PHIL 210
éretÆ (aretê)
Athens it
appearance, political skills
sophists claimed, dubiously, to be
Greek Words II
Lesher
‘Virtue’ or better ‘excellence’. In 5th-century
connoted all-round excellence in
and moral character. The
able to teach arête.
¶legxow (elenchos)
‘Cross examination’ or ‘refutation’, usually associated with
Socrates, although the goddess of Parmenides’ poem had
earlier spoken of a ‘much contested elenchos’ of the
possible ways of thinking and speaking. ELENCHUS.
eÈdaimon€a (eudaimonia)
'Happiness' or better 'success'. Literally: ‘being under the
benevolent protection of a deity' (i.e. ‘a guardian angel’). It
signified a completely successful life, one lived to the max.
Eudaimonia is the winner of Aristotle’s competition for
‘the supreme human good’.
§pistÆmh (epistêmê)
'Knowledge', especially ‘scientific knowledge’. In Plato, it
is true opinion tied down by logos. In Aristotle,
epistêmê is 'knowledge of the reasoned fact', as contrasted
with both nous and mere experience. EPISTEMOLOGY.
noËw (nous)
‘Mind’, ‘understanding’, ‘intuition’, or ‘insight’ into truth.
Nous was Heraclitus' grasp of the logos, the highest level of
wisdom in Plato’s simile of the Divided Line, and it is the
kind of knowledge (according to Aristotle) that we have of
the first principles of a science. NOUMENA.
tÚ ¶rgon (to ergon)
Aristotle’s
capacities of a
nature of the best
ERGONOMICS, ERG, etc.
lÒgow (logos)
of
account
Plato, the
opinion into
to state and act in
distinguishes human beings
Logos is arguably the single most
The 'work', 'business', or 'function' of a thing.
‘ergon argument’ focuses on the distinctive
human being as the key to determining the
kind of life for a human being.
‘Word', ‘speech’, ‘rational account or plan’. For
Heraclitus’, it was his ‘message’ and the hidden principle
cosmic unity; for Parmenides, the goddess’s rational
or argument; for Gorgias, ‘persuasive speech’; for
rational account which transforms true
knowledge. For Aristotle, the ability
accordance with a logos is what
from the lower animals.
important term in
early Greek philosophical language, and
legacy of Greek philosophy to Christianity
'In the beginning was the logos.’ LOGIC,
GEOLOGY, DIALOGUE, etc.
part of the
(cf. John I, 1:
THEOLOGY,
'Greatness of soul', 'magnanimity', 'high mindedness’
For Aristotle, it was the ‘crowning ornament’ of virtue’, but
to many modern ears, the great-souled man seems a
pompous absurdity reflecting 4th-century Greek
megalocux€a
(megalopsuchia)
tastes.
tÚ t°low (to telos)
realm of
up to the
their excited emulation of
The ‘end’, ‘final state’, or ‘goal’ of a process. For Aristotle,
action 'for the end' can be found throughout the
nature, from the growth of the tiniest acorn
heavenly spheres whirling about in
divine perfection. TELEOLOGY
nÒhsiw noÆsevw nÒhsiw
Aristotle's
(noêsis noêseôs noêsis)
'
‘[It’s] thinking is a thinking about thinking'.
prÚw ßn (pros hen)
'Toward one', the phrase Aristotle used to refer to a
special pattern of meaning that is neither univocal nor
completely equivocal (‘focal meaning’). The key notion in
the development of metaphysics as a single science.
description of the divine mind, un-moved mover, or God.
'Syllogism' or 'connected reasoning’ The concept of
sullogismÒw
the
(syllogismos)
Aristotle's
knowledge.
as 'Barbara'
syllogism (and the development of a detailed analysis of the
validity of it various forms) played a major role in
thinking about logic and the acquisition of
He held that the first-form syllogism known
provided the basis for the presentation of all scientific
knowledge. SYLLOGISM.