Aristotle (384-322 BC) outlined his philosophy of mind and consciousness in his work “Metaphysics.” For the first time in history, he proposed a universal method for analysing reality in all its aspects: the cosmos, nature, and human beings.
To develop his views on mind and consciousness, he had to let go first of Plato’s theory of forms. Plato had taught in his Academy that, in addition to the present world, there exists one intangible world of pure abstractions, which he called “forms.”
In the Platonic framework, the key function of the mind and consciousness is to access the mythical world of forms. If you learn something, it means according to Plato that you’ve gained insight into the world of pure abstractions.
Plato (428-348 BC) spent half a lifetime preaching about a world of forms that nobody could see. He attracted students to his Academy under the promise of helping them learn about the forms. He promised to open their minds and consciousness, but in reality, he was just feeding them mythical nonsense.
Not only did Plato spread delusion, but he attacked anyone who dared to questioned his mysticism. In “The Republic,” he presents the allegory of the cave, which states that most people live in ignorance, like prisoners in a cave. From the real world outside the cave, they only perceive distorted shadows.
Aristotle’s philosophy of mind and consciousness compared to Plato’s
Plato did not conceive of any good use of the human mind apart from accessing the world of forms. Every innovation and creation, every aspect of ethics, geometry or music comes from the world of pure abstractions.
Aristotle put an end to Plato’s mysticism by separating mind and reality. Human beings can think and possess consciousness that enables them to analyse reality. Knowledge is acquired by studying the material world, not by mystical contemplation
To analyse the world more accurately, Aristotle created the concepts of substance (the underlying material) and form (the shape and features). Those concepts help the human mind draw conclusions about the nature of each object or creature.
Aristotle’s philosophy of mind and consciousness versus subjectivsm
The human mind and consciousness can analyse facts. Their conclusions, if they are correctly drawn, shall be considered as objective, not as subjective; the whole point of philosophy is to figure out the objective truth, not to engage in speculations.
In contrast to Plato’s mysticism and subjectivism, Aristotle’s world is knowable, consistent, and predictable. The purpose of consciousness is to learn how the world works and the purpose of philosophy is to make good decisions that lead to happiness.
In the Aristotelian world, each element is aligned with every other element. The human mind is able to identify the features of each entity, identify its identity, and predict its behaviour.
For analysing the interactions between entities, Aristotelian thinkers use the terms material cause (the substance of which a creature or entity is made), formal cause (its shape), efficient cause (the force that moves it) and final cause (its purpose).
The human consciousness is an external observer to reality, but also capable of assessing its own thoughts and motivations. The correct use of logic is a personal achievement that requires effort and concentration. It’s not the outcome of connecting the Platonic world of forms.
Aristotle’s philosophy of mind and consciousness versus innate ideas
The German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) came up with a distortion of Aristotelian philosophy that I find important to mention because it has been the root of dire mistakes in later centuries.
In his “Essays on Human Understanding” (1704), Leibniz argued in favour of the existence of innate ideas. He claimed that certain truths are inborn and that knowledge acquisition is a process of expanding our innate ideas through experience.
In support of his theory of innate ideas, Leibniz argued that all humans beings use concepts such as distance, size, cause or effect without need of external inputs.
Twenty-two centuries earlier, Aristotle had already realized that humans can use abstract concepts, but didn’t attribute them to innate ideas. He regarded them as the normal workings of rationality, the element that separates humans from animals.
Aristotle’s explanation is more realistic than the innate ideas put forward by Leibniz. The Aristotelian concept of the human mind and consciousness is the outcome of observation, not of speculation.
Aristotle’s philosophy of mind and consciousness compared to Leibniz’s
The problem of inventing the doctrine of innate ideas is that it opens the door to a myriad of philosophical mistakes. If you have innate ideas, where do they come from? Who has placed those ideas in your mind?
As a result of his mistaken doctrine of innate ideas, Leibniz came up with the concept of “pre-established harmony” for the whole world; he believed that every entity is driven by a divine plan that ensures that we live in the best of all possible worlds.
As you can see, Leibniz started with one error, and in order to justify it, he ended up contradicting every Aristotelian truth.
Leibniz destroyed causality (which becomes useless if every creature is driven by a divine plan), ethics (which becomes pointless if we live in the best possible world) and art (which becomes inexplicable because it is driven by God’s hand).
Since it’s obvious that we don’t live in the best of all worlds and that every action is not driven by supernatural forces, the doctrines of Leibniz generated pessimism instead of optimism.
His attempt to obliterate Aristotle’s philosophy on the mind and consciousness proved a total failure, making it even more apparent the need to return to Aristotle’s straightforward ideas.
If you are interested in applying Aristotelian principles to improve your life, I recommend you my book “Sequentiality: The amazing power of finding the right sequence of steps.”
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