Aristotle - Biography Essay Example for Free

Aristotle Biography Essay Raphael portrays two of Greeces great philosophers as the focal point of his masterpiece The School of Athens. Aristotle has his hand pointing straight out as if he is declaring to Plato that truth is found right here around us. Aristotle was an excellent teacher who is considered to be the prince of philosophy and one of the worlds most influential thinkers of all time. Aristotle was born in 384 B. C at Stragyra in Thrace, on the north coast of the Aegean Sea. This was fifteen years after the death of Socrates and three years after the founding of Platos Academy. His father was the court physician and friend of King Amyntas of Macedonia. It is likely that Aristotles great interest in biology and science, in general, was nurtured in his early childhood. At the age of seventeen, Aristotle moved to Athens and enrolled in Platos Academy as a student of philosophy. He studied for over twenty years at the Academy until Plato died in 348 B. C. Throughout his time at the Academy, Aristotle became one of the top scientist and philosophers, and though he studied under Plato, he was not a Platonist. In fact, he would later criticize Plato and his various doctrines. After the mourning of Platos death had subsided, Speusippus seized power of the Academy. At this time Aristotle quickly left Athens and lived for a time in Assos and Mytilen where he was able to write, research, and teach. He did return, for a time, to Macedonia to tutor Philips son Alexander at his request. By the age of forty-nine, Aristotle had traveled back to Athens to found a school. Many historians believe this is when Aristotle began the most productive period of his life. His school was named the Lyceum, named after the groves where Socrates went to think and which was the sacred domain of Apollo Lyceus. The Lyceum had a fine library, an extensive collection of maps, and a zoo where Aristotle preformed much of his zoological research. . The school was located close to a long covered walk called in the greek peripatos. Aristotle would take his students on this long covered walkway where he conducted much of his teaching as they strolled along pondering many philosophical questions. As a result of this method of teaching, the students of the Lyceum were commonly referred to as peripatetics. Aristotle was only in Athens for twelve years when it was necessary for him to leave for political reasons to save his life. In 322 B. C. Aristotle died and his library was passed on to his successor, Theophratus. Aristotle is regarded as the first truly cosmopolitan thinker. He was interested in a plethora of subjects and gave significant contribution to many of them. He composed major studies of logic, ethics, and metaphysics. Today he is best renown for his work the Metaphysics and the Nichomachean Ethics. In addition to these major studies he also wrote on epistemology, physics, biology, meteorology, dynamics, mathematics, psychology, rhetoric, dialectics, aesthetics, politics, and philosophy. Choose any field of research and Aristotle probably studied it, select an area of human reason and he probably theorized on it. If all of his writings were published today they would fill fifty large volumes in print. Unfortunately, over the last two thousand years many of his writings have been lost. Only one fifth of his writings have endured time. What has been preserved are what many believe are Aristotles lecture notes and notes of his students that were not meant to be printed. These rough notes have been edited in a cut paste fashion in order to try to make sense of Aristotles profound thought. Aristotle philosophy is a development of Platos philosophy. Aristotle respected Plato but rejected the dualism that Plato passionately embraced and taught his pupils. Platos primary reality of the unchanging world existed separately from the world of particular things. Aristotle believed he was able to avoid this ambiguous ideal of two worlds and still communicate all the necessary concepts that Plato did. Metaphysically, Aristotle believed that every living being, except God, is a composite of two factors called form and matter. In Aristotles system of epistemology, he believes that the forms that Plato held unattainable actually exist as essential parts of the things that we asses through our senses. He believed that a human being is a holistic unit of both the body and soul. Aristotle specialized in classifying the many different components in the universe: humans, animals, plants, inanimate objects, etc. His work Catergories was his flagship in the organization of the world. He believed that humans were certainly in a classification of their own, and that human beings could be divided up into three dimensions, or more specifically, three dimensional thinking. The first dimension is productive thinking and refers to man as a maker; the second is practical thinking and refers to man as a learner and knower. All of the books that Aristotle wrote can basically be divided into these three categories. For example his book on poetry would be in the category of