POL200Y5 Lecture 8: Aristotle’s Politics Book 1
Document Summary
Book 1 is all about figuring out what a polis is. The world is made up of a combination of matter and form. He differs from plato when it comes to form. Plato says that form participates separate from the objects. Aristotle says forms do not exist outside of their particular instances. He says you have to look to nature to examine this. The acorn desires to become an oak tree. The form is already in the acorn, it is going to be an oak tree. The acorn has a potential to be an oak tree. Form is always found in nature, the oak tree is the highest stage of the acorns nature. Everything has a plan, the plan is already part of the object. If the form exists in things, then they are only known by examining them. Says that you have to examine the polis. His political philosophy is informed by the philosophy of nature.
