Lesson video

Hello, my name's Mrs. Rawbone and I'd really like to welcome you to this lesson on Aristotle applying worldviews.

In today's lesson, we're going to be looking at some really relevant philosophical ideas, that were put together by Aristotle over 2000 years ago.

I'm looking forward to learning with you.

By the end of our lesson today, you will be able to explain Aristotle's view on the importance of observing the world and how this shapes worldviews today.

So let's get started.

We're going to be using a number of keywords in today's lesson.

They are Aristotle, eudaimonia, ethics, telos, and virtue.

Now, Aristotle was an ancient Greek philosopher remembered for his practical approach to knowledge.

Eudaimonia is the state of living well and flourishing.

Ethics is the study of right and wrong.

Telos is a Greek word, meaning purpose or goal, and virtue is a good quality that becomes a habit.

We will be working on the topic, Aristotle applying worldviews in two parts.

First of all, we are going to look at observing the world around us, and then we're going to look at putting a worldview into practise.

So let's get started on observing the world around us.

Aristotle believed that true knowledge comes from looking at what we can see and notice with our senses.

In the example pictured, we see different examples of horses and we would notice far more than this in the world around us.

So larger, smaller horses, older, younger, they might be foals, they might be all sorts of different colours, they might have different types of manes, different sizes of ears, but all of them would be horses.

And so we start to recognise the common characteristics of horses, the features that make a horse a horse.

So we have used our senses and our reason, our ability to think, to understand what a horse is, to gain knowledge about a horse.

This was how Aristotle thought we gained knowledge.

Now, Aristotle was Plato's student, but he had a very different worldview from his teacher.

Aristotle thought that the world around us is real and that knowledge comes from observing what we see.

So let's take a moment to check your understanding, true or false, Aristotle thought knowledge is gained from observation? Jot down your answer, pause if you need to, then come back to me and we'll check what you have written.

Well done if you said true, Aristotle did think that knowledge is gained from observation.

Take a moment to think about why this is true.

Well done if you thought that Aristotle was saying that the world around us gave us knowledge of what is real and that that is why he thought knowledge could be gained from observing that world.

Although he lived a long time ago, Aristotle's worldview is very relevant and influential on people today.

Let's have a look at how.

Aristotle developed his worldview by observing nature, which is a method followed by scientists today.

Here's an example of some modern scientific equipment that I'm sure Aristotle would very much have liked to use, it's a microscope.

Using equipment like a microscope allows scientists to observe tiny details and so to know more about what is real.

Let's have a look at what Aristotle thought we could know by observing the world around us.

When observing nature, Aristotle noticed that everything has a purpose, he called this a telos.

Here is an acorn.

An acorn grows into an oak tree.

This is its telos.

So by observing acorns and oak trees, we can understand that the purpose or telos of an acorn is to grow into an oak tree.

So we can know something about what the acorn is for.

So why was this important for Aristotle? Aristotle believed that once we understand the purpose of something, we have knowledge, and this contributes to our worldview.

What do you think the telos or purpose of a bee is? Take a moment to talk to someone nearby or you can talk to me, pause the video if you need to.

You might well have said, the purpose of a bee is to make honey and if so, you now have some knowledge or perhaps you already had this knowledge, but you now understand something about bees.

You know something from observing what bees do.

So let's check your understanding.

You're going to complete the labels to show the telos or purpose of each example.

A is an eye, B is a hand, and C is a nest.

Take a moment, write down A, B, and C, and for each, write down what you think the telos or purpose might be.

Pause the video and then come back to me.

There are a few different things you could have said about the purpose of each of these.

For A and eye, you could have said to see.

For B, the hand, you could have said to hold things.

And for C, the nest, you could have said to provide shelter.

Well done if you said something along these lines.

Aristotle was interested in how human beings work, so he observed them because he wanted to know what their telos or purpose was and this taught him a lot about how human beings should live their lives.

Lucas has been thinking about what the telos or purpose of a human being might be.

He wonders whether the purpose of human beings might be to learn and grow? Could it also be to build relationships? What about to seek happiness? Could it be to help others? Do you agree with any of Lucas' suggestions about what the telos or purpose of a human being might be? Turn to somebody else and discuss if you can, or you can talk to me, pause the video, have a think and then come back to me.

This may not be a question with a right or wrong answer, it may be an ultimate question, but Aristotle thought he had found the answer and he decided that the telos of a human being is happiness or more accurately, what he called flourishing.

