HUMAN BEING IN PLATO &

ARISTOTLE (2)
ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY

ARISTOTLE
o (384322 B.C.E.)
o Born at Stagira, in Macedonia, at northeastern Greece. (hence,
hes called the Stagirite)
o Born in Stagira, in Macedonia in Northern Greece.
o His father, Nicomachus, was physician of the grandfather of
Alexander the Great, (Amyntas II).
o At 17, he was sent to Athens to join the Academy of Plato, and
remained there until the death of Plato in 347.
o At the invitation of his friend Hermeas, ruler of Atarneus and
Assos in Mysia, Aristotle left Athens to be part of the Kings court.
o He stayed three year and, while there, married Pythias, the niece
of the King.
o After her death, he took a a second wife, Herpyllis, who bore him
son named Nicomachus.

ARISTOTLE
o After three years (and when Hermeas was overtaken by
the Persians), Aristotle was invited by King Philip of
Macedonia to tutor the young (13) Alexander.
o When Alexander succeeded King Philip as emperor,
and Aristotle returned to Athens.
o He established his own school at the Lyceum (public
exercise area dedicated to the god Apollo Lykeios,
whence its name, the Lyceum).
o When Pythias died, he took a a second wife, Herpyllis,
who bore him son named Nicomachus.

Aristotles Works
1. LOGIC:
e.g., Categories
2. METAPHYSICS:
e.g., Metaphysics
3. NATURAL PHILOSOPHY:
e.g., Physics
4. ON ANIMALS:
e.g., History of Animals

5. ON HUMANS:
e.g., De Anima
6. ETHICS AND POLITICS:
e.g., Nichomachean Ethics
7. AESTHETICS:
e.g., Rhetoric

HUMAN NATURE
A Teleological view
In Aristotles teleological universe, every living being has a
natural function.
Every living being strives naturally to become excellent
within its species, to develop as fully as possible into the
kind of thing that it is.
If left to themselves, acorns that are planted and have
sufficient nutrients will grow into oak trees.

HUMAN NATURE
A Teleological view
HUMANS act for purposes as well, purposes of which we
are often conscious and able to control.
They also have natural goals just like every other living
creatures.
Human beings have as their natural purpose to become
fully developed or self-actualized as human beings.

HUMAN NATURE
A Teleological view
HAPPINESS is the goal of human nature.
It is important for us to know just what it is that will really
make us happy.
It follows that we must understand first just what sorts of
beings we are (nature).
Understanding the nature of ourselves means for Aristotle,
as for Plato, that we understand the nature of our souls.

HUMAN NATURE
The Notion of the SOUL
Aristotle rejected Platos dualism (the soul is separate substance
although joined with the body)
For Aristotle the soul is the form of the body.
Souls exist together with matter to provide the structure and
function of all living beings.
All living beings have souls, though different sorts of souls.
Living beings differ from one another not because they are made
of different material components. Matter is the same sort of
thing in all beings.

FACULTIES OF THE SOUL

Plants souls: nutritive souls

Animals souls: sensitive souls
Human souls: rational
The soul of human being, as form of the body, is the
sum total of the operations of the human being.
3 dimensions/faculties of the soul:
1. Source of life
2. Source of sensory consciousness
3. Source of reason

REASON
Aristotle believed that reason is unique to human
beings.
This uniqueness defines what is most important about
human being.
Aside from natural biological functions & sensory
functions, our specifically human natural function is
the exercise of our reason.
Exercise of Reason:
Theoretical reason to seek wisdom, truth

REASON
Excellent use of reason is VIRTUE.
Intellectual virtues intellectual standards in thinking and
understanding well
Moral virtues moral standards in leading good and rational
lives

HAPPINESS is the end result for one who has a fully

developed human nature.

Freedom
We can freely choose one course of action over another.
Freedom of choice is a necessary condition for moral
responsibility.
Some behaviour is not the result of free choice.
Voluntary actions those that are caused by something in the agent
himself (either rational or irrational)
Involuntary actions those that take place under compulsion or
owing to ignorance

Moral Character
How do we develop our moral character? How do we learn what is
good for us?
1. Moral training our parents and other people tell us what is good
for us
2. Personal experience by experience we learn which sorts of
behaviors are good and which are not good for us
3. By example we learn from examples or lives of virtuous people
4. By figuring out for ourselves a process of practical reasoning
which is called PHRONESIS (or prudential reasoning)

Gender
For Aristotle women are inferior to men.
Women are inferior biologically and rationally.
In reproduction women contribute the body (matter), while
men provide the soul (form).
Women have less reason that men though much more
creatures of emotion and desire.
Just as reason rules over emotion and desire, so men must
rule women.