WEEK 3: QUESTIONS ON ARISTOTLE

ARISTOTLE ON THE FOUR CAUSES

  1. What do understand by the term 'materialism'? 
  2. In what sense is Aristotle a materialist?
  3. What are the four causes, according to Aristotle, of any physical object?
  4. In what sense are his views different from Plato's?

ARISTOTLE'S AESTHETICS / CRITICAL THEORY

  1. How does Aristotle define art in general?
    1. Which cause is Aristotle speaking of here?
    2. What distinction does Aristotle draw between poetic truth and historical truth?
  2. What differentiates literature (what the Greeks called ‘poetry’) from other forms of art, according to Aristotle?
  3. What differentiates one kind of poetry (e.g. lyric poetry) from other kinds of poetry, according to Aristotle? 
  4. What are the three basic kinds of poetry of which Aristotle speaks?
  5. What are the two genres, according to Aristotle, into which different kinds of poetry are further divisible? 
  6. How are these derived from the object of representation in question?
  7. What is the characteristic function or effect of each of these genres?
    1. What cause is Aristotle speaking of here?
  8. How is this characteristic function or effect achieved?
    1. What cause is Aristotle speaking of here?
  9. What, according to Aristotle, are the six constituent elements of any play? 
    1. Which is the most important element? 
    2. Which are the three elements that are secondary in importance to this element?  
    3. Which are the two least important elements?
  10. How does Aristotle define ‘plot’ (mythos)?
  11. How does Aristotle define ‘character’ (ethos)?
  12. According to Aristotle, does the plot exist in order to convey character or is it the other way around?  Why?
  13. How does Aristotle define ‘thought’ (dianoia)?
  14. How does Aristotle define 'diction'?
  15. How does Aristotle define ‘tragedy’?
  16. What, according to Aristotle, are the seven (7) plot-devices which are most conducive to the emotional effect of pity and fear proper to tragedy?
  17. Aristotle is reputed to have also written a treatise on comedy which is now lost to us.  Based upon what Aristotle says about tragedy in the Poetics, how do you think he would have defined ‘comedy’ (which is, of course, the opposite of tragedy)?
  18. What do you understand by the term ‘narratology’?  Who is the founding figure of this field of study?
  19. May Aristotle’s views on the plot-structure of plays be extended to the study of: 
    1. narrative poetry (e.g. epic poetry)? 
    2. prose narrative (e.g. the novel)?
    3. lyric poetry?
    4. film?
  20. Analyse the plot-structure of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex by applying those devices crucial to a successful tragedy (such as 'peripeteia' or 'anagnorisis') which Aristotle lists.  (You ought to be familiar with Sophocles' play from E10C.)
  21. Can his comments on the plot-structure of an effective tragedy be applied to other kinds of plays (e.g. comedies) or other forms of literature (e.g. the novel) or even films?

ARISTOTLE'S PHILOSOPHY (for the adventurous)

  1. Metaphysics / Philosophy of Mind:
    1. How does Aristotle conceptualise the nature of reality?
      1. What does 'substance' mean?
      2. What is a 'primary substance'?
      3. What is a 'secondary substance'?
      4. What are the three characteristics of substance?
      5. How is Aristotle's conception of reality different from Plato's?
    2. How does Aristotle conceptualise human identity?
      1. Does thought or emotion occur apart from the body (i.e. do they originate in the body)?
      2. Is the soul transcendental, as Plato argues?  If not, how does Aristotle conceive the soul?
      3. Does Aristotle adhere to a dualist notion of human identity as Plato does?
  2. Epistemology / Methodology / Logic:
    1. How does Aristotle conceptualise the nature of knowledge?
    2. What is the object of scientific knowledge, according to Aristotle?
    3. Through what process is scientific knowledge produced?
    4. What is the foundation or 'starting-point' of this process by which scientific knowledge is produced?
    5. Aristotle argues that "scientific knowledge or understanding of something" (20) is the result of knowing the "cause of the item in question" (20).  What are four 'causes' listed by Aristotle?
    6. How are Aristotle's views on knowledge different from Plato's?
  3. Philosophy of Language:
    1. What are the basic assumptions about language advanced by Aristotle in section one of On Interpretation?
    2. Discuss some of the ways in which Aristotle’s views on language differ significantly from Plato’s.
    3. Why does Aristotle view the existence of metaphor as a confirmation of his own views on the conventionality of language and a contradiction of Plato’s?