Transcript Aristotle “The Naturalist - 3rdgrade-libertyschool

Aristotle “The Naturalist”
Aristotle
• Born in 384.
• From the
northwestern
edge of the
Greek Empire in
Stagira.
• Father was
physician to
King Amyntas of
Macedonia.
A Student of Plato
• Aristotle came to Athens
to study under Plato from
the age of 18 to 37.
• Eventually he classified
the branches of
knowledge into
categories, including:
physics, psychology,
poetics, logic, and
rhetoric.
Works
Aristolte is said to have written twenty-seven dialogues
on a level comparable to Plato´s and it is through these
dialogues that he was best known in the ancient world.
Unfortunately they were all destroyed when the Visigoths
sacked Rome in 400 C.E.
Some of his works were a collection of six logical treatises:
Physics on Generation and Corruption, De Anima, On the
Heavens, The History of Animals, On the Parts of Animals
Metaphysics, Politics, Rhetoric, Poetics; and
The Nichomachean Ethics.
Aristotle´s Life
• Aristotle probably learned basic anatomy and dissection
from his father before he was sent to study in Plato´s
Academy in Athens at the age of 18, when he arrived
practically everyone noticed him, it was said by Plato that
Aristotle pay more attention to his clothes than was
proper for a philosopher, he immediately earned a
reputation as one of the Academy´s finest students, he
stayed with Plato 20 years.
• When Plato died, Aristotle was expected to be the next
master of the Academy, but they picked a Native
Athenian instead.
Tutor of Alexander the Great
• Around 340 B.C., when he was over 40, Aristotle
returned to his home, Stagira, and he became tutor to
the king’s son, the boy was wild and crude but he was
able to smooth his rough edges and instill in him respect
for knowledge, soon to become Alexander the Great.
Alexander, through military campaigns, would later
expand the empire of Greece to cover all of the Mideast
reaching all the way to India.
The Lyceum
• Aristotle named his school after the god Apollo Lyceus.
The Lyceum was built near some of the most elegant
buildings in Athens.
• In addition to philosophy, Aristotles curriculum included
tecnical lectures for limited audiences and popular
lectures of more general interest. Aristotle collected
hundreds of maps, charts and documents forming the
first important library in the west.
• The Lyceum students tended to be from the middle class,
whereas the students of the Academy were more
aristocratic.
Not Forgotten over the Ages
• Through the ages Aristotle has
remained established as one
of the greatest philosophers
ever, which is why the famous
seventeenth century Dutch
artist Rembrandt represented
him gazing at a bust of the
Greek poet Homer, author of
The Odyssey.
• Four hundred years later, he
isn’t forgotten, though we have
a less sober way of
appreciating historical leaders.
Here we see him gazing at a
more contemporary Homer.
A Definition for Rhetoric
• Rhetoric is, in essence,
the art of persuasion, and
Aristotle defined this art
as "the faculty of
observing in any given
case the available means
of persuasion." In other
words, it is the art of
finding the best way to
persuade a particular
audience in a particular
situation.
Aristotle’s Classical Appeals
Aristotle identified three appeals that can be used to
convince the audience. An appeal to ethos (to establish
the speaker’s character and values). An appeal to
pathos (to stir emotions). And an appeal to logos (to
show the audience the logic and truth of the argument).
The Rhetorical Triangle
•
Logos
Possible Distortion:
Abstraction
Subject
•
Speaker
Ethos
Possible Distortion:
Egotism
Audience
Pathos
Possible Distortion:
Propaganda
When you engage in rhetoric,
you are related to the audience
and your subject. A wellbalanced argument gives
attention to all three points of the
triangle, establishing your
authority (ethos), drawing the
audience emotionally (pathos),
and doing justice to the facts
(logos).
However, if you give too much
emphasis to facts, you can fall
into a kind of distortion: making
the subject seem cold and
abstract. If you lean too much
toward the audience, you can
start to create propaganda. And
if you put to much emphasis on
your own character and values,
you will seem egotistical.