Τί μπορεί σήμερα να μας διδάξει ο Αριστοτέλης σήμερα;
Το Διεπιστημονικό Κέντρο Αριστοτελικών Μελετών, του ΑΠΘ, έδωσε με επιτυχία το παρόν στο εξαιρετικά ενδιαφέρον Συνέδριο με θέμα «Η Αρχαία Σοφία για τις Σύγχρονες Προκλήσεις», που πραγματοποιήθηκε στις 6-8 Ιουλίου 2022 στην Αθήνα. Διεθνούς κύρους μελετητές της Φιλοσοφίας, της Φιλοσοφίας της Επιστήμης, της Πολιτικής Επιστήμης, της Οικονομίας, της Ψυχολογίας και άλλων επιστημονικών κλάδων, συναντήθηκαν στην ΑΚΑΔΗΜΙΑ ΑΘΗΝΩΝ για να εξετάσουν, με ποιόν τρόπο μπορεί η αρχαία Φιλοσοφία, και πιο συγκεκριμένα ο Αριστοτέλης και ο Κομφούκιος, να μας βοηθήσουν να αντιμετωπίσουμε μερικές από τις πιο κρίσιμες προκλήσεις της εποχής μας. Τον τόνο για την επικαιρότητα της Αριστοτελικής σκέψης έδωσε η Πρόεδρος του ΔΙΚΑΜ, Ομότιμη καθηγήτρια Φιλοσοφίας της Επιστήμης, Δήμητρα Σφενδόνη-Μέντζου, η οποία επεσήμανε, ότι όσον αφορά στο επιστημονικό έργο του Μακεδόνα φιλοσόφου: «Δεν μπορεί παρά να αναγνωρίσει κανείς, ότι ο Αριστοτέλης οριοθέτησε το αντικείμενο των διαφόρων επιστημών και δεν μπορεί παρά να μιλήσει με θαυμασμό για τον απίστευτο πλούτο των παρατηρήσεών του σε όλες τις πτυχές του φυσικού κόσμου. Ωστόσο, αυτό που κάνει ακόμη πιο πολύτιμη τη συμβολή του Αριστοτέλη στην επιστήμη είναι το γεγονός, ότι συνέβαλε ουσιαστικά στη γένεση αυτής της ίδιας της έννοιας της επιστήμης ως ειδικού τρόπου του γιγνώσκειν». Τη επικαιρότητα του Αριστοτελικού έργου σε διάφορους τομείς έφεραν επίσης στο φως με ενδιαφέρουσες εισηγήσεις τα μέλη του Διοικητικού και Επιστημονικού Συμβουλίου του ΔΙΚΑΜ, Καθηγητές: Ζαχαρίας Σκούρας, Φιλήμων Παιονίδης, Νικόλαος Παρασκευόπουλος και Κωνσταντίνος Κατσιφαράκης. Το Συνέδριο οργανώθηκε από τον καθηγητή Jeffrey David Sachs, Πρόεδρο του Δικτύου Λύσεων Βιώσιμης Ανάπτυξης του ΟΗΕ (SDSN), και Μέλος της Επιστημονικής Επιτροπής του ΔΙΚΑΜ, και από τη Φοίβη Κουντούρη, Καθηγήτρια Οικονομικής Θεωρίας και Πολιτικής, στο Οικονομικό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών, και Συμπρόεδρο του SDSN στην Ευρώπη, με αφορμή την εγκατάσταση του παγκοσμίου Hub του SDSN στην Αθήνα. Το Συνέδριο αποτελεί τον προάγγελο του Συνεδρίου: ΑΡΙΣΤΟΤΕΛΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΚΟΝΦΟΥΚΙΟΣ, που θα πραγματοποιηθεί τον ερχόμενο Ιούλιο στην Αθήνα. Η Πρόεδρος του Διεπιστημονικού Κέντρου Αριστοτελικών Μελετών, ΑΠΘ, Δήμητρα Σφενδόνη-Μέντζου, η οποία συμμετέχει στην Steering Committee του Συνεδρίου, έχει κάνει ήδη την πρόταση, μέρος του Συνεδρίου να πραγματοποιηθεί στο Αριστοτέλειο Πανεπιστήμιο Θεσσαλονίκης, στα αρχαία Στάγειρα, γενέτειρα του Αριστοτέλη και στην αρχαία Μίεζα τον τόπο, όπου ο Αριστοτέλης δίδαξε τον Μέγα Αλέξανδρο. Είναι εξαιρετικά σημαντικό μετά την τεράστια επιτυχία που σημείωσε το Παγκόσμιο Συνέδριο «ΑΡΙΣΤΟΤΕΛΗΣ 2400 ΧΡΟΝΙΑ», με τη συμμετοχή ομιλητών από 40 χώρες από τις πέντε Ηπείρους, να συγκεντρωθεί και πάλι η παγκόσμιος φιλοσοφική/Αριστοτελική κοινότητα στη γενέτειρα του οικουμενικού φιλοσόφου Αριστοτέλη. ARISTOTLE’S CONTRBUTION TO SCIENCE AND ETHICS. THE RELEVANCE OF HIS INSIGHTS TODAY / Η ΣΥΜΒΟΛΗ ΤΟΥ ΑΡΙΣΤΟΤΕΛΗ ΣΤΗΝ ΕΠΙΣΤΗΜΗ ΚΑΙ ΣΤΗΝ ΗΘΙΚΗ. ΤΙ ΜΠΟΡΕΙ ΝΑ ΜΑΣ ΔΙΔΑΞΕΙ ΣΗΜΕΡΑ; Δήμητρα Σφενδόνη-Μέντζου ΑΚΑΔΗΜΙΑ ΑΘΗΝΩΝ 6-7-2022 I will talk about Aristotle, whom, in a way, I consider my compatriot, since he was born in Stageira of Macedonia, very close to my own birthplace, Thessaloniki, and since he taught Alexander the great, in a place also near to Thessaloniki. It is my hope that in the next year's Symposium on Aristotle and Confucius we will manage to carry out a part of the Symposium in these two emblematic places. This is my wish and at the same time a proposal on behalf