Facts on Aristotle

…Aristotle studied far more than just philosophy. One of his chief concerns was physics. Aristotle’s personal doctrine was that the “reason” behind all of what we see in the world is “Cause and Effect”. Namely four causes, material cause, formal cause, efficient cause and final cause. It was these four causes that constituted the changes in life. Matter was potential, that which can be made into something else although the basic element is still there. (i.e... bronze can be made into a statue but the basic element of bronze is still present) The formal cause is the pattern which directs a certain thing, the group to which it belongs; the formal cause is the essence of what a thing is. Efficient cause is an indication of something which has an effect. And finally, the final cause is the driven purpose or goal of a thing.


…Aristotle truly was far ahead of his generation. Aside from his extensive works on logic, metaphysics, ethics, psychology, politics, and art, he found time to devote himself to the study of biology and natural history. It was he who first compiled a list of the different animal kingdoms and species. Aristotle also investigated the differences between animals and humans, being interested in the essence of the soul.