Description

This video discusses both Aristotle’s life and philosophy.  Aristotle is one of the earliest Humanists.  He dismissed the notion of a separate soul; grounded his views in observation (arguably creating science); focused on the problems of this world; and developed a secular theory of ethics that has stayed popular among philosophers even today.  The video first focuses on this last point with Aristotle’s theory of virtue ethics and the golden mean.  It then discusses his theory of art, specifically tragedy.  The video ends by discussing the value of friendship and, lastly, the nature of politics and rhetoric.

Discussion Questions

• What do you think of Aristotle’s arguments for the value of virtues or character traits?
• Do we need to use art to constantly re-socialize ourselves?  What other roles does art play?
• Is there anything more important than true friendship?
• Why do you think the best arguments fail so often in debates?
• What strategies, or rhetoric, can we use to be more effective?

Keywords: Aristotle, philosophy, art, classics, friendship, rhetoric, tragedy, virtue