productive thinking; ethics would be in the category of practical thinking; philosophy, science, and metaphysics would be in the category of theoretical thinking. Aristotle can be credited with the creation of both the science and the philosophy of biology. His work in science involved the discovery of interconnections between characteristics of organisms. This led to the biological specialties of taxonomy and systematics. This evidenced that he was able to adapt his metaphysical and logical thought to that of the area of zoology. His application of thought to the experimentation makes him one of the founders of laboratory research. Aristotle was the first to create the study of deductive inference. His theory of syllogism, simply put, is a discourse in which certain things having been stated, something else follows of necessity of doing so. Aristotle believed that the laws of logic apply to more than just human thinking. He believed that these laws of being allow the understanding of the logical structure of the world. The premise to his logical system is the law of noncontradiction. Aristotle states in his law that It is impossible for the same attribute at once to belong and not belong to the same thing in the same relation. More simply would be that (B) can not be both (B) and non(b) at the same time in the same sense. This law cannot be proven but it must not be ignored. It is a universal core principle of human thinking. However, a caveat is necessary because the absence of a contradiction doesnt necessary guarantee truth. The world is in a constant state of change. Aristotle believed that changes could be natural or could be a product of human art. The four causes that Aristotle articulated answer the four questions that can be asked about anything. The four questions are (1) what is it? (2) what is it made of? (3) by what is it made? (4) for what end is it made? Aristotle four responses are the four causes: (1) the formal cause (2) the material cause (3) the efficient cause (4) the final cause. The biologist in Aristotle affected the way he observed the world. He observed everything going through change happens to something that is a combination of form and matter becoming something different or new. Teleology is the notion that the present could be understood by reference to the future. The nature of anything is linked to its telos, meaning its goal or final end. The final end of an object reveals its nature and this nature drives it to its goal. This idea is what Aristotle thought could explain many things from a fetus in the womb to an acorn from a oak tree. These four causes are a significant contribution to science in explaining nature Within the dimension of practical thinking is Aristotles view on ethics and how it relates to us not only as individuals but to the world as a whole. His views are contained in basically his two works called the Nicomachean Ethics and the Eudemian Ethics. The Nichomachean ethics is the better one of the two because it is clearer, it addresses more issues within the field of ethics, and it arguments are usually superior. Aristotle believes that everyone has an ultimate goal, and they pursue it by doing what they view as good. What a person views as good is ultimately what will bring them long-term satisfaction and happiness. He goes on too describe the soul of man and its various virtues. He believed that the soul could be divided into two characteristics: reason and desire. These two characteristics may conflict in the soul of a man when trying to make a decision. Aristotle believes that the more disciplined a man is the more reason will win when a decision is made. He believed that these virtues were innate in every man and not acquired in any fashion. Lastly, the way Aristotle viewed God was a product of how he viewed everything else. Aristotle was not a zealot when it came to religion. He believed there was a supreme being because he thought it would be impossible to explain some things. Aristotles view of God was more of a metaphysical necessity. Through his thought of telos he knew the world must have an ultimate cause and this cause must be God. Exposition I specifically like how Aristotle classified everything, and approached fields of study with common sense and practicality. He believed that humans are the highest classification, and I would certainly agree with that. I also agree that the three dimensions of man: productive, practical, and theoretical thinking, are basically the three main areas in life, but I also think that there are other areas on the side, and that everything can be categorized as concretely as he seeks to do. Aristotles ideas of the four different causes are very good. The hegemony of these causes communicate their fundamental value. His central idea that everything has a cause is true and very important. The deductive reasoning he used also helps to clarify things. I believe that the use of syllogisms should not be used to test if a belief is true. A worldview could pass a few tests but that doesnt prove that it is correct. Aristotles view of God is a disturbing product of his system. He