Aristotle

1. How do our senses differ from other animals?

1.1. All forms of life have nutritive, reproductive, and locomotive power.

1.2. Animals differ by having the power of sensation and perception.

1.3. More complex animals have intellectual power (problem solving ability)

1.3.1. Humans have a special intellectual power called reason which is the ability to comprehend universals.

2. What is a teleological System?

2.1. Aristotle believed that everything in this world has causes (things that drive them to be created). He provides 4 causes:

2.1.1. Material Cause: The material form from which the thing is made

2.1.2. Formal Cause: The shape or form a thing must take in order to be recognized.

2.1.3. Efficient Cause: The actual force used to make the thing.

2.1.4. Final Cause: What is the ultimate purpose of the thing

3. Where do the forms reside?

3.1. Aristotle believes that the forms lie inside the things themselves

3.1.1. The form of an oak tree is inside or the acorn

3.2. Each thing we see is part of a teleological(goal oriented) system.

4. Aristotles Biology

4.1. "All men by nature desire to know. An example is the delight we take in our senses."

4.2. He believes that nature does nothing by chance. W have senses to use them to understand the world.

4.3. To engage the problem of knowledge, we must begin with our senses.

5. How does Aristotle differ from Plato & Socrates?

5.1. He is a scientist and a practical thinker

5.2. He does not belive in the world of forms, but thinks that everything that we can understand are the things we can touch.

5.3. He creates and applies a scientific model to philosophical investigation.