Readings for "The Philosophy of Aristotle" Session III: Aristotle's Philosophy of Nature

Reminder: we will not have class next Monday on October 14 for MEA week. We will skip a week, and resume with Session III on October 21st

Φίλοι,

It is not uncommon for introductory survey courses of ancient philosophy to read the Nicomachean Ethics and call it a day. Not us.

"Still Life of Three Birds Nests" by Vincent Van Gogh

We will be using our foundational knowledge of Aristotle’s ethics as a springboard into questions of ontology, or the study of being and substances, in Aristotle’s Physics. Since we have ascertained that man has a potentiality for virtue which is actualized through deliberation, we will ask: what is the nature of potentiality and actuality? How do we determine the telos, or end, of a substance? What do luck and chance have to do with causality? And more. 

Required:

Aristotle, Physics, Book II (with special attention to section 3). 

Optional:

Falcon, A. “Aristotle on Causality” from The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (Web) https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-causality/

Reach out with questions and thoughts, per usual!

-S

Session III Readings_ Physics.pdf

Download PDF • 193KB