Aristotle’s views on knowledge and learning

In contrast to his predecessors, Aristotle (384-322 BC) built his theory of knowledge on empiricism. The main principle of empiricism is that knowledge can only be gained from sensory experience before it can be assessed and refined. Aristotle taught that humans start at birth with a blank mind (a blank slate) and will acquire knowledge through interactions with the external world. In his early period (before 347 BC), Aristotle had endorsed Plato’s theory of innate knowledge. Plato had taught students that the human soul possesses innate knowledge drawn from a mystical world of pure abstractions. Learning, said Plato, is the same as remembering our innate knowledge. By the time Aristotle opened his Lyceum in Athens to teach his own students (335 BC), he had discarded Plato’s doctrine of innate knowledge. I can only infer that Aristotle had regarded Plato’s theories as nonsense already for a long time, but that he only began to attack them when he felt financially secure. In his book “Metaphysics,” Aristotle speaks of two broad categories of knowledge. He calls the first category “epistemic knowledge” and defines it as general knowledge and principles of general application. His second category is called “technical knowledge.” It includes detailed know-how and craftsmanship. How do you know if a statement is true or false? Aristotle answered this question by defining a logical method, which he named “syllogism.” The Aristotelian syllogism is a deductive argument that is made of a major premise (“normally, the weather in Athens is warm in the summer”), a minor premise (“we are in the middle of July in Athens”), leading to a conclusion (“chances are that the weather will be warm today”). In his “Metaphysics,” Aristotle also introduced the concepts of potentiality (“what an entity could become”) and actuality (“what an entity is”); He regards learning as the process of moving from potentiality to actuality. It’s the process of letting go of doubts and ascertaining the facts in detail. According to Aristotle, every entity in the natural world has the potential of becoming a better version of itself; for humans, the potential is usually realized through learning and acquiring skills. Education is the process of developing one’s potential. The acquisition of knowledge can be greatly facilitated and accelerated if we use precise vocabulary. To this end, Aristotle wrote the work “Categories,” where he defines key concepts in physics. The purpose of Aristotelian categories is to construct syllogisms with solid premises leading to flawless conclusions. Aristotle didn’t build his theory of knowledge from scratch. He was well versed in the ideas of prior Greek philosophers, in particular Parmenides and Heraclitus, and took over their best concepts. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/aristotles-views-on-knowledge-and-learning/