Essay Example on Aristotle: The Greatest Thinker & His Lasting Impact

Introduction

As one of the greatest thinkers in ancient Greek, Aristotle's work has impacted significantly on ethics, psychology, and politics. He also holds the title of the greatest philosopher and his contributions to almost every aspect of human life is evident and long lasting in fields like agriculture, medicine, mathematics, logic, physics, dance, and theatre. Aristotle founded the Lyceum and the Peripatetic school of philosophy as well as the Aristotelian tradition. The following is a comprehensive analysis of some of his most monumental philosophical works throughout his lifetime.

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The Philosophy of Nature

Research indicates that Aristotle had a lifelong interest in the study of nature. The aspects of nature that spiked his interest include motion, place and time, and causation Bodnar & Istvan (2006). He also carried out systematic explanations through explorations of the phenomenon that is nature across several natural domains. Aristotle provides a comprehensive theoretical framework for nature in physics which he presents, in one of his several treatises, in two folds; the inquiry about nature and the treatment of motion Bodnar & Istvan (2006). Through natural philosophy, Aristotle helps us understand his work by setting out the concepts of his analysis, defining his instrumental concepts as well as arguing for his specific topics of interest including place and time, motion, and causation as mentioned earlier. It is through his work that we can understand the concept of the existence of a supra-physical being or entity, as the unmoved mover of the universe, without which Aristotle states that the physical aspect of the world would cease to exist. It is his interest in natural philosophy that paves the way for some of his greatest achievements in fields including psychology, biology, and physics.

Aristotle, in his discovery and developments in physics, states that almost all there is to know about the world, is contained in it; physics. According to him, nature is a fundamental principle of change that is at rest. This means that reference to the kind of any entity at rest or in motion can be used to explain the event. A description of how-the extent, other processes involved, and due to what agency-the preconditions for the operation of change or of being at rest are present, but once we have provided an account of these preconditions, we have given a complete consideration of the process, Rashed & Marwan (2005). The preemption of the relevant circumstances when trying to explain the nature of an entity or the process can cause disparities. Life can be contrasted with active dynamics which comprises of the external factors of either change or the state of being at rest. According to Aristotle, nature is consistent of both active and inactive potentialities which dictate that once nature is in operation, it becomes less critical that further active or inactive capacities should be introduced. This is further emphasized in his focus on nature as a platform for causal explanations and explorations.

Empedocles had suggested that there exists only four natural elements; the air, fire, earth, and water. However, Aristotle argued that another aspect of nature existed which he referred to as the celestial "aether" a term he used to allude to the stars calling them the higher and the lesser light of heaven. According to him, the four natural elements are subject to change, generation, and destruction, as opposed to aether which is constant Rashed & Marwan (2005). It is this reasoning that paved the way for the study and the discoveries made in phase transition. His work redefined the elements of nature which then acted as the driving force for the development of new ideas in phase transition. It can be deduced from his conclusion that celestial bodies are not inclusive of the four natural elements because they are unchangeable. Therefore, aether is an ethereal element while the aforementioned natural elements are terrestrial.

Aristotle argues that nature, the universe, lies on the two ends of a scale. One end represents form without matter while the other represents matter without form. According to him, when matter changes in to form, the various stages of this process must be shown in the world of nature, and that function and end are attributes of everything in it because nothing exists in nature without purpose. Failing to accept the definition of space as void, Aristotle disagrees with the Pythagoreans and Plato's view that elements are made up of geometrical figures Des & Dennis (2000). He argues that if nature did not change in form, time would be inexistent. Time is a measure of motion, hence the correlation between space, time, and motion. He further argues that space and time have the potential to be divisible but that they are not divided.

Aristotle is credited with trying to explain gravity. He suggested that all elements tend to move towards their natural spaces which are determined by their composition. For instance, smoke is air-like, which explains why it tends to move upwards into the atmospheric air. Aristotle also suggested that the earth is spherical Des & Dennis (2000). It is through his contributions to physics that other scholars including Newton and Alexander the Great were able to develop and advance their theories in physics and other fields. The scope with which nature is observed and physics theorized in the Western culture is attributed to Aristotle hence another of his titles; the father of Western philosophy.

Aristotle's work on natural philosophy is quite easy to understand owing to the presentation of ideas and the flow of information depicted by the interconnection of ideas. The work is a presentation of observations, evaluations, experimentations, analysis of the concepts of other scholars, and his point of view. Even though it is bulky, it is quite easy to read and understand. The systematic and categorical presentation of information in Aristotle's work makes it hard to disagree with it. It is not just plastered points and empty conclusions, he provides irrefutable evidence to support his findings, suggestions, and conclusions. It is hard not to like his work.

Aristotle's natural philosophy is a reflection of the never-ending nature of knowledge acquisition and learning in general. Scholars before him had attempted to explain things such as nature and its elements including Plato. Aristotle continued their work and either agreed or disagreed with their findings while making discoveries of his own. His work reflects positively in our world today as can be seen in the growing vastness of physics as a subject and the impacts of its study in our lives. There is also an increasing number of people interested in studying nature and its element. Other philosophers agree that Aristotle's work is phenomenal in addition to its profound impacts on close to every aspect of our existence. His work relates to very many fields and topics in education even outside of philosophy. I would recommend it to anyone seeking to gain a deeper understanding of philosophy, physics, and even nature as it contains significant insights in these fields.

Works Cited

Des Chene, Dennis. Physiologia: Natural philosophy in Late Aristotelian and Cartesian thought. Cornell University Press, 2000.

Rashed, Marwan. De la generation et la corruption. Belles lettres, 2005.

Bodnar, Istvan. "Aristotle's natural philosophy." (2006).