I think that it is undeniable that Aristotle, one of the first philosophers, constitutes a great figure even though he physically disappeared thousands of years ago. His ideas comprehend several areas of study like medicine, philosophy, physics, biology, logic, and other areas like agriculture, dance, and theater. It is impressive how multifaceted Aristotle was. So, it must not be strange for anybody that Aristotle's ideas have a certain impact in education nowadays. In the first place, Aristotle was the first to divide human knowledge into disciplines like mathematic, ethics, and biology which are still used today. Nowadays, students take several disciplines at school. Some of these disciplines are mandatory, but others are elective, so students can choose which discipline they want to take following their interests. This elective process is possible because Aristotle first thought about dividing the extensive human knowledge into different disciplines. Also, Aristotle supported reasoning and the use of a scientific method in order to solve problems which was very important for fields of study like mathematics, physics, chemistry, and several others disciplines that are based in facts, laws, and formulas rather than the interpretation of the mind. Aristotle's Great Chain of Beings was an attempt to classify living things from lowest organisms to superior organisms with God as the Superior Being. I think that his idea of differentiating species was important for the development of Biology, Zoology, and Botany. However, the Great Chain of Beings did not accept the evolution of species, so Aristotle and Darwin probably would not have been good friends. The four causes by Aristotle, which were material, formal, efficient, and final causes, are related to Metaphysics, and they attempt to explain the origin of things and how things get to be what they are. The unmoved mover proposed by Aristotle is important in Physics and Metaphysics. In Metaphysics the subject of study is the unmoved mover, which is related to Theology, while the changeable elements are the subject matter of Physics and Mathematics, says Aristotle. Aristotle believed that everything had the potential to change, and this change Aristotle called it motion. For example, a green apple has the potential to become red, and a living being has the potential to perish. According to Aristotle, there is only one unmoved mover that causes everything else to move and change. The unmoved mover was unchangeable, so it was eternal because it did not experience change. This theory of Aristotle about the unmoved mover was widely accepted for hundreds of years in Physics until the theory of inertia came to replace it. Finally, it is my opinion that Aristotle's ideas had a great impact in several areas of human knowledge. His ideas were considered as universal truths for centuries, and all human knowledge spin around Aristotle's authority. Although several of his ideas are now obsolete and no longer applicable to what we know today, there is no doubt that the contribution of Aristotle to the education and formation of the human race was remarkable.
Hotmail: Trusted email with Microsoft's powerful SPAM protection. Sign up now.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment