Aristotle

Bio Sketch

Aristotle (384-322 BCE) was an ancient Greek philosopher, student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. Aristotle developed systematic approaches to logic, ethics, politics, and aesthetics. His concept of practical wisdom (phronesis) influenced Gadamer's hermeneutics.

Key Works

• Nicomachean Ethics
• Politics
• Poetics
• Metaphysics

Key Concepts

• practical-wisdom
• virtue
• mimesis

Relevance to Geoffrey's Research

Aristotle's practical wisdom informs Gadamer's hermeneutics and the ethics of architectural practice. His work connects to themes of tradition, interpretation, and the relationship between theory and practice.

Source Support

• source-notes/kidder-gadamer-for-architects
• Interiors as global constructs (Hadjiyanni 2018) — the Nicomachean Ethics as interior design's happiness frame: "Writing over 2,300 years ago, Aristotle can pave the way for how to think about this topic. Aristotle understood happiness as an activity, in fact, the end of all activities. In Book I of The Nicomachean Ethics, he defined happiness as 'a virtuous activity of the soul' and prompted all students of politics to study the soul" — redeployed as the question-set "What can prompt designers of interiors to operate with happiness as a goal in mind? How would one study the soul…? Can interiors nudge people toward virtuous activities, ones that care for the soul, and if so, how? Who decides what is good and how could one know that something is virtuous?" The chapter also sets the Declaration of Independence's happiness right against the designed interior, and names virtue-formation as the open question the Capabilities Approach's social-justice frame runs parallel to. See ethics, capabilities-approach, practical-wisdom.