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PHILOSOPHY AS ART IN ARISTOTLE'S PROTREPTICUS.

Observing certain affinities with Plato's Alcibiades I, this paper argues that a distinction between care (epimeleia) of the soul and philosophy as its art (technê) is reflected in Aristotle's Protrepticus. On the basis of this distinction, it claims that two notions of philosophy can be distinguish...

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Published in:Metaphilosophy Vol. 51; no. 4; pp. 571 - 593
Main Author: Güremen, Refik
Format: Article
Published: Wiley-Blackwell Jul2020
Subjects:
Aristotle, 384-322 B.C.
Art theory
Human beings
Human behavior
Nature (Aesthetics)
Philosophy
Notions (Philosophy)
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
Summary:Observing certain affinities with Plato's Alcibiades I, this paper argues that a distinction between care (epimeleia) of the soul and philosophy as its art (technê) is reflected in Aristotle's Protrepticus. On the basis of this distinction, it claims that two notions of philosophy can be distinguished in the Protrepticus: philosophy as epistêmê and philosophy as technê. The former has the function of contemplating the truth of nature, and Aristotle praises it as the natural telos of human beings; whereas philosophy as technê helps nature to accomplish the end it designed for human beings. It emerges that according to Aristotle in the Protrepticus philosophy is the art of making oneself coincide with one's nature as a human being.