The Contemporary Relevance of Aristotle’s Thought

Abstract

In order to explain the contemporary relevance of Aristotle’s thought, the following discussion explores various examples of Aristotelian theories, concepts, and distinctions which remain at the centre of the philosophical debate. From the domain of logic we consider the notion of category, which was developed by G. Ryle, the distinction between apophantic and semantic discourse, that was stressed by J. Austin, the debate on the principle of non- contradiction, and the theory of fallacies; from the domain of physics, we examine the concepts of substrate, form, continuum, and time, which have been discussed by I. Prigogine and R. Thom; from the field of biology, we consider the function of form in animal generation, which M. Delbruck has compared to the role of DNA; from the field of psychology, we look at the notion of soul as a complex of dispositions, which has been identified by many philosophers as a solution of the “Mind-Body Problem;” from the realm of ethics, we investigate the distinction between action and production, an approach developed by H. Arendt, and the virtue of phronesis, which has been developed by H. G. Gadamer and A. McIntyre. In particular, we discuss the Aristotelian theory of the ambiguity of the concept of being, the notion of “focal meaning,” that has been developed by G. E. L. Owen, and the function of form in the identification of individuals, which has been pursued by M. Frede.