The Greek word that Aristotle used was eudaimonia.

Now this word comes in two parts, we have eu and we have daimonia.

Eu is from a Greek word meaning good or well.

Diamonia is from a Greek word, daimon meaning spirit or guardian.

So eudaimonia is about having a good spirit.

So it means something a little more than just happiness as pleasure, something more like growing and becoming something better and stronger.

So for task A on observing the world around us, I would like you to complete this table of examples of what Aristotle thought we could know and how we can know it.

So on the left-hand side of the table, we have the list of things that we can know and on the right, how we know them.

You are gonna be finishing off a sentence for each row of the table.

So in the first row, the first sentence to complete is what we know, I know that.

And your clue is how we know it.

I know this because my dog comes to greet me when I come home.

For the second row of the table, we have the information about what we know.

I know that plants need sunlight to grow, but you are going to tell me how we know it.

I know this because, so you're going to be completing that sentence.

For the third row of the table, you're going to tell me what we know, I know that, based on the clue, I know this because I see my friend crying.

And finally again, you're going to tell me what we know, I know that, and your clue is how we know it.

I know this because I feel proud and fulfilled when I volunteer at a food bank.

So take some time to record your four answers, either what we know based on the clue of how we know it, or how we know it based on the clue of what we know.

Pause the video and come back when you are ready.

So let's check your answers.

There are lots of things you could have said.

You could have said, I know that dogs are loyal pets.

You could have said, I know this because my plants lean to the window when the sun shines.

You could have said, I know that my friend is sad.

And finally, you could have said, I know that volunteering leads to eudaimonia.

Now don't worry if you didn't use these exact words, there were lots of things that would've been equally good answers.

And the word, eudaimonia, is quite tricky there, so perhaps you said something like, because it makes me feel happy.

Let's move on to the second part of our lesson, putting a worldview into practise.

Here, you can see a photograph of a bust of Aristotle.

Now, happiness for most people often means feeling pleasure from things like good food or entertainment.

However, true happiness, which Aristotle called eudaimonia, is deeper.

It is about living a life that helps you grow and reach your full potential, not just about those moments of fun.

Now, Aristotle believed that this kind of happiness comes from practising what he called virtues.

Virtues are good habits and they guide us to live well.

They are about finding a balance between two extremes.

So for example, courage is a virtue.

You shouldn't have too much courage, nor should you have too little, you need just the right amount of courage and then it counts as a virtue, and by practising it, you can achieve happiness.

Now, Aristotle thought we needed to find a balance, which he called a golden mean, in all aspects of life.

Too much, an excess or too little, a deficiency leads to problems and he called these problems vices.

So for example, greed is having too much desire for something, while laziness is not having enough effort.

Both are vices, neither help you grow, and neither help you achieve true happiness.

So achieving eudaimonia takes time and effort.

It is the result of practising virtues and avoiding vices throughout your life.

By doing this, Aristotle thought you live in a way that fulfils your true nature, you achieve your telos or goal of eudaimonia and therefore, this leads to lasting happiness.

Let's check your understanding.

What would Aristotle say is the telos, purpose, of a human being? Is it A, to live a life free from challenges and difficulties? Is it B, to seek pleasure and avoid pain? Is it C, to pursue your ambitions and achieve your personal goals? Or is it D, to achieve happiness by living a good and thoughtful life? Have a think, take a moment, pause the video if you need to, jot down your answer and then come back to me.

Well done if you put D, to achieve happiness by living a good and thoughtful life.

This is what Aristotle meant by eudaimonia, which he thought was the telos or purpose of a human being.

So let's have a little bit more of a think about how Aristotle thought you could find this virtue, which is the golden mean.

Aristotle's idea of the golden mean is about finding balance in everything you do, and virtue is the middle ground, it's between the two extremes of too much, excess, and too little, deficiency.

To live well and to grow as person, you need to aim for this balance.

Here is an example of finding the golden mean.

We can see here two vices.

We have the vice or deficiency of courage, which is cowardice, and we have the vice or excess of courage, which is recklessness, which means kind of taking too many risks.

So the golden mean of courage is about being brave enough to face dangers when necessary but not acting recklessly.

So that means if you have too little courage, you become a coward and you avoid risks, but if you have too much courage, you take unnecessary risks, which can also be dangerous.

Aristotle was looking for a balance between these two.

So here we have the golden mean in between cowardice and recklessness, we have courage, which is the virtue.

