WHAT DOES BEING AN “ARISTOTELIAN” REALLY MEAN?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21814/eps.2.1.98Keywords:
Aristotle, Aristotelian, Aristotelianism, ethics, political philosophy, methodologyAbstract
The present paper presents two main arguments: 1) The meanings of terms like “(neo-) Aristotelian” or “Aristotelianism” have become extremely ambiguous in the present literature of ethics and political philosophy. These terms have even become confusing rather than being descriptive or explanatory. The following questions seem to have no proper answers: Who is actually “Aristotelian,” or “neo-Aristotelian,” to what extent and for what reasons? What does “(neo-) Aristotelian” really mean? 2) In order to give some clues to properly answer these questions, as its second argument, the present paper attempts to define the essential methodological characteristics of Aristotelian ethical/political exploration. To be called as an “Aristotelian,” a research should start from the methodological peculiarities of Aristotle’s practical philosophy that make a research “Aristotelian” rather than “Kantian” or “Hegelian.” In the second part of the paper, these peculiarities are defined as methodological prudence and medical dialectics, which are characteristic aspects of Aristotelian way of inquiry regarding ethics and political philosophy.
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