Aristotle: From Logic to Life S01E06 · Aristotle's Poetics

Overview

In lecture six, we consider Aristotle’s Poetics, focusing on his theory of mimesis (artistic representation) and his defense of poetry—especially tragedy—against Plato’s claim that poets should be excluded from the ideal city. Aristotle argues that poetry does more than imitate appearances; it reveals universal patterns of human action, making it “more philosophical than history” because it shows what could happen according to probability and necessity. The lecture concludes with his definition of tragedy and the concept of catharsis, highlighting how tragic drama educates the emotions and contributes to moral and civic formation.

Torrents

Subtitles

Episodes

1. 1 1. Aristotle's Life2026-03-05 · 1h 8mIn our introductory lecture, we examine Aristotle’s foundational role in Western philosophy, exploring his life, historical context, and wide-ranging contributions to logic, metaph
2. 2 2. Aristotle's Logic2026-03-05 · 59mIn lecture two, we explore Aristotle’s groundbreaking work in logic, focusing on the Organon, which formalized human reasoning and shaped logical thought for over two millennia. We
3. 3 3. Aristotle's Metaphysics2026-03-05 · 54mIn lecture three, we turn to Aristotle’s metaphysics, focusing on “being as being” and the question of why anything exists at all. We explore his theory of substance as form–matter
4. 4 4. Aristotle's Ethics2026-03-05 · 1h 1mIn lecture four, we study Aristotle's ethics, focusing on his concept of eudaimonia (human flourishing) as the highest good, achieved through the activity of the soul in accordance
5. 5 5. Aristotle's Politics2026-03-05 · 1h 3mIn lecture five, we investigate Aristotle’s Politics, focusing on his view that humans are “political animals” who achieve flourishing within a political community. He traces the n
6. 6 6. Aristotle's Poetics2026-03-05 · 58mIn lecture six, we consider Aristotle’s Poetics, focusing on his theory of mimesis (artistic representation) and his defense of poetry—especially tragedy—against Plato’s claim that
7. 7 7. Aristotle's Revival2026-03-05 · 55mIn lecture seven, we witness Aristotle’s enduring impact on Western thought, tracing how his works were lost to Europe for centuries before their dramatic rediscovery through Arabi
8. 8 8. Aristotle's Legacy2026-03-05 · 56mIn our eighth and final lecture, we explore Aristotle’s powerful influence on 20th- and 21st-century philosophy, highlighting his “revenge” against logical positivism, which confin