What would Arisrtotle think of the current world?
I choose Aristotle over Plato, because I think Plato would be too extremist. His anti-democratic bent would lead him to oppose representative government and to say all are problems are due to putting the rabble in charge. Aristotle would be able to evaluate representative government more fairly. I think that Aristotle would also be more amenable to scientific method,which would be helpful since so much of Aristotle’s scientific knowledge was faulty (I don’t mean this as a criticism).
If Aristotle passed through some time warp into the present age, it would of course be a major culture shock. It might take a year or two to stop pinching himself in disbelief. Based on Aristotle’s philosophy of moderation, I think he would say that the world was out of balance. He would be duly impressed with our scientific knowledge, but would say that our use of it has created an unsustainable condition.
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I think Aristotle would be a bit confused by the rise of the nation-state and party politics. He would also think that we’d gone over the edge with the industrial revolution and question our reliance on mechanized farming. That’s just the beginning.
He could be very excited by our scientific method, and the discoveries we’d made. He would be glad for the rationality in much of the world, and he might be dismayed by the religious history of the past eons.
I doubt that he would be impressed all that much with modern philosophy and wonder how it helped society. Our education system would be impressive, too, and he would admire the societies with high percentages of literacy.
Thank you for this question. It makes me want to get out my Aristotle and start reading it again.
i think he would struggle with Kierkegaard, Nietzsche and the entire continental school of philosophers particularly. i think he would be disappointed with the 20th Century both ethically and aesthetically.
I think he’d be so thrilled with his car and television he’d stop thinking.
@Aster
And heaven forbid he find his way onto the internets.
I think he would be shocked by ideas of class equity, since he believed some people were naturally born to be slaves. He would quite like the role of juries in criminal justice, and agree that they should give a verdict but not a sentence. Although he didn’t believe in class equity, I think he would appreciate the welfare systems of some countries (like Australia’s, which is the only one I know well), because he didn’t think people should have to pay to be a citizen.
I think he would criticise the government of the US as being too oligarchial, since the rich can make campaign contributions that virtually guarantee that their interests are looked after. I think he would most like the constitutional monarchy of the UK, since it represents a balance between the natural state of things and giving a voice to the people.
He’d rake in the royalties for the rights to his story and go live in Athens. Unless he wanted to travel the world to try to avoid celebrity.
He’d ask to go back and quickly, please.
He’d probably have a breakdown finding out that he was wrong about life and mechanics
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