ENDURING ARISTOTLE: A PREFATORY STUDY ON HIS LEGACY OF ETHICS AND AESTHETICS

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to pinpoint and elucidate major conceptual contributions of Aristotle to art and literature at large. Aristotle's propositions offer enduring legacies both to literary philosophy and moral philosophy. Aristotle is basically a teleological thinker which sets him apart from his predecessors such as Plato. A historical contention in respect of the relationship between life and literature gets reconciled by Aristotle's teleology for the first time. This paper introduces a major selection of such categories of consequence from both the texts in question, and explores the interconnections they exert aesthetically. His concepts such as telos, mimesis, poesis, eudaimon, ergon, arête, hexis, catharsis, phronesis, praxis/action, plot, probability, and necessity on art are explained in relation to each other related 1 categories, and explored in reference to poesy and life at large given their usefulness. In this process, the paper exemplifies from Greek dramatic texts, and suggests the uniqueness of art, as well as its oneness with life. It maps out the relationship between art and life by recourse to aesthetic categories from Aristotle. It concludes with a note of harmony whereby life and art are recognised as reciprocally enriching.