brilliance is especially evident in the two quarrelsome fields of poetry and philosophy, where we see world of thought of
Rating:Essay Length: 573 Words / 3 PagesSubmitted: December 13, 2009 -
Plato and Aristotle
To compare the political theories of two great philosophers of politics is to first examine each theory in depth. Plato is regarded by many experts as the first writer of political philosophy, and Aristotle is recognized as the first political scientist. These two men were great thinkers. They each had ideas of how to improve existing societies during their individual lifetimes. It is necessary to look at several areas of each theory to seek the
Rating:Essay Length: 1,278 Words / 6 PagesSubmitted: December 17, 2009 -
Oedipus Rex and Aristotle
The Six Elements of a Tragedy in “Oedipus Rex” Aristotle’s “The Poetics” describes the process of a tragedy. It is not the guide per se of writing a tragedy but is the idea’s Aristotle collected while studying tragedies. A tragedy, according to Aristotle, consists of six major points. The first and most important is the plot, which is what all the other points are based on. Such points are: character, language, thought, melody, and spectacle
Rating:Essay Length: 924 Words / 4 PagesSubmitted: December 19, 2009 -
Aristotle and the Good
Aristotle has a view that humans do things to reach a higher level of good. Happiness is the highest good that people can attain. Though this is his view, Aristotle also says that people should not aim at happiness. He states that people do aim at what they believe to be happiness. To Aristotle, happiness is not a satiable goal for most humans. Only through living a completely virtuous life can people really understand happiness.
Rating:Essay Length: 345 Words / 2 PagesSubmitted: December 19, 2009