Aristotle was Plato's student and Alexander's teacher. In 335 BC, he established a school in Athens called Lv Keang, called Minstrel. Marx once called Aristotle the most learned figure among ancient Greek philosophers, and Engels called him ancient Hegel.
Aristotle, like Plato, advocates that education is the function of the state and schools should be managed by the state. He first put forward the viewpoint of children's physical and mental development stage; He is in favor of the education of Athens bodybuilding and harmonious development, and advocates that natural quality, habit formation and rational development should be the three sources of moral education, but he opposes women's education and advocates "elegant" education, so that education can serve leisure.
Aristotle devoted his life to academic research, which involved logic, rhetoric, physics, biology, education, psychology, politics, economics, aesthetics and so on. , and wrote a lot of works. His works are ancient encyclopedias, and it is said that there are 400 to 1000 books, mainly including instrumentalism, metaphysics, physics, ethics and politics. His thoughts have had a far-reaching impact on mankind. He founded formal logic, enriched and developed various branches of philosophy and made great contributions to science.
[Edit this paragraph] Life (1)
Aristotle was born in Starkila, Thrace, and his father was a doctor of the king of Macedonia. In 366 BC, Aristotle was sent to study in Plato's Academy in Athens, where he lived for the next 20 years until his teacher Plato died. After Plato's death, Aristotle left Athens because the new leader of the college was more sympathetic to the mathematical tendency in Plato's philosophy, which made Aristotle unbearable.
After leaving college, Aristotle accepted the invitation of his former classmate Hermias for the first time to visit Asia Minor. Hermia was then the ruler of Misia along the coast of Asia Minor. Aristotle also married Hermias' niece there. But in 344 BC, Hermias was murdered in a riot, and Aristotle had to leave Asia Minor and go to Terrini with his family.
Three years later, Aristotle was recalled to his hometown by King Philip II of Macedonia and became the teacher of Alexander the Great, who was only 13 years old at that time. Plutarch, a famous biographer in ancient Greece, believes that Aristotle instilled moral, political and philosophical education into the future world leader. We also have reason to believe that Aristotle also used his influence to play an important role in the formation of Alexander the Great's thought. It was under the influence of Aristotle that Alexander the Great always cared about science and respected knowledge. However, Aristotle and Alexander the Great may not have exactly the same political views. The former's political view is based on the declining Greek city-state, while the centralized empire established by Alexander the Great is tantamount to the invention of barbarians for the Greeks.
Although his students were already kings, Aristotle was not always with the king. He decided to return to Athens and set up his own college to teach philosophy. Aristotle attached great importance to teaching methods. He opposes rigid teaching methods, so he often takes students for a walk on Garden Avenue to discuss philosophy. So later generations called the Aristotelian School "Minstrel".
After Philip's death in 335 BC, Aristotle returned to Athens and established his own school there. The name of the college (Lv Keang) is named after the Wolf Killer (Lv Keang) near the temple of Apollo. During this period, Aristotle wrote many philosophical works while giving lectures. Aristotle has the habit of walking in corridors and gardens when giving lectures. Because of this, the philosophy of academy is called "carefree philosophy" or "wandering philosophy". Aristotle also wrote many works in this period, mainly about natural science and philosophy in Nature and Physics, and the language used was much more obscure than Plato's dialogues. Many of his works are based on class notes, and some are even the class notes of his students. So some people regard Aristotle as the author of the first textbook in the West. After Alexander's death, the Athenians began to rebel against Macedonian rule. Because of his relationship with Alexander, Aristotle was accused of ungodly and had to take refuge in Calais. His college was handed over to Theophrastos. A year later, in 322 BC, Aristotle died of a disease accumulated for many years. The rumor that he poisoned himself or committed suicide by jumping into the sea because he couldn't explain the tidal phenomenon was completely unfounded.
[Edit this paragraph] Life (2)
In 384 BC, Aristotle was born in Starkiel, a Greek colony in Laakia adjacent to Macedonia. His father was a court doctor of King Philip II of Macedonia. Judging from his family situation, he belongs to the middle class among slave owners. In 367 BC, he moved to Athens to study medicine, and studied at Plato College in Athens for many years, becoming an active participant in Plato College.
