1. Basic concepts of Aristotelian philosophy
Theoretical Philosophy
Practical Philosophy
Physis (nature), zoe (life)
Psyche (soul), nous (mind, reason)
Taxis (order), kosmos (world-order)
Cause or reason (aitia)
To on (being), ousia (substance), genesis (becoming)
Potency (dynamis) and act (energeia)
Anthropos (man)
Empeiria (experience)
Techne (art)
Theoria (contemplation) and praxis (action)
Polis (city-state)
Arete (virtue) and Eudaimonia (well being, happiness, flourishing)
Logos (speech/reason)

2. Logos a given language OR speech OR reason
that through which experience is known by human beings
frames all things, but it is possible for human beings to become aware of that conceptual framework, its norms (logic) and its limitations
“Men think there are many logoi, but in reality (physis) there is only one.” –Heraclitus
“In the beginning was the Logos.” - John

3. Nature and Life Nature/physis = Nature = Life/zoe = Life =
1st concept of Greek philosophy
Known by science (episteme)
Nature =
One material totality
Repetitive patterns of being/destruction
Operates in and of itself, toward ends
Life/zoe =
self-moving
self-replicating reality
Life =
Basic form of Nature
Goal-directed: teleology of form and function
Individuals and natural kinds; all part of the Whole

4. Nature
Nature (physis) presents itself as emergent reality, one material world in which human persons are embedded, one mysterious whole – but one which, in Aristotle’s view, is basically ordered toward goals or end states (teloi).

5. Teleological Nature Telos = goal or end state.
teleological structure = designed so as to achieve goals (e.g. roots, leaves, seeds)
teleological behavior = functional, i.e. occurs in order to bring about certain ends (e.g. absorb water, etc.)

6. Soul and Mind
Soul/psyche= principle of self-movement and consciousness
Body and Soul =
Separate entities (Platonic dualism)
Different aspects of zoon, living being (Aristotelian functionalism)
Soul = offshoot of, dependent on body (scientific materialism)
Mind/nous = principle of intellectual life and of knowledge
Mind or Reason =
operates on sense-experience (aesthesis)
structured by essential concepts, rules
substance vs. property
principle of non-contradiction
directed toward its own end = truth

7. Order and World Order/taxis = mathematical structure
Basic pattern of rationality
Mathematical, e.g. numerical or geometrical basis
Inherent in some physical things, e.g. musical harmony
World/kosmos = orderly structure of the universe
Rational order, knowable by man
Wholistic structure of beauty and value (kosmos)
Evidence of harmony and of Divine Mind

8. Cosmos
The “fixed stars” rotate around the geocenter, where elemental earth gathered, then water, air and fire. Sun, moon and planets circle in other orbits. Earth and Man are in the center, God at the outer limit, moving it all…

9. Cause (aitia) = why something is as it is
Material cause = material basis for something e.g. why did the knife break? ans. The metal was brittle
Agent or efficient cause = entity which brings something about, e.g. builder of boat, cue ball of other ball’s motion
Formal cause = structural explanation of something e.g. why did that animal chase the cat? ans. It is a dog; that is what dogs do.
Final cause = explanatory purpose or goal , e.g. why did the Athenians attack Melos? ans. To secure a harbor midway to Sparta.

10. Being, Substance, Properties and Becoming
Being = ‘what is’ but also and especially ‘what is enduring/permanent’
Substance= core notion of ‘being’
Substance qua entity (Categories)
Substance qua ‘soul’ (Metaphysics)
Properties = predicated esp. of substances
Essential = define X as being of that kind (e.g. rationality of man)
Accidental or incidental = can lose without changing identity (e.g. color of man’s hair)
Becoming = phenomena of change, transformation, including coming-into existence and going-out-of existence
Aristotle: There an “essential structure” of being.

11. Potency and Act
Potency (dynamis) = natural possibility, “power” or “potentiality” that something has, esp. by virtue of its nature
Act (energeia) = natural actualization or activity that something has, esp. by virtue of its nature. When something does what fulfills its nature, it exhibits “en-tel-echeia,” fulfillment or being-in-its-perfected-state. In this sense, “developmental becoming” is actually a form of “being.”

12. Concepts of Human-Being
Man (anthropos) = human = rational animal, center of kosmos
Theory (theoria) and Action (praxis) = two basic modes of human life, realms of knowledge and freedom
Experience (empeiria) and Art (techne) = human creativeness, source of enduring human world, division between man and nature
Household (oikos) = locus of human family
City-State (polis) = center of human world, law and public action
Virtue (arete) and Happiness (eudaimonia) = principles of Greek ethics
Logos (language, reason) = form of human mind, experience, communication

14. Man
“Man is the measure of all things, both of the things that are and how they are, and of the things that are not and how they are not.”
–Protagoras
“Man is the rational political animal (zoon politikos echein logon).”
--Aristotle

15. Logos = language OR speech OR reason
= that through which experience is known by human beings
= common medium of human life, Pol. I
= scientific (apophantic), rhetorical (persuasive) or poetic
Logos frames all things, but it is possible for human beings to become aware of that conceptual framework, and its limitations

16. Experience (empeiria) and Art (techne)
Stabilizes perceptual memories in a single form
= knows individuals, not universals
Can = basis for prediction. action
Lacks techne-knowledge of ‘universal pattern’ or ‘nature’ of things involved
why X causes blood to congeal in Z type bodies
why there is a lunar eclipse this date every 10 years
Creates enduring world of human artifacts, including
Temples, warships, homes, monuments
Works of art music poetry
Laws and government
Implies a good to be achieved, and knowledge of how to achieve it
Divides nature into human vs. non-human
Q: Is there an ‘art’ of living? Or is living wisely a something beyond ‘craft’ and ‘technique’?

18. Polis
Polis = civilized community, center of government including military life
Greek city-state = stage of political life, place to win enduring “name/identity”
Linked to democracy, demos (the People), as well as law
Contrast to oikos, private world of family
Praises the “life of action,” citizen rather than the “life of the mind,” philosopher

20. Arete and Eudaimonia Virtue/excellence (arete) = key ethical values
Courage, resilience (andreia)
Self-restraint/moderation (sophrosyne)
Justice/uprightness (dikaiosyne)
Wisdom/prudence (phronesis)
Well-being/lasting happiness (eudaimonia) = ‘activity-goal’ of human life (what everyone seeks to have and be)
Q: Is happiness found in having, doing or being? In family or fame, wealth or knowledge?