Aristotelian Philosophy, Ethics, and Political Thought Flashcards

A comprehensive vocabulary flashcard set covering key concepts, distinctions, and terminology from Aristotelian ethical, metaphysical, and political philosophy.

Practical Knowledge

A type of science concerned with action, variable subject matter, and particular circumstances, aimed at guiding human conduct rather than attaining universal truth as an end in itself.

Theoretical Knowledge

A type of science pursued for its own sake regarding universal, unchanging objects (such as mathematics) that remain unaffected by human action.

Practical Wisdom (Phronesis)

The intellectual virtue or prudence that enables an individual to deliberate correctly and connect general moral principles to particular actions in variable circumstances.

Form of the Good

Plato's transcendent, separate first principle of knowledge, which Aristotle criticizes for lacking practical relevance to moral action and specialized human crafts.

Teleology

The philosophical approach holding that natural objects and living organisms are best understood in terms of their internal drive toward a final end, goal, or purpose.

Telos

The Greek word for the natural end, ultimate purpose, or realized state toward which an organism or institution develops.

Actualization (Potentiality to Actuality)

The process by which an entity realizes an inherent internal potential to achieve its complete form, exemplified by an acorn developing into a mature oak tree.

Polis

The highest, self-sufficient form of political association that originates for the sake of biological survival, but exists ultimately for the sake of human flourishing and the good life.

Scholê

The Greek concept of leisure—and linguistic root of 'school'—which provides the necessary state for cultivating higher human intellectual capacities, as distinct from play or amusement.

Compound Whole

A unified entity composed of differentiated, unalike parts (such as a shoe or a polis) whose individual functions can only be properly understood through their relationship to the overarching structure.

Natural Slavery

Aristotle's theory that individuals with naturally limited rational capacities benefit from servitude because they require external rational guidance to fully develop.

Éthos

The Greek term for character, which Aristotle asserts is formed through habituation and the repeated exercise of virtuous actions.

Doctrine of the Mean

The ethical principle stating that moral virtue consists of a balanced state positioned midway between two vices—one of excess and one of deficiency.

Polity (Middle Constitution)

The most realistic, stable political arrangement, characterized by rule of the middle class, which mitigates extreme class conflict between the rich and the poor.

Stasis

The condition of internal faction, civil strife, or class warfare within a polis that Aristotle studies as a primary cause of political instability and decay.

Arithmetic Justice

The democratic view of distributive justice holding that because all citizens are equal in one respect (such as free birth), they are entitled to equal political representation.

Geometric Justice

The oligarchic view of distributive justice holding that individuals who are superior in a specific respect (such as wealth) are entitled to proportionally greater political power.

Esoteric Writings

Aristotle's surviving, unpolished lecture materials and teaching texts created for use within the Lyceum, rather than prepared for public reading.

Exoteric Writings

Aristotle's lost public dialogue works, praised in antiquity for their literary quality and intentional polish.

Collection of 158 Constitutions

The empirical research project conducted by Aristotle and his students at the Lyceum to collect and analyze the constitutional histories of various Greek city-states.