It is a very important stage for Aristotle to study philosophy with Plato in Athens from 18 to 38-20 years old, and his study and life during this period had a decisive impact on his life. Socrates was Plato's teacher and Aristotle was taught by Plato. These three generations of mentoring are all famous figures in the history of philosophy. In Plato's academy in Athens, Aristotle performed very well, and Plato called him "the spirit of the academy". But Aristotle is not a person who only worships authority. He only studies Nuo Nuo and has no ideas of his own. He is different from the teacher who talks about Hyunri. He worked hard to collect all kinds of books and materials, studied diligently and even set up a library for himself. According to records, Plato once satirized him as a bookworm. During his college years, Aristotle and his teacher had ideological differences. He once metaphorically said that wisdom will not die with Plato. When Plato reached his later years, the differences between his master and his disciples became even greater, and quarrels often occurred.
Plato died in 347 BC and Aristotle stayed in Athens for two years. After that, he began to travel around. In 343 BC, he was hired by King Philip II of Macedonia as the teacher of Prince Alexander. Alexander was thirteen and Aristotle was forty-two. In 338 BC, King Philip II of Macedonia defeated the anti-Macedonian Coalition forces composed of Athens, Thebes and other countries, and has since dominated Greece. The following year, Philip convened an all-Greece conference, agreeing that the Greek states would stop the war and establish a permanent alliance, with Macedonia as the leader. At the meeting, Philip announced that he would command the allied forces of the Greek States and make an expedition to Persia. At this point, Macedonia has actually mastered the military and political power of all Greece, and the Greek States have existed in name only and become vassals of Macedonia.
Philip was stabbed to death in 336 BC. His son Alexander, who was only twenty years old, became king. In 334 BC, Alexander led the Macedonian army and the Greek allied forces to Persia. In less than ten years, he defeated the Persian army, which claimed to be a million, and then destroyed the ancient Persian empire. An unprecedented Alexander Empire was established-its territory starts from Greece in the west, reaches the Indus River in the east, borders Egypt in the south and reaches Central Asia in the north. In 323 BC, Alexander died. This great empire, conquered by force, was divided into several independent kingdoms after melee.
In this turbulent era, Aristotle returned to Athens and lived there for twenty years, that is, from the year before Alexander's expedition to the year of Alexander's death. During this period, although Macedonia controlled Athens militarily and politically, there was still great anti-Macedonian potential there. Aristotle came to Athens, probably shouldering the political mission of persuading the Athenians to obey Macedonia. Aristotle received many preferential treatments in Athens. In addition to his prominent political position, he also received a lot of money, materials and land support from bureaucrats at all levels in Alexandria and Macedonia. Lv Keang College, founded by him, occupies a huge playground and garden area near the temple of Apollo Lv Keang. In the academy, there were first-class libraries and animal and botanical gardens at that time. He started his own school here. The teachers and students of this school are used to discussing problems while walking in the garden, hence the name "Bard". It is said that Alexander provided his teacher with research expenses for 800 golden claws (60 pounds of gold for each claw). Alexander also provided a lot of manpower for his teacher. He ordered his men to collect animal and plant specimens and other materials for Aristotle.
In fact, Aristotle's masterpiece can't be completed by one person. For example, he has outlined and analyzed 158 political systems, and it is impossible to complete a lot of collection and sorting work without the assistance of a group of assistants. When the news of Alexander's death reached Athens, there was an anti-Macedonian frenzy. The Athenians attacked Aristotle and sentenced him to blasphemy. Socrates was sentenced to death for blasphemy. But Aristotle finally fled Athens. The following year, he died of a serious illness at the age of 63.
[Edit this paragraph] Main viewpoints and main ideas
Aristotle divided science into:
(1) theoretical science (mathematics, natural science and the first philosophy later called metaphysics);
(2) Practical science (ethics, politics, economics, strategy and decoration);
(3) The science of creation, namely poetics.
