Greg Jenner is joined in ancient Greece by Professor Edith Hall and comedian Dan Schreiber to learn all about famous philosopher Aristotle and his world changing ideas. Born a doctor’s son in the coastal settlement of Stagira, Aristotle would go on to revolutionise intellectual life in the west, writing on everything from theatre and the arts to politics, moral philosophy and zoology. After studying under Plato at his academy, Aristotle became a teacher himself, tutoring none other than a young Alexander the Great in Macedon before returning to Athens to found his own school, the Lyceum. And yet this extraordinary life came to an end in exile, after he was banished from his beloved Athens. This episode charts Aristotle’s incredible rise and fall, exploring his intellectual career and philosophical ideas alongside his friendships and romances, and asking whether despite his views on women and slavery he deserves the title of the greatest Greek philosopher. If you’re a fan of ancient academic rivalries, bloodthirsty kings, and incredible scientific discoveries, you’ll love our episode on Aristotle.If you want more Greek philosophers with Professor Edith, check out our episode on Pythagoras. And for more from Dan Schreiber, listen to our episode on Young Napoleon.You’re Dead to Me is the comedy podcast that takes history seriously. Every episode, Greg Jenner brings together the best names in history and comedy to learn and laugh about the past.Hosted by: Greg Jenner Research by: Madeleine Bracey Written by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow, Emma Nagouse, and Greg Jenner Produced by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow and Greg Jenner Audio Producer: Steve Hankey Production Coordinator: Ben Hollands Senior Producer: Emma Nagouse Executive Editor: James Cook
Chapter 1: Who is Aristotle and why is he important?
Right, okay. Oh, so he's young Sheldon almost. He's like a sort of teenage sensation. So the nicknames we've got, I think, are The Walking Library.
Okay, very good.
Which is quite nice. And just The Brain.
Just The Brain. Where's The Brain today? It's awfully quiet. He stayed on and became a teacher. You know, because he stayed there for 20 whole years before Plato died. I think he was perfectly happy there with, you know, the old boy. He got the old boy there, but he gradually became more and more important.
And he studies a variety of things at the academy, right? So it's not just philosophy, it's astronomy, natural science.
Well, he studies lots of things that Plato really wouldn't have approved of. I mean, I think that's the really important thing. So Plato's academy did not study natural science. at all. Oh, really? No, no, no. I think Aristotle's out there sort of picking up mushrooms and stones and sort of measuring plants and trees and doing all kinds of things which Plato wouldn't particularly have approved of.
Because Plato's just hardcore theory. Well, it's the three great branches of philosophy as they were then, which are ethics, how should I live? Epistemology, how do I know things? And ontology, what is existence, right? So it's hardcore philosophy. He liked maths, yeah, all theoretical. But things like natural science, Socrates had played around with in his youth, but had given up.
And there is no sign that Plato was interested in it at all. How interesting. Yeah. So I think Aristotle's this sort of sneaky. He's basically country boy. You know, he's from northern Greece. He's like, I don't know, coming down from the highlands of Scotland to London. And he really needs to go out and sniff some heather and shoot some grouse or something.
Was it Aristotle who thought that maybe the plant life had souls?
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Chapter 2: What was Aristotle's early life like?
It's Bucipus, wasn't it? Question seven. Which famous prince did Aristotle tutor?
Alexander, not yet the great. Very good. The brat.
The brat, Alexander the brat. Question eight. Aristotle's book, The Nagamekian Ethics, was dedicated to his son. Simply put, what philosophy does it profess?
Was it the simple idea that... You will be happy if you do what makes you happy and do good.
Yeah, perfect. Was that it? Yeah, that's it. Question nine. Aristotle was 48 years old when he returned to Athens to found which pioneering school with an outreach programme and public lectures? It was called the Lyceum. It was. Very good. Question ten. Can you name one of the provisions in Aristotle's will? That all of his slaves would be free. That's right. Yeah, absolutely.
And he also left all his stuff to Theophrastus and his furnishings to Herpilus. Eight out of ten, Dan Schreiber. Wow. You started slightly wobbly and then you got stronger. It was really worrying at the beginning, wasn't it? And then, yeah, confidence took over. Staggerer was hard to remember. That was a tricky question. Well, I mean, we've had a really interesting chat.
Are you kind of like on board with Aristotle? Because I think we're both team Aristotle over here.
I'm massively team. I mean, outside of the stuff that is very questionable, I think in terms of if I'm looking at him purely as someone... who was thinking differently, uniquely. What a brain, what an extraordinary footprint to have left on our planet, to have created marine biology, to have been the name of an octopus in the original Addams Family movie.
What I would love to do now is just work out how much of modern day life is thanks to his brain, this one brain, this one blip of consciousness that has, yeah, and I think he's got a great champion in you. You wrote a book called The Aristotle's Way.
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