Aristotle in Ninety Minutes by Paul Strathern
Aristotle in Ninety Minutes by Paul Strathern
A High Priest of…Happiness
It may seem preposterous to sum up Aristotle or any other major philosopher in ninety minutes. Perhaps it is.
But for some people, including this reader it may be a way to approach a great mind. I have tried my hand with Aristotle; I think it was Metaphysics –which comes after Physics- when I was about eighteen or twenty.
I found the treatise dry, difficult to approach and incomprehensible. The same thing happened with Kant and The Critique.
What is left then, after a direct encounter failed to produce significant results is to have it explained, like in those ethnic, sometimes degrading jokes…
An Italian, Irish or Romanian…whatever- walks into a bar. At one point, the barman, or someone at the bar says;
- Let me tell you this joke about an Italian, Irish or Romanian, etc.
- Hey, I am Italian, Irish or Romanian…
- Don’t worry, I will say it slowly- or the other version
- Never mind that, I will repeat it until you understand
The same with me, being slow I have to take it slowly and read what others have to say about Kant, Aristotle and most of the rest.
Oh, I nearly forgot- I could read Plato, since it seems so much more accessible.
Aristotle in Ninety Minutes deals with a short biography of Aristotle, even some important dates in the History of Philosophy, some quotes and important ideas and contributions.
This is not, obviously, an in extensor analysis, but it did provide some aspects that were surprising and different from what I had known.
From what I had read, I was under the impression that the relationship between Alexander the Great and Aristotle was not bad. After all, the latter had been the teacher of the former.
Strathern writes about a very tense, dramatic moment when Alexander was on the point of issuing and order to have Aristotle killed. As a dictatorial leader, with paranoid tendencies Alexander came very near the stage where he could have committed a (or is it another?) crime against humanity.
The aspect which makes me ever more interested in Aristotle is his writings on happiness. He is the one who said that
- The whole purpose of life is the pursuit of happiness
- Happiness depends on ourselves
- The highest degree of happiness comes from the cultivation of virtue
- Theoretical thinking provides some of the highest degrees of happiness
Aristotle was the first personal coach, inspirational trainer, motivator and self-help artist. More than that and leaving jokes apart- he is the one who inspired much of the positive psychology of today
Another interesting thing I have learned from this good book is that fact that even today, the church still relies officially on the philosophy of Aristotle. In the Middle Ages, after a tour though the Arabian lands, Aristotle came back to set the basis of religious dogma, in an interpretation that was accepted and became law. As Stathern observes, Aristotle, as an innovator and genius with an open mind, would have been horrified to find that his teachings are used to stifle any exploration, any new philosophical research.
There are plenty of sites on Aristotle, like this one:
As a human being, albeit a genius, Aristotle had failures, but his merits make him one of the greatest people to have lived.
Comentarii
Trimiteți un comentariu