[Edit this paragraph] (1) Philosophical aspects
Aristotle was first and foremost a great philosopher. Although he was a student of Plato, he gave up the idealistic view held by his teacher. Plato believes that idea is the prototype of physical object, which exists independently of physical object. Aristotle believes that the real world is made up of all kinds of things, and their forms and materials are harmonious. "thing" is the substance of things, and "shape" is the individual characteristic of all things. Just like a chicken flying around with wings, the "shape" of this chicken is that it can flap its wings, coo and lay eggs. When the chicken dies, the "form" no longer exists, leaving only the material of the chicken. Plato asserted that feeling cannot be the source of real knowledge. Aristotle believed that knowledge originated from feeling. These thoughts already contain some materialistic factors. Aristotle, like Plato, thinks that rational scheme and purpose are the guiding principles of all natural processes. But Aristotle's view of causality is richer than Plato's, because he accepted some views of ancient Greece on this issue. He pointed out that there are four main reasons. The first is the material reason, that is, the main substance that constitutes an object. The second is the form factor, that is, the design pattern and form given to the main substance. The third is the dynamic reason, that is, to realize the mechanism and function provided by this design. The fourth is the purpose, that is, the purpose of designing the object. For example, the Potter's clay provides the material reason for pottery, while the design style of pottery is the form reason, the Potter's wheels and hands are the motivation reason, and the expected use of pottery is the purpose reason. Aristotle himself took a fancy to the formal reason and purpose reason of objects, and he believed that formal reason was included in all natural objects and functions. At first, these formal reasons are potential, but once an object or creature develops, these formal reasons are revealed. Finally, when an object or organism reaches the completion stage, its finished product is used to achieve the original design purpose, that is, to serve the purpose. He also believes that in concrete things, there is no form without matter, and there is no matter without form. The process of combining matter with form is the movement of transforming potential into reality. This theory shows the idea of spontaneous dialectics.
Aristotle's greatest contribution to philosophy lies in the establishment of formal logic, an important branch discipline. Logical thinking is the pillar of Aristotle's outstanding achievements in many fields, and this way of thinking runs through his research, statistics and thinking. Of course, he also made mistakes, but not many times.
[Edit this paragraph] (2) Astronomy
Aristotle believes that the running celestial bodies are physical entities, and the earth is spherical and the center of the universe; The earth and celestial bodies are made up of different substances. Matter on the earth is composed of four elements: water, air, fire and earth, and celestial bodies are composed of the fifth element "ether".
[Edit this paragraph] (3) Physical aspects
Aristotle opposed atomism; Do not admit that there is a vacuum; He also believes that objects will only move under the impetus of external forces, and when the external forces stop, the movement will stop; It is also believed that free-falling objects fall faster than light objects (this conclusion was later overturned by Galileo)!
1. The terrestrial world consists of four elements: earth, water, air and fire. Each element represents a combination of two of the four basic characteristics (dry, wet, cold and hot). Soil = dry+cold; Water = wet+cold; Gas = wet+hot; Fire = dry+hot.
2. The celestial world consists of ether (planets, etc.). ).
In the mechanics of physics, Aristotle has made many achievements, but his mistakes are most often mentioned. Aristotle's hypothesis is that "every moving object must be pushed by a pusher-this is based on daily experience." If you see something moving, you will look for something to push it (such as our hands and bodies). When there is nothing to push it, it will stop moving, push it one by one, and it cannot be traced back indefinitely. There must be a first promoter. Medieval Christianity said that "the first promoter" refers to God, and combined Aristotle's theory with Christian teachings. This combination made Aristotle's theory an authoritative theory, and it was not until Newton's hand that the correct mechanical theory was established. In addition, Aristotle believed that heavy objects would fall faster than light objects. It was not until the16th century that the Italian scientist Galileo dropped two balls with different weights from the leaning tower of Pisa that this erroneous view was overthrown.
There is also Aristotle's view that white is a pure light, and all the colors we usually see are impure for some reason. This conclusion has been firmly believed until the17th century. To test a point, Newton placed a prism under the sun, and sunlight passed through the prism to form seven colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and purple.
