The Aristotle Project

The Refutation of Hedonism - "Nicomachean Ethics" III.4

Here Aristotle deals with the opinion that the ultimate goal of action is the experience of pleasure and the avoidance of pain. This will take us back to the doctrine tha

What is Deliberation? - Nicomachean Ethics III.2-3

In these chapters, Aristotle discusses what sort of thinking goes into a moral decision. Socrates and other thinkers have claimed that science and morality are fundamenta

Moral Responsibility - Nicomachean Ethics III.1

We discuss how someone doing something results in moral blame or praise.

The importance of virtue - Nicomachean Ethics II

A crucial part of complete eudaimonia is being the right kind of person rather than merely following rules. The right kind of person has "vitrue" or in Greek "arete".

"Eudaimonia" cannot be translated, rather only habituated - "Nicomachean Ethics" I.8-9

In this episode we focus on how eudaimonia is different from many of the assumptions we make about "happiness", for there is no proper way to translate the Greek word int

What is the good for human action? - "Nicomachean Ethics" Book I.1-7.

In this series was ask about the good; not the good of the cosmos or of living creatures, but the good life for humans in so far as it results from our deliberate life de

A Darwinian View of the "Metaphysics".

In this episode we summarize all that we have discussed thus far as ask really difficult questions about how the science of First Philosophy coheres with the Darwinian wo

What makes the world go 'round. - "Metaphysics" Book L.7

In this episode we try to understand an answer what is the fundamental sort of change that ultimately drives all changes whatsoever all the way up to the most large-scale

The First Substance: Eternal, Moving, Circular, Actual, Necessary. - "Metaphysics" Book L.6

While much of the "Metaphysics" seems to deal with something that one might need to understand our own cognitive architecture, in the last half of Book Lambda Aristotle c

Ultimately, it's all about "substance". - "Metaphysics" Book Lambda.1-5

Book Lambda of Aristotle's "Metaphysics" takes the concept of substance and uses it in a cosmological "Theory of Everything". Based on the idea that substance is most rea

Empedocles in Aristotle's "Metaphysics" Books A and B

Now that we've got an idea on how Empedocles thought, now we can go back and see how Aristotle approaches him the the early portion of the "Metaphysics". Aristotle likes

Empedocles' Theory of Evolution ep.3

The Cosmic Cycles of of Empedocles are unique in all of Greek philosophy. Indeed their only parallel are the Hindu "Kalpas" and modern geological epochs. The cosmic cycle

Empedocles' "Physics", ep. 2

In addition to his religious and magical doctrines, Empedocles was a major figure in the development of natural science. Surprisingly enough, he took a rather reductionis

Empedocles on Rebirth and Karma

We shall now take a short break from the core books of the metaphysics and spend a few episodes on Empedocles, who lived about 200 years before Aristotle and whose work m

Universals are not Substance. - "Metaphysics" Book Z.13-17

The last few chapters of Book Z are famously difficult, but a reasonable interpretation can make them defensible in the modern context, especially if we think in terms of

Nature, Art, Chance and Substance - "Metaphsyics" Book Z.7-8

According to Plato, the "really real" could never be destroyed or created. Aristotle holds that they can be created from previously existing form and matter, and that thi

What has essence? - "Metaphysics" Book Z.4

"Essentialism" has become a deragatory word in modern philosophy, but with Aristotle having an essence is something valuable and distinctive Aristotle considers only a v

Keeping it real - "Metaphysics" Book Z.1

With book Zeta, Aristotle gives a more details explanation about the "really real" , which we translate as "substance'. He looks into what is meant by "really real"and wh

Concerning Heraclitus "the Obscure".

"You could not step twice into the same river." - As quoted in Plato, Cratylus, 402a Heraclitus of Ephesus is one of the most interesting of the Early Greek thinkers,

The Ultimate Truths or "Three Laws of Thought" - "Metaphysics" Book Gamma.3-4

In the modern world, people often wonder if our beliefs have some foundation. Descartes claimed this for his principle of "I think therefore I am.", but Aristotle had rad