is the victim of his own mind. He is a perfect example of how a philosopher may become trapped in his own system. He had made some presuppositions early on that had become the core of what he believed. As he progress in his thought he had to be consistent with what he had first believed and this necessitated him to plug everything into his presuppositions or mold that he had created. This resulted in God becoming an after thought of his life, instead of the focal point of his life. Aristotle had forgotten to place God into his system when it was in infancy. As a result of the complexity, he had to place his unknowable God in a box. Aristotle ethics of having an ultimate goal that provide your happiness is quite interesting. If your ultimate goal is to glorify God then you will find true happiness. John Piper would say that a Christian hedonist finds pleasure in being satisfied with the Lord to bring God the utmost glory. I do not, however, agree with Aristotles division of the soul. There are many problems in Aristotle system. In spite of the problems, his philosophy has affected just about everyone. I believe that the ideas of Aristotle not only influenced the ancient greeks, but also affected medieval philosophy, and modern philosophy. The prevalence of the contributions of Aristotle is ingrained in almost every discipline. Without the teachings of Aristotle the world would be years behind. We owe a lot to this man who gave his life in order to understand our existence and things that exist around us. Raphael painted Aristotle in the middle of his School of Athens for a reason. He must of known of the influence that Aristotle would posses on young minds for centuries to come. Works Cited Adler, Mortimer J. 1978. Aristotle for Everybody: Difficult thought made easy ,New York: Macmillian Publishing Co. Aristotle. 1980. Metaphysics I-IX, Harvard University Press. Barnes, Jonathan. 1996. Aristotle: A Very Short Introduction, New York: Oxford University Press. Cottingham, John. 1996. Western Philosophy: An Anthology, Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishers Ltd. Fearn, Nicholas. 2001. Zeno and the Tortoise: How to Think like a Philosopher, New York: Grove Press. Honderich, Ted. 1995. The Oxford Companion to Philosophy, New York: Oxford University Press. Lennox, James G. 2001. Aristotles Philosophy of Biology, Cambridge University Press. Nash, Ronald H. 1999. Lifes Ultimate Questions: An Introduction to Philosophy, Zondervan. Stumpf, Samuel E. and James Fieser. 2003. Philosophy: History and Problems, McGraw- Hill Higher Education. Wilson, Fred L. Science and Human Values: Aristotle, http://www. rit. edu/ flwstv/aristotl1. html. Accessed 6 October, 2004.

The Books :: essays research papers

The Book   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Fahrenheit 451 books are burned on sight without exceptions. If I had the choice to save three books and â€Å"become† one, the first would be The Black Road which represents what greed and power can do to any kind of man. The second is A Spell For A Chameleon; it shows how if you’re different in any way from society you will be exiled out of the â€Å"group†. The Far Side Experience should be saved because it shows satire in the world around us.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the world around us we see good men and women corrupted by positions of power and or money. In The Black Road, Kabraxis the demon corrupts a Priest of the Zakurumm church by offering him unlimited power and wealth. The way the demon corrupts other people is â€Å"the way of Dreams† which cures the person of whatever is wrong with them and sometimes making them wealthy. This is the book that I would â€Å"become† because I think it has the most meaning out of them all. That is why this book should be saved.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A Spell For A Chameleon should be saved because it shows how if you’re different then society then they will exile you from it. In Xanth (the land in which the story takes place) everyone has a unique magical power and if yours isn’t discovered by the time your 18 you are exile from Xanth into Mundane (normal realm). There is a powerful magician that can tell you if you have a power and he tells Bink (the main character) that his power is not only there but is very strong magic. Unfortunately this is how some societies today really are. The reason this book should be saved is it shows how you should not act towards somebody that is different from the majority.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Far Side Experience should be kept because it shows satire in the world around us. Satire is a form of written that pokes fun at human weaknesses in hope to fix them. An example in this book is that it shows a kid at his birthday party and a liver truck is part of his party, he obviously doesn’t like liver but smiles anyway. This represents satire in that even though somebody doesn’t like something they will smile and lie that they like it. This can be wrong because people lie so others feelings aren’t hurt and some just because they cant tell the truth.

