Aristotle |
Aristotle
One of Plato's disciples was Aristotle. He came to the Academy
in 387 BCE as a student, but stayed on for twenty years. When Plato
died Aristotle
journeyed throughout the ancient Greek world establishing institutions modeled after
Plato's Academy wherever he went.
Aristotle was well-versed in a
broad range of subjects including science, anatomy and philosophy. He established the first empirical guidelines for
the conduct of scientific investigations. In this regard, his approaches pre-dated
the modern scientific method by several centuries. Aristotle is also credited
with the use of logic as a method for conducting research. He also devised the idea of dividing
areas of study into separate categories with specific methods of study for each field.
In 335 BCE Aristotle began the Lyceum in Athens which was to be the world's first
polytechnic. The aim of this particular institution of higher learning was to offer a training
ground for those interested in pursuing scientific studies.
The legacy of the Socratic method, particularly the notion of the dialectic as a method of teaching and learning,
became the standard approach at Greek institutions of higher education. It also became
the way in which research was systematized and directed.
The Greek Curriculum in the Liberal Arts:
In ancient Greece, the standard curriculum was based on the idea that knowledge fell within
the disicplinary boundaries of grammar, dialectic and rhetoric. These subjects were designed to
teach students to speak well and to acquire a thorough study of language and the poetic arts.
The curriculum of ancient Greece also indcluded arithmetic, astronomy, geometry and music.
These seven subjects would come to be known as the Liberal Arts and would form
the core curriculum of higher education in the universities of Medieval Europe. Even today,
the Liberal Arts program, as well as its goals, survive in varying degress at universities throughout
the world.
ON LINE WORKS OF ARISTOTLE
The Athenian Constitution
On Dreams
On Categories
On Interpetation
Poetics
Rhetoric
Topics
