Aristotle
By Brandelynn Quinney
Why was Aristotle a significant person to philosophy? I think he studied a
great deal in his time about many different things. I am going to argue why
Aristotle is a crafted individual compared to the modern self being free. I think
that Aristotle worked really hard to achieve what he did in philosophy. I think
nature has a way of making things happen.
Why is the modern man free? I think the modern man has less challenges
then in the older world. We have more knowledge then in the past. We
understand more things and are learning new things every day. Our technology is
always expanding and growing and so is our health care. I think that even our
upbringing has something to do with us being free.
I wonder sometimes if I lived in Aristotle’s time what would life be like. Would
we have such knowledge as we know now? Would we be just poor beggars on
the street with nothing in the world to stop us from bartering? I also think our
personalities have something to do with us being a free individual.
Aristotle was a man who studied the work of many philosophers of his time.
Aristotle was a student to the famous Plato. He wondered much about the
human being. And that there should be order to how the human thinks and
nature has everything to do with it.
Aristotle was interested in how the man was happy. I think that you have to
live up to your fullest and if you haven’t the how can you be truly happy in this
world. I mean what if I were a garbage collector and went to work every day
came home and went to bed. I got up the next day and did it all over again and I
wasn’t truly happy, but it paid the bills and then a little extra. Would I be truly
happy? The answer to that question is probably not. These are the type of
questions I think Aristotle was interested about.
How can we be truly happy if we haven’t lived a full life and been happy about
our decisions that we have made. I think it also has something to do with our
character that we all possess. What makes us have character? I wonder if this is
what Aristotle made most of his time on. Aristotle stated “The happy man lived
well and does well; for we have practically defined happiness as a sort of good life
and good action.”
I think without our character then we don’t have anything. That makes us, us.
If I didn’t have my character then where would I be? I would be a strange person
with no life to live for and just existing. I wonder if that is what Aristotle was
trying to figure out in his philosophical career.
Aristotle said that happiness requires activity, good habits and wisdom. I can
understand why that would make us happy. Without activities in our lives then
we would be a bunch of blobs in the world with nothing to do. We also need
good habits in life to keep us on the right path and keep our minds and bodies
healthy and kept up. And we also need wisdom because without all those
experiences in life then where would we be.
In closing Aristotle was a very wise guy and I have a better understanding why
we are free. Without philosophers leading the way to how we think and
understand wouldn’t be within our reach. Aristotle was a very crafted individual.
Look at the way he viewed the world. We wouldn’t have the knowledge to think
in the way he did. I wouldn’t have learned so much about myself if I didn’t have a
clue to what Aristotle did for me. Happiness for me is living my life to its fullest.
Works Cited Page
Archetypes of Wisdom an introduction to philosophy By Douglas J. Soccio
Published in United States of America