Dress for success Essay

Is the way a person dresses important? It can be said: â€Å"yes†, it is. It is important not only for the impression he creates for the people around him, but also there is a more important factor- that the clothes a person wears makes them feel good. Whenever a person goes somewhere he is like a turtle, and his clothes are his shell, and when he goes somewhere he needs to be dressed well, and even if the occasion is not important, and he just goes for a walk with his dog, understanding that his â€Å"shell† looks nice, and perfectly suits him makes him feel more comfortable. So, a person who wears nice clothes is more successful and self-confident. Unfortunately, according to what we can see not all people in society are following this straight  forward principle. Most of them just don’t care about how they look, and then some of them might complain about being unsuccessful. Maybe this carelessness could be a reason for their failures. Some people may argue that clothes are not so important, and it depends on a person, and how smart he is, and that only hard work can influence success. However, it does matter, and it is very important to have a nice clothes! How people dress affects the way they feel about themselves and the situation in which they perform. Dating and style coach and the founder of the Fashion Experts Network, Sheila Dicks, wrote in one of her articles, â€Å"How dressing affects your attitude and confidence†, that we don’t have to spend enormous amounts of money on our clothes, but the way we combine clothes and then introduce ourselves in them, may show our self-confidence and assurance. Dressing for many people seems very insignificant, and they don’t believe that it can affect attitude. â€Å"How people dress is related in some way to how they feel†, says Sheila Dicks. It makes sense, when we feel good we dress well, but when we are not in the mood we can look very stupid. However when we put on nice things, which we really enjoy, this automatically triggers our mood to be good, so we have more energy for the day, and things seem better for us. In Sheila’s article there’s written that there are some aspects that can increase attitude: 1) if a person knows the occasion where he’s going to be; 2) if he knows the audience he’s going to interact with; 3) he knows his own style; 4) if he has an idea of how to combine colors. 1) Tailoring according to the event is important in order not to look stupid in front of other people. It can be just going shopping or going to a business lunch, but a person has to remember to dress according to the occasion. 2) The people who the individual is in contact with are considered to be an audience. Dress is an image of a person which he will be introduced in front of his friends, colleagues, enemies and so on. It also has to do with social situation; we don’t usually see a woman working in the supermarket and wearing a cocktail dress, because she has a suitable dress code which he must follow. 3) In everything we do we have our own personal style, which makes us distinguishable from each other. People express their style of clothes in clothes’ structure, material, shape, as well as accessories. Not all occasions suit a person’s personal style, but being  aware of it helps to accommodate clothes for particular occasion. There are people who look better in warm colors and others in cool colors. Each color has different description and can lead to different effect. (Self-Growth) The best compliment that somebody can make to another person is to say, â€Å"You look fantastic†. It means that the job that somebody did with his outfit is successful, and he succeed in impressing others. This compliment about the overall outfit, is even better than hearing about a specific part of the outfit, for example, the shoes, or a bag, or a coat†¦ This compliment means that the person’s attire was successfully combined, with his self- confidence making the person look fantastic. It’s especially important when making a first impression. Because when first meeting someone a good impression will be made. In a person’s life there’s a very important and significant step, which may influence their whole life, this step is to find a good job. It means that people should be  responsible about finding work because nobody wants to lose out on a chance, so a person has to be very concerned about it. It’s when first impressions are made as well. According to CNN’s reports about what employers demand from people who went to the job interview, we can see that how we dress says a lot about us, and it forms an employer’s opinion and decides our future in the company (CNN.com/living). A company may not have a particular dress code, but they would like to see people working in appropriate and suitable clothes; the employers want to see a person with clean. Also from this CNN survey we can see when an employer has to choose between two applicants, the one who was nicely dressed and feels very confident about himself, will get a job over the applicant who’s resume is just as good, but he is not well dressed well enough (CNN.com/living). Many people can argue with that and say that it is unfair, and an employer should not make decision based just on appearance, but unfortunately it’s true, and it’s really taking place. When this well- dressed person gets his dream- job, it doesn’t mean that he should stop trying to do his best while dressing every morning. Now he’s dressing not only to impress, but also to help himself to increase his productivity and self-confidence during this working period. For example he may have very a important business meeting, and he might be nervous about  it, but since he put on his chic and stylish suit, which seems like it was