Things That Bare Our Likeness

There is a certain aspect or feature in every human that connects us to them. People tend to heavily favor things that are similar to them. A person is okay with eating non-human animals because they are not similar enough to us, they are noticeably different. Note that we don't tend to eat other primates, which I think is based largely on our similarities. We have made great efforts to distinguish ourselves from other animals, even going as far as unwarranted species name changes.  While listening to people talk about sports teams, it occurred to me that liking one sports team over another, nationalism, and this distinction between ourselves and other animals are all similar. Where we support a nation or team because, in general, we where born there and told it is better  than everything else. While thinking about this I realized that this is probably an evolutionary hold-over, where being familiