Aristotle Research Paper

Many theories in science and philosophy are complex and abstract. Students and scholars nowadays study and apply the theories without taking note how they evolved. Comprehending the theories from Aristotle’s times would make science more meaningful, exciting and understandable. Aristotle’s works were developed by combining different fragments of ideas. He developed his theories mostly by observation and by use of very mundane apparatus, and his experiments were reasonably empirical. Aristotle’s insatiable interest in understanding nature made him study several spheres of life including mathematics, physics, metaphysics, politics, biology, medicine and many more (Bodnar n.p). Many of his assertions and writings had an enormous impact in the

Like many other people before him, Aristotle attempted to understand and explain the functioning of the earth and other celestial bodies. Aristotle’s view of the cosmos was based on numerous observations by use of the naked eye. By observing the natural world such as the sun rising and setting, the stars arraigning themselves in a semicircle over the horizon, the moon shifting position made him conclude that the earth was the center of the universe. He believed that the earth does not move, and the sun and other heavenly bodies move around it (Pecker 78). Aristotle held that four elements; earth, air, water, and fire were the basis of all occurrences on the earth’s surface and in the atmosphere but included fifth concept “ether” which was thought to be the matter of heavenly bodies (Bodnar n.p). Aristotle’s theories concerning the universe were taken as true for over two thousand years until the time of Copernicus and those after him. Issues expressed by Aristotle such as the suns’ orbits which appeared not to be in a perfect circle were addressed. Also, the question why sometimes stars seemed brighter than other times were addressed (Pecker 79). Aristotle contributions had a long-lasting effect. The propositions about the four elements lasted until the time of Brahe Tycho in the 17th century and into the modern time chemists like Lavoisier. Aristotle ideas concerning circular motion persisted until Kepler

Although the concept had been mentioned earlier by Plato, it is Aristotle that modified it to a more powerful form. Aristotle asserted that there are four causes: what objects are made of (material) how object come to be ( formal), the forces that are involved in making something (efficient) (Tosam 80). In the seventeenth century, a scientist by the name Francis Bacon narrowed down the causes into two: material and efficient cause. David Hume re-evaluated causation. In his view causation merely means continued interaction of events and events without reference to cause and effect. However, this idea of Hume was defeated by other scientists and in the 19th century when the field of modern medicine was conceived. Material cause, somewhat different from Aristotle’s perspective was left as a means of understanding causation (Tosam