Everything about Aristotelianism totally explained
Aristotelianism is a
tradition of
philosophy that takes its defining inspiration from the work of
Aristotle. Sometimes contrasted by critics with the
rationalism and
idealism of
Plato, Aristotelianism is understood by its proponents as critically developing Plato’s theories. Most particularly, Aristotelianism brings Plato’s ideals down to Earth as
goals and
goods internal to natural species that are realized in activity. This is the characteristically Aristotelian idea of
teleology, and the practicality of the approach is embodied in
Nichomachean Ethics as the Aristotelian virtue of
phronesis.
History
Elaborated by ancient commentators upon Aristotle’s work, Aristotelianism began its modern history with its reception by
Islamic,
Jewish and
Christian philosophers. The most famous of these philosophers are
Averroes,
Maimonides and
Thomas Aquinas.
Averroism was particularly influential in reconciling Aristotelianism with the Islamic and Christian faiths, while Aquinas argued that the truth in Aristotle’s philosophy is complemented and completed by the truth revealed in the Christian tradition. The
Roman Catholic Church has reasserted a
Thomistic Aristotelianism since the 1870s.
After retreating under criticism from modern natural philosophers, the distinctively Aristotelian idea of teleology was transmitted through
Wolff and
Kant to
Hegel, who applied it to history as a totality. Although this project was criticized by
Trendelenburg and
Brentano as un-Aristotelian, Hegel’s influence is now often said to be responsible for an important Aristotelian influence upon
Marx. Postmodernists, in contrast, reject Aristotelianism’s claim to reveal important theoretical truths. In this, they follow
Heidegger’s critique of Aristotle as the greatest source of the entire tradition of Western philosophy. Recent Aristotelian ethical and ‘practical’ philosophy, such as that of
Gadamer and
McDowell, is often premised upon a rejection of Aristotelianism’s traditional metaphysical or theoretical philosophy. From this viewpoint, the early modern tradition of political
republicanism, which views the
res publica, public sphere or state as constituted by its citizens’ virtuous activity, can appear thoroughly Aristotelian.
Contemporary Aristotelianism
The most famous contemporary Aristotelian philosopher is
Alasdair MacIntyre. Especially famous for helping to revive
virtue ethics in his book
After Virtue, MacIntyre revises Aristotelianism with the argument that the highest temporal goods, which are internal to human beings, are actualized through participation in social practices. He opposes Aristotelianism to the managerial institutions of capitalism and its state, and to rival traditions—including the philosophies of
Hume and
Nietzsche—that reject its idea of essentially human goods and virtues and instead legitimate capitalism. Therefore, on MacIntyre’s account, Aristotelianism isn't identical with Western philosophy as a whole; rather, it's "the best theory so far, [including] the best theory so far about what makes a particular theory the best one." Politically and socially, it has been characterized as a newly 'revolutionary Aristotelianism'. This may be contrasted with the more conventional, apolitical and effectively conservative uses of Aristotle by, for example, Gadamer and McDowell.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Aristotelianism'.
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