of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Aristotle Studies of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Certainly, it would be hopeless to try to present all aspects of Aristotle’s work in this session, or even to discuss in depth one tiny topic. So, I will try to provide an answer to the following questions: I. What makes Aristotle’s work so great? Why did Aristotle have a unique and uninterrupted effect on the human intellect over a period of twenty-four centuries and continues to be alive today? II. Why do we read Aristotle today, what do we have to earn from his wisdom? To answer the first question, let me first say that Aristotle has produced a multifarious work, which covers not only all basic areas of philosophy, such as Logic, Metaphysics, Moral and Political Philosophy, Poetics and Rhetoric but also extends in an impressive number of scientific disciplines, such as Physics, Biology, Marine Biology, Zoology, Embryology, Teratology, Developmental Biology, Botany, Taxonomy, Psychology, Medicine, Agriculture, Mathematics, Chemistry, Meteorology, Astronomy, Geology and Mechanics. This is why I like to say that Aristotle is an omni-scientist philosopher, πανεπιστήμων φιλόσοφος. This does not mean that he studied all sciences, but that he has laid the foundations of all the above disciplines. This was, indeed, the work of an exceptionally gifted intellect. Plato admired him so much, that he used to call him o νους, the mind, and Dante has characterized him as “the teacher of the wise.” (or, of those who know). Now, let me say a few things about Aristotle’s work connected with the sciences. Certainly, one cannot but begin by saying that Aristotle delineated the object (the territory) of the sciences, and one cannot but speak with admiration about the incredible wealth of his observations in all areas of his Philosophy of Nature, about the number and kind of researches he conducted during his stay in Assos, in Lesbos and in Macedonia, about the number of dissections he made, something which is very little known. All these prove that Aristotle also deserves the name of a research scientist. However, what makes Aristotle’s contribution to science even more valuable and timeless is the fact that he laid the foundations of the very concept of ἐπιστήμη, science. i.e. he contributed substantially to the birth, the genesis, of science as a special way of knowing (γιγνώσκειν). We use to think that the rules, the standards and the goals of the scientific enterprise that we all acknowledge and accept were always there. But this is not the case. We must understand that they were indeed gigantic steps in the origins of the intellectual history of mankind. Such I believe are the following Aristotle’s intellectual achievements: In Prior Analytics Aristotle gave us the laws of the human mind and of syllogism, the logic and the method of science. In Posterior Analytics (71a 21-33), and also in his Physics he made clear, that knowing (τὸ ἐπίστασθαι) is understanding. This means, that scientific knowledge (ἐπιστήμη) is not restricted to the description of things (ότι, quid), but needs to be knowledge of causes (διότι, propter quid), and certainly, scientific knowledge and truth should be based on justification and proof. Moreover, Aristotle organized the complex material of the totality of the physical world in his ten categories, so as to be able to organize its variety and complexity; he extended these tools by introducing such concepts, as substance (ουσία), potentiality and actuality, causality, matter and form, nature, space, time, motion, infinity, continuity