just made for his body structure; he is at least sure that the people he is going to meet with will like his look, and will be more friendly and more respectful. Then, when he finally meets them, and he sees their reaction toward him, it gives him more energy and more desire, and the aim is to impress them with his working skills as well. Basically, this example shows how a good suit can make signing a profitable business contract possible. Women like to impress not only business partners, but they’re also interested in impressing the men they meet socially. Being in a good physical shape and having a nice body is great; however it is even better if this body is covered with attractive clothing. There is very good book â€Å"How to Dress for Success† by Edit Head where she gives a lot of good advice and tips about how to dress for success in different areas and also with men. It makes no difference whether a woman is just interested in a man for a relationship or as whether she sees in him a potential husband. In both examples she should put effort into choosing what to wear. Head writes that women should have an idea where and how the date is going to be, so she can choose the perfect outfit. If they go to a restaurant, or to the cinema, or to the opera, or just for a walk in the park she has to have an idea to what kind of clothes she will feel most comfortable in, and whether it will suit the place. The man should also like her outfit, because if he doesn’t the whole mascarade was in vane (Chapter 2). Most men really don’t care whether a girl is clever or not, they will find that out later; firstly they fall in love with their eyes not with the girl’s intelligence. We can see that the way we dress is so important and it regulates our attitude. Wherever we go, we have to be dressed perfectly in order to feel more confident, and to make people more attracted to us. Knowing how to combine clothes effectively and how to buy the ones that suit us is a very useful skill and knowledge to have; if a person finds something very nice, but unfortunately it doesn’t suit him, it means he shouldn’t buy it. Looking good increases our productivity as well; when we feel comfortable about our appearance we perform better in the work place. People who surround us also feel it, and they are more attracted to the person, who have strong self-esteem, and in know what they want. At work  these people are more appreciated, and are more likely to get a good job, which leads to making good money, so basically dressing well helps us to make money. However, we don’t really see successful and rich people who dressing bad do we? Work list Dicks , Sheila. â€Å"How Dressing Affects Your Attitude and Confidence.† http://www.selfgrowth.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar 2014. Head, Edit. How to dress for success . New York: Random House, 1967. Web. Haefner, Rosemary . â€Å"how to dress for success at work.† CareerBuilder.com human resources vice president. (2008): n. page. Web. 9 Apr. 2014.

Child Custody In The State of Louisiana Free Essay Example, 1000 words

In Louisiana for a person to be given an opportunity of a child’s custody there are some formal formulation to be undertaken. The first one is that there are some papers that should be filled in the court. The guardian is the one who is supposed to fill the papers personally and represent them in the court. The paper step a person requires is to file for a child custody pro se. the guardian to be should have full knowledge on laws regarding to child custody. Also he or she should be having all the option available in regards to the child’s custody. A parent should not only file for physical custody for his children just because they want to be near their children. The parents should give consideration to all option available and survey what is best for your kids (Doskow, 2011). The next step in the process of child custody is that there should be detailed and clear documentation of the child custody. There should be a record of each and every action done like email, ph one call or visit. We will write a custom essay sample on Child Custody In The State of Louisiana or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now A person should pay attention to all dates and deadlines regarding to the case because many files will require follow up in a given time frame. If you are not confident before representing yourself in the court you should contact a legal aid which will help you in reviewing of your case. In court you should be polite and respectful all the times. You should also be attentive and pleasant and be on the point always. A child may be removed from his or her home only if there is violence in the family. They family might be denied either joint or sole custody of the child. The removal of the custody will be caused if the violence caused physical injuries to the child. A parent who is abusive will only be granted the opportunity to be custody of his child only if the parent has completed treatment program successfully, he or she is not abusing alcohol or drug and if the parent is need to participate in regard to the child’s best interest because du e to some parents substance abuse, absence, other factors that might have impact on the best interest of the child and/or mental illness. The fact that the parent is suffering from the above mentioned effects due to the abuse they should not be the basis for limiting the parent’s right of custody if the parent is the child’s best interest. In case the court of Louisiana finds out that both parents have a past of violence, the custody will be granted to the parent who is likely to reduce the frequency of committing the violence but he or she should have completed the treatment program.