Arostotle

OVER 2,300 years ago, Aristotle made major contributions to science and philosophy.  His works have commanded sustained interest and have been widely translated and studied. History Professor James MacLachlan wrote that "Aristotle's views of nature dominated European thought for almost 2,000 years." Some  of Aristotle's views even influenced Catholic and Protestant teachings, as well as Islam.

His Range of Interests Was Vast

Aristotle wrote about art, astronomy, biology, ethics, language, law, logic, magnetism, metaphysics, motion, pleasure, poetry, politics, psychology, and rhetoric, as well as the soul, which he viewed as mortal. His fame, however, rest foremost  on his work in biology and logic.

Ancient Greek scholars relied on their powers of observation, deduction, and logic to explain the natural world.  Starting with what they considered to be obvious truths, they believed that if they reasoned carefully on such truths, they would be able to come to correct conclusions.

Guided by that philosophy, the did draw a number of sound conclusions-one being that there was an underlying order in the universe.  A major problem, however, was that their powers of observation were limited to their unaided senses-a  limitation that led many brilliant men, including Aristotle, astray.   For instance they believed that the planets and stars moved around the earth. At that time, this was considered to be a self-evident truth.  "Both reason and experience seem to confirm he Greek view of an earth-centered universe," states the book The Closing of the Western Mind.

That mistaken view would have been of little consideration had it remained purely in the realm of science.  But it did not. 

Next time: Aristotle/ Catholicism Embraces Aristotle

From the Awake! magazine