Philosophy
When scholars refer to you as "the philosopher" for about two thousand years, and everyone understands what that means, you're kind of a big deal. That's exactly what happened to Aristotle because, let's face it, the man's depth and breath of intellectual sophistication simply blew everyone out of the water for two millennia.
If you want a nice introduction to his thought, you could go the comedic route with Mark Steel. For the more ambitious of you, there's always the eloquent Martha Nussbaum discussing Aristotle with Bryan Magee, or Barry Schwarts lecturing on Aristotle's virtue ethics and practical wisdom, or Michael Sandel's teaching his excellent Harvard course on Justice.
But if you have absolutely no idea who Aristotle was, give us 3 minutes:
Ok, so he's too important to distill in only 3 minutes, so give us 3 more:
And to get an even better idea, here is an explanation of Aristotle's four causes:
If you liked that, check out the excellent History of Philosophy podcast; your brain will thank you.
- Human Nature And Political Legitimacy
From ancient times, and well beyond them, the roots of justification for political authority were inescapably tied to outlooks on human nature. In The Republic, Plato declared that the ideal society would be run by a council of philosopher-kings, since...
- Philosophy Talks In Athens 2015
A weekly program of two introductory talks is being given in central Athens this spring 2015 during all of May and June. (Hopefully, a similar program of talks will be arranged for the Autumn 2015 This will be confirmed later in the year.) Further...
- Geoffrey Warnock On Kant
Imagine if the conceptual basis of just about every single belief you ever had, not just as a layman but as a professional and conscientious intellectual, were suddenly shattered by the writings of a single man? That's exactly what happened to Immanuel...
- Barry Schwarts On Aristotle And Practical Wisdom
In his famous Nicomachean Ethics, the ancient philosopher Aristotle argued that ethics is not an exact science, and that looking for mathematical precision in such a discipline is bound both to fail and to distort ethics itself. Instead of thinking of...
- The Mark Steel Lectures - Aristotle
Perhaps no other philosopher has been as influential or original as the ancient philosopher Aristotle, and only the greatest have been as productive and consistent in their entire world view. It's one thing to have opinions about particular subjects...
Philosophy
Three Minute Philosophy - Aristotle
If you want a nice introduction to his thought, you could go the comedic route with Mark Steel. For the more ambitious of you, there's always the eloquent Martha Nussbaum discussing Aristotle with Bryan Magee, or Barry Schwarts lecturing on Aristotle's virtue ethics and practical wisdom, or Michael Sandel's teaching his excellent Harvard course on Justice.
But if you have absolutely no idea who Aristotle was, give us 3 minutes:
Ok, so he's too important to distill in only 3 minutes, so give us 3 more:
And to get an even better idea, here is an explanation of Aristotle's four causes:
If you liked that, check out the excellent History of Philosophy podcast; your brain will thank you.
- Human Nature And Political Legitimacy
From ancient times, and well beyond them, the roots of justification for political authority were inescapably tied to outlooks on human nature. In The Republic, Plato declared that the ideal society would be run by a council of philosopher-kings, since...
- Philosophy Talks In Athens 2015
A weekly program of two introductory talks is being given in central Athens this spring 2015 during all of May and June. (Hopefully, a similar program of talks will be arranged for the Autumn 2015 This will be confirmed later in the year.) Further...
- Geoffrey Warnock On Kant
Imagine if the conceptual basis of just about every single belief you ever had, not just as a layman but as a professional and conscientious intellectual, were suddenly shattered by the writings of a single man? That's exactly what happened to Immanuel...
- Barry Schwarts On Aristotle And Practical Wisdom
In his famous Nicomachean Ethics, the ancient philosopher Aristotle argued that ethics is not an exact science, and that looking for mathematical precision in such a discipline is bound both to fail and to distort ethics itself. Instead of thinking of...
- The Mark Steel Lectures - Aristotle
Perhaps no other philosopher has been as influential or original as the ancient philosopher Aristotle, and only the greatest have been as productive and consistent in their entire world view. It's one thing to have opinions about particular subjects...