Now, Aristotle taught that the golden mean is not the same for everyone or for every situation.

It requires good judgement and we have to practise finding the balance.

By aiming for this balance, you can develop virtues that lead you towards eudaimonia, which means a life of growth, purpose, and of true happiness.

Let's have a think about how this would work with other examples.

What if confidence is the golden mean? So the balance between two, what might you call the vice of deficiency, so having too little confidence? And what would the vice of excess be, so having too much confidence? Take some time to talk to somebody nearby or talk to me, pause the video if you need to and come back to me.

So let's check your understanding of finding a golden mean.

Which of the following three examples that you can see pictured below is an example of virtuous behaviour.

So it's the balance between two extremes.

So what we have in our pictures are two extremes of behaviour, and we have one which is a medium, a balance in between the two.

Take a moment to jot down your answer, pause the video if you need to, and then come back to me.

Well done if you picked C.

In example C, we see two people discussing and putting across their points of view, whereas in A, we see someone not wanting to listen to the other person, and in B, we see people kind of shouting at each other.

So rather than kind of arguing or ignoring a problem, we have a balance with people discussing and airing their opinions with each other.

So let's have a go at task B, putting a worldview into practise.

In this example, Sam and Izzy are discussing what they did yesterday evening.

What I would like you to do is to use the checklist to decide whether these activities, the ones they did yesterday evening, are likely to lead to eudaimonia, in other words, are they practising virtues, a balance between extremes? Izzy tells us, "I practised playing the piano and then I helped my sister with her homework." Sam tells us, "I played video games whilst eating some of my brother's birthday cake." Here is your eudaimonia checklist.

First of all, does the activity aim for lasting happiness? Secondly, does the activity involve doing good and acting rightly? Thirdly, does the activity help someone to grow as a person? Take some time, pause the video, think about those three elements on the checklist and decide whether you think what Izzy did is likely to lead to eudaimonia, or/and whether what Sam did is likely to lead to eudaimonia.

Make sure that you write down why, once you've made your decision.

Pause the video and then come back to me and we can see how you did.

So let's have a look at what you could have said.

There are lots of things you could have said, but you might have said that Izzy's activities could lead to eudaimonia.

This is because I think practising the piano helps her to grow and helping her sister with her homework is doing good.

Sam had fun, but her activities would only make her happy for a little while, and so I don't think they are likely to lead to eudaimonia.

Have a look at your work, if you said anything along those lines, if you chose Izzy's activities over Sam's, well done.

Let's practise what we've learned a little further and have a look at a second task.

In this example, we have Lucas, Laura, and Sam working together.

I would like you to decide who is showing a vice, so too little or too much of a virtue, and who is showing a virtue, the golden mean, and you will also need to explain why.

You could draw out a table like the one below and write down the names Lucas, Laura, and Sam, or you could just list those names.

For each, you are going to write the word vice next to the name or golden mean or virtue.

So let's have a look at what they do.

Lucas stays silent.

He nods along and agrees to what the others say, even if he thinks it won't work.

Laura dismisses others' ideas and often interrupts them saying things like, "That won't work." Sam listens and shares, she asks what others think and says, "That's interesting.

How would that work?" So think carefully about what each of them is doing and decide whether it is a vice that they are showing, so too much or too little, or whether it is a virtue.

Once you've decided which it is, make a note of why.

Pause a video, take some time to do this and then come back to me.

There are a few things you could have said in this example.

Let's have a look at your work.

You should have noticed that Lucas is showing a vice, he is showing too little or too much of something.

So in this case, Lucas is far too obedient, just agreeing with what everyone says.

You should have said that Laura is also showing a vice.

You might have used the word disrespectful.

She is not showing enough respect to people, she's dismissing their ideas and interrupting them.

Finally, you should have said that Sam shows respect.

This is because she takes on board other people's ideas and listens to them, but she doesn't just accept everything that people tell her, so hers is the golden mean.

Well done if you managed to say that Lucas and Laura are showing vices and Sam is showing a virtue.

Thank you for all your work this lesson.

Together we have learned a lot.

We've learned that Aristotle emphasised the importance of observation in understanding the world and this laid the groundwork for modern science.

He believed that everything has a telos, purpose, for human beings, this purpose relates to achieving eudemonia or living a flourishing life.

Eudaimonia can be achieved by exercising virtue.

Virtue is a golden mean between extremes or vices.

And Aristotle's views on ethics show how different worldviews can influence everyday behaviour.