Reflection # 14

Angela Gregoire
Reflection #14
Impact of the Ideas of Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher, a pupil of Plato, the teacher of Alexander the Great and the son of a physician. He had a totally different approach to science than his teacher, Plato. He believed that the highest human faculty was reason. He was very interested in studying about the world and he had a special interest in science. Being raised by a physician may have motivated him to develop his love for living things. He set up the first science academy which was excellent in biology, but somewhat weak in physics. His school of inquiry was superior to everything that was created before him. His goal was to explain the meaning of scientific knowledge and give the reasons. He was indeed a great scientist and a first of his kind. Aristotle’s work surpassed that of his predecessors and was accepted by everyone. This work was part of the Christian Church.
His methods of investigation including the following: defining the subject matter, stating the difficulties and reviewing the accepting points on the subject, and other ideas of other writers, and finally stating his own arguments and solutions. Modern research papers still use a similar pattern up to this day. He had created the foundational approach to scientific research. His arguments were dialectic and empirical that is they were based both on logic deduction and practical thought. Aristotle had a special interest in animals and plants and he dissected them and observed them. He was also interested in their organs. His love for the study of nature was his search for causes and eventually he explained that all objects possessed four attributes, matter, form, moving cause and final cause. His entire approach fitted with Christianity and he became the first scientist to use dissection as his primary approach. His great work in science is still very significant to us today. Being the first to think quantitatively about speeds involved in movement he tried to explain how things fall. He concluded that the speed of moving objects was in direct proportion to the force applied. His philosophy contributed to the investigative approach and ended the final causes. He stressed that empirical investigation was necessary in understanding the world. He believed and taught at length that theory should follow fact. He explained that logic was a needed tool for inquiry.
Aristotle philosophy was to find out about the four causes. He explained the material cause by pointing out that it is the substance that the thing is made up of. The second cause he described it to be the design or the formal cause; the third cause he called the efficient cause which is the maker. The final cause was the purpose. In context with our present day thought the efficient cause is the main explanation of a thing but to him the final cause was proper. He strongly supported that organisms are created for a specific cause and that cause is the final cause. He contributed significantly to biology and living creatures provided him with tremendous evidence to support his final cause.
Aristotle’s philosophy set the foundation for the investigative approach and he was instrumental in establishing a science enterprise which can be compared to a modern science department. Some of his work in physics did not live up to standards, but his contribution in biology was very important because he reiterated that detailed empirical investigations were necessary to understand the world in its natural form. Aristotle’s philosophy continues to be the focus of academic study and his ethics were very influential and can be compared with our modern ethics. Aristotle’s work had a tremendous impact in modern western education