[Edit this paragraph] (4) Biological aspects
He classified more than 500 different plants and animals, studied the anatomy of at least 50 animals, pointed out that whales were viviparous, and investigated the development process of chicken embryos. Alexander the Great often brought back various animal and plant specimens in his explorations.
Before Darwin, no one contributed more to our understanding of the biological world than Aristotle (384-322 BC). He has extensive knowledge of biology and a wide range of sources of knowledge. He was an apprentice to a doctor when he was young, and later lived in Lesbos for three years, spending a lot of time studying marine life. Almost all aspects of biological history begin with Aristotle. He was the first person to classify biology, and wrote special works for it (such as animal classification, animal reproduction, etc.). He first discovered the enlightening significance of comparative law and was naturally regarded as the founder of comparative law. He was also the first person to describe the life history of many animals in detail. He wrote the first book about reproductive biology and life history. He paid special attention to the phenomenon of biodiversity and the importance of differences between animals and plants. Although he did not put forward a formal classification, he classified animals according to certain standards, and his classification of invertebrates was more reasonable than that of Linnaeus after 2000. Physiologically, he mostly adopts traditional views, so he is not excellent. Compared with his predecessor, he is a firm empiricist. His inference is always based on his past observations. In his article De generatione animalium 760b28, he clearly pointed out that the information (knowledge) obtained from the senses is the first, which exceeds the information that rational thinking can provide. In this respect, he is completely different from the scholasticism of Aristotle school, who thinks that all problems can be inferred by inference alone.
Aristotle's remarkable feature is to examine the reasons. He was not satisfied with asking only "how" questions, but also "why" questions, which was very remarkable at that time. Why do organisms develop from fertilized eggs into complete adults? Why are there so many purposeful activities and behaviors in the biological world? He clearly understood that only the raw materials that make up the body do not have the ability to develop into complex creatures. There must be something extra. He called it eidos. Completely different from Plato's definition, Aristotle's eidos is the principle of program purpose. In his mind, the meaning expressed by this word is exactly the same as that expressed by the genetic program of modern biologists. Contrary to Plato, Plato believes that there is an external force to explain the order of nature, especially its tendency towards complexity and the realization of goals, while Aristotle believes that natural things act according to their own nature, and all natural phenomena are the performance of the action process or process. Because any process has a purpose, he believes that the study of purpose is the main part of the study of nature. So for Aristotle, all structures and biological activities have their biological significance, or as we say now, they all have their adaptive significance. One of Aristotle's main purposes is to explain these meanings. Aristotle's question of "why" is of great significance in the history of biology. . "Why?" This is the most important question raised by evolutionary biologists in their research. There are four views on the origin and essence of the world: (1) the temporary static world (the world created by Judaism and Christianity); (2) the still world with infinite duration (Aristotle's world view); (3) The world changes circularly, with peak periods and recession periods alternating; (4) The evolving world (Lamarck, Darwin's point of view). Aristotle thinks that the world is basically perfect, which excludes the view of evolution. Aristotle's advanced thought has only been fully affirmed in recent decades. In the past few centuries, he has become notorious for several reasons. One reason is that Thomas thinks he is their authoritative philosopher. Later, scholasticism was discredited, and Aristotle naturally followed suit. Another more important reason is that during the scientific revolution in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, almost all the emphasis was placed on physical science. Because Aristotle developed a famous philosophy of biology, unfortunately, he thought that the macro world and the micro world could be treated equally, so people quoted his biological thoughts into physics and cosmology. This has caused tragic consequences, as repeatedly accused by Bacon, Descartes and many other scholars in 16, 17 and 18 centuries. Considering that most of Aristotle's research is so excellent and creative, it is difficult to understand that these scholars criticize and ridicule him in various ways. With the liberation of biological science from physical science, the re-evaluation of Aristotle's importance in modern times has also increased. Only when we fully understand the duality of biological organisms now do we realize that the design blueprint of growth, development and function-genetic program is equivalent to