Aristotle was born in 384 BC.; with him came the birth of Western realism. He
was a student of Plato and a tutor to Alexander the Great (Founders, 1991). It
is difficult to discuss the philosophies of Aristotle without bringing up those
of his former tutor, Plato. Aristotle's philosophies diverted from Plato's, and
led to Aristotle forming his own school, the Lyceum. After tutoring Alexander
the Great for about five years, he founded the Lyceum in Athens, Greece
(Wheelwright, 1983). The Lyceum was a philosophical school that dealt in matters
such as metaphysics, logic, ethics, and natural sciences. When teaching at the
Lyceum, Aristotle had a habit of walking about as he discoursed. It was in
connection with this that his followers became known in later years as the
peripatetics, meaning "to walk about" (Owens, 1981). For the next
thirteen years he devoted his energies to his teaching and composing his
philosophical treatises. This paper will attempt to discuss Aristotle's
contributions and theories in metaphysics, epistemology, and axiology. However,
his major contributions are in Metaphysics. Aristotle's editors gave the name
"Metaphysics" to his works on first philosophy, either because they
went beyond or followed after his physical investigations (Adler, 1983).
Metaphysics are the theories of the nature of reality. Aristotle broke down
Plato's dualism and replaced it with a hierarchy. He stated that both things and
ideas are real, but ideas are better. Actually all things are a combination of
matter and idea. For example: A chair may be wood, but it is more than just a
block of wood. It is wood shaped by an idea. By looking at the chair we can know
something of the concept which gives it meaning. The physical chair is real, but
the concept which gives it meaning is higher in the matter hierarchy. A more
detailed look into this concept is discussed later in this paper. Aristotle also
believed in mind-body dualism, like Plato, which asserts that the mind and body
exist on separate planes. Realist metaphysics assumes the existence of objects
independently of the human experience of those objects; cognition involves an
interaction of the mind and the objective universe (Owens, 1981). The
educational goals of realism are to develop human rationality through the study
of organized bodies of knowledge and to encourage humans to define themselves by
making rational decisions and exercising their potential. For Aristotle, the
subject of metaphysics deals with the first principles of scientific knowledge
and the ultimate conditions of all existence. More specifically, it deals with
existence in its most fundamental state, and the essential attributes of
existence. This can be contrasted with mathematics, which deals with existence
in terms of lines or angles, and not existence as it is in itself. Aristotle
argues that there are a handful of universal truths. Against the followers of
Heraclitus and Protagoras, Aristotle defends both the laws of contradiction, and
that of the excluded middle. He does this by showing that their denial is
suicidal. Carried out to its logical consequences, the denial of these laws
would lead to the sameness of all facts and all assertions. It would also result
in an indifference in conduct. As the science of being as being, the leading
question of Aristotle's metaphysics is, "What is meant by the real or true
substance,"(Founders, 1991). The development of potentiality to actuality
is one of the most important aspects of Aristotle's philosophy. It was intended
to solve the difficulties which earlier thinkers had raised with reference to
the beginning of existence and the relations of the one and many. The actual vs.
potential state of things is explained in terms of the causes which act on
things. There are four causes: 1. Material cause, or the elements out of which
an object is created; 1. Efficient cause, or the means by which it is created;
2. Formal cause, or the expression of what it is; 3. Final cause, or the end for
which it is (Adler, 1991). Take, for example, a brick house. Its material cause
is the brick itself. Its efficient cause is the builder, which he creates the
house into shape. The formal cause is the idea of the completed house. The final
cause is the idea of the house as it prompts the builder to act on the bricks.
The final cause tends to be the same as the formal cause, and both of these can
be assumed by the efficient cause. Of the four, it is the formal and final which
is the most important, and which most truly gives the explanation of an object.
The final end of a thing is realized in the full perfection of the object
itself, not in our conception of it. Final cause is thus internal to the nature
of the object itself, and not something we subjectively impose on it. God to
Aristotle is the first of all substances, the necessary first source of movement
who is himself unmoved. God is a being with everlasting life, and perfect
blessedness, engaged in never-ending contemplation. Epistemology are theories of
or the study of the nature and grounds for knowledge with reference to its
limits and validity (Wheelwright, 1983). Aristotle accepts the idea of
universal, knowable Truth. He believes that, since both ideas and things are
real, knowledge can be attained by both reason and sense experience - actually
reason applied to sense experience. Science and philosophy are both legitimate
ways of knowing, but philosophy is superior. Axiology is the science of value.
The word "axiology", derived from two Greek roots "axios"
(worth or value) and "logos" (logic or theory), means the theory of
value (Adler, 1991). The development of the science makes possible the objective
measurement of value as accurately as a thermometer measures temperature.
Aristotle is philosophically an absolutist. Certain values, like rationality,
apply universally. In day to day decision-making, his "Golden Mean"
concept seems relativistic (Founders, 1991). Important concepts include
intrinsic and extrinsic values. In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle established
his ideals of moderation, balance, and harmony as the core of his axiological
system or value theory (Owens, 1981). Unlike Plato whose philosophy was based on
abstraction, Aristotle's methods were based on empirical observation and
research, thus the basis for realism. Similar to Plato's forms, Aristotle
believed in essence, which refers to the attributes necessary for an object to
be what it is. As mentioned earlier, this paper summarizes Aristotle's theories
in metaphysics, epistemology, and axiology, and does not discuss his other
philosophies. To really understand Aristotle's philosophy, one has to read all
of his theories and beliefs. There is no fine line between his different
theories, and attempting to separate them into sections, or to summarize them in
a four page paper, strips them of their true global perspective in relation to
his other theories. However, regardless of the latter fact, Aristotle's
philosophies still astound scholars and people of all walks of life today, two
thousand three hundred and twenty two years later.

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Joseph Owens. Albany, New York. State University of New York. Wheelwright,
Philip. (1983). Five Philosophers. New York, NY: The Odyssey Press, Inc.