Sublime

Aristotle’s logic and his metaphors, he must still be respected for reminding us that the goal of action is always contemplation—knowing and being rather than seeking and becoming.

Another way of putting this, which Aristotle discusses in chapter 9, is to say that poetry ‘tends to express universal (51b6f.).

the nominal content of Aristotle’s idea is worthless today. But he did get one important thing right which most modern thinkers have got wrong. In trying to associate life with a basic physical concept (albeit the wrong one, motion), he recognized that life is a fundamental phenomenon of nature.

There was no purpose in the universe; there were only atoms governed by mechanical laws. He disbelieved in popular religion* and he argued against the nous of Anaxagoras. In ethics he considered cheerfulness the goal of life, and regarded moderation and culture as the best means to it. He disliked everything violent and passionate; he disapproved o

“We are what we do repeatedly.”

ARISTOTLE