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Academy
Run by Plato, the Academy was the center of Greek learning. Aristotle spent twenty years there and owes a great deal of his life's work to this formative influence. -
City-state
A self-governing political unit that is sometimes under the power of an overseeing nation, as Athens was in Greece. -
Four Causes
Aristotle's classification of the kinds of causes that a natural philosopher must investigate: 1) the constituent factor; 2) the form or pattern; 3) the immediate origin; and 4) the end or purpose. -
Good life
For Aristotle, the good life required community participation, for man was incomplete otherwise. Since reason and language are what set man apart from the other animals, he must exercise them in a public forum to live a fulfilling life. -
Lyceum
The rival school that Aristotle set up after he returned to Athens. While the Academy continued to thrive on mostly mathematical courses of study, Aristotle's school, the Lyceum, focused more on biology and natural history. It was here that Aristotle wrote most of his surviving works. -
Substratum
A substance that underlies the real attributes of the material world. -
Syllogism
A syllogism consists of certain assumptions or premises from which a conclusion can be deduced. The syllogism was the basic element on which Aristotle's logical system rested. -
Teleology
The consideration of natural ends or purposes in explaining phenomena. -
Unmoved Mover
The first cause of all motion that is itself unmoved. Aristotle extended this natural science concept to his theology, arguing that the Unmoved Mover was equivalent to God. The being is perfect and eternal but does not take an interest in the world.
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