the formative principle assumed by Aristotle. For hundreds of years, the philosophical and physical circles have turned a deaf ear to the views of some naturalists like Aristotle. They think that in order to form frogs from frog eggs and chickens from eggs, there must be more than the laws of physics (Meyer, 1976). It doesn't need any elves and demons, it just needs to admit that complex biological systems are the products of genetic programs with a history of more than three billion years. Generally speaking, it is nothing more than the absurd statement that the macro world and the micro world abide by the same law, which can cause arguments that consume unnecessary energy. There is no sign that this knowledge has spread to most philosophers, but biologists have begun to realize it. After Aristotle, three biological traditions in Greece continued to prevail. Natural history, especially the description and classification of plants, reached a new height in the works of TheophrastusS and Dioscorides, while Pliny (AD 23-79) was interested in zoology and was an encyclopedia editor. Biomedical tradition reached its peak in Galen (13 1 ~ 200), and its influence continued until19th century. In the philosophical circle after Aristotle, the division between Epicurism and Stoicism appeared. Epicurus (342-27 BC1) and his school, based on democritus's viewpoint, believed that everything was composed of unchanging atoms, which kept rotating and randomly collided with each other. Epicurus made a thoughtful materialistic explanation of the living and non-living worlds, and thought that everything happened through natural causes. At the scene, life is the result of the movement of inanimate matter. The behavior of life depends on how correctly configured atoms are assembled. His explanation is very modern. Lucretius (99-55 BC) was one of his followers and an uncompromising atomic materialist. Both of them opposed Aristotle's teleological thought. Lucretius put forward a well-reasoned argument about the concept of design. In addition, he also published some arguments, which were repeatedly mentioned in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. However, when he criticized some atomists, he tried to defend Aristotle. These atomists believe that lions and oak trees can be produced by the accidental interaction between water and fire. Galen agrees with him in this respect.
Epicurean argument is mainly aimed at Stoicism, which supports pantheism (polytheism) and believes that the world is designed and created for the benefit of mankind. According to their view, the purpose of philosophy is to know and understand the order of the world, and later natural theology originated from Stoicism. Stoicism does not admit that opportunity is one of the factors of the world; Think that everything is purposeful and certain. They are strict anthropocentrists, emphasizing the difference between intelligent humans and animals driven by instinct (Pohlenz, 1948).
From Lucretius and Galen to the Renaissance, there are no really meaningful events in biology. As far as I know, Arabs have not made an important contribution to biology, even though there are two famous Arab scholars who are extremely interested in biology, Avicenna (980- 1037) and Aberroth (Ibn Rosh,11198). However, the western world re-recognized Aristotle through Arab translation, which may be the greatest contribution of Arabs to the history of biology, while other contributions are more indirect. Greeks are great thinkers, but they don't attach importance to experiments. (Regenbogen, 193 1). On the contrary, Arabs are great experimenters, and they can even be said to have laid the foundation for the later experimental science. However, the journey to this ultimate goal is extremely tortuous, and metallurgy is the most important intermediate station.
[Edit this paragraph] (5) Logic and Mathematics.
Aristotle thinks that analysis or logic is the tool of all sciences. He is the founder of formal logic. He tried to link the form of thinking with existence, and expounded the category of logic according to the objective reality. Aristotle applied his findings to scientific theory. As an example, he chose mathematics, especially geometry, because geometry has changed from the experimental stage in which Thales wanted to give a reasonable explanation to the empirical law of land survey in the early stage to a relatively complete deductive form in the later stage. However, logical syllogism is really useless to experimental science. Because the goal of experimental science is discovery, not formal proof from recognized premise. Based on the premise that elements can no longer be divided into simpler objects, it is necessary to put forward a correct list of known elements in 1890, but by 1920, if this premise is used again, all radioactive elements will be excluded. Since the premise has changed, the meaning of the word "element" has also changed. However, this fact does not prove that syllogism is useless, nor can it be concluded that modern physics is wrong. Fortunately, modern experimenters no longer worry about logical forms, but under Aristotle's authority, Greek and medieval scientific circles used deductive methods to say that many wrong authorities were absolutely correct and made many wrong inferences with deceptive logical forms.
[Edit this paragraph] (6) Education