concepts that are still an essential part of the philosophical and scientific discourse. Furthermore, he introduced an interdisciplinary approach to knowledge. He taught us that scientific knowledge cannot be cut into pieces, that the real scientist must have an overall understanding of the totality of knowable and that the whole is something more than the sum of the parts. I would thus say, that Aristotle’s insights on all these matters have a lot to teach us today in the field of scientific research and at the same time they can provide powerful arguments for today’s scientific realism, in its criticism of all trends of positivism. *** And now let me say a few words about Aristotle’s moral and political philosophy, a crucial issue in our times. Aristotle has taught us that Ethics and Politics cannot be separated; they are closely related. At the center of his investigation is always o άνθρωπος the human being, who is defined as “an animal by nature rational and political” “φύσει ζώον λογικόν πολιτικόν”. This means that άνθρωπος by nature is governed by logic, and acquires its meaning only within the community. The free human being seeks the good το αγαθόν. This consists in his doing his social and political duty. And this can be done by the exercise of practical wisdom, (φρόνησις) so that……one can be able to distinguish good from evil. Concepts such as virtue (αρετή), happiness (ευδαιμονία), wisdom (φρόνησις), friendship (φιλία), are very important for Aristotle’s moral & political model. Central idea is that of μεσότης (mesotis, mean): He claims that virtue (excellence) αρετή should dominate our impulses and instincts, so that we can be able to achieve the μέτρον measure, the μεσότης (“mesotis” middle) between the two ends: excess and deficiency (Υπερβολή και έλλειψη) To achieve the good (αγαθόν) and finally, eudemonia (ευδαιμονία) passions must be in reasonable control and in agreement with reason (λόγος, ορθός). So, following Aristotle, we need to think and provide an answer to the question: "What is the best life?". O άριστος βίος? The answer we will provide will depend on the definition we will choose for ourselves as human beings (άνθρωπος). We have to think: What is my essential property that belongs to my nature? Shall I characterize myself as: Homo economicus Homo technicus Homo martial Homo bellicosus? Or shall I agree with Aristotle, that “o άθρωπος» is by nature a logical and political animal”? “ζῶον λογικόν πολιτικόν» VIRTUE- REASON-HAPPY LIFE- ΑΡΕΤΗ-ΟΡΘΟΣ ΛΟΓΟΣ-ΕΥΔΑΙΜΩΝ ΒΙΟΣ For Aristotle reason is extremely important. It can lead us to a happy life («ευδαίμων βίος»). How can this be accomplished? POLITICAL-MORAL-THEORETICAL LIFE-PAIDΕIA/ ΠΟΛΙΤΙΚΟΣ-ΗΘΙΚΟΣ-ΘΕΩΡΗΤΙΚΟΣ ΒΙΟΣ –ΠΑΙΔΕΙΑ It can only be accomplished If I connect my political life with my moral life and both with my theoretical life. How can this be done? This can only be done by paideia. I don’t say education, but παιδεία. This is something that all citizens and especially all politicians should take seriously. * I now wish to conclude by saying that Aristotle has left us an intellectual heritage and a legacy, which is still extremely valid. His insights, in all areas of his work, make him a completely contemporary thinker, with whom we can open a dialogue. Thus, my suggestion, which also introduces a neo-Aristotelianism, is that we must attempt a re-reading of Aristotle's work in the light both of recent discoveries in all fields of science and of crucial challenges in our own troubled times, many of which are already included in the agenda of this so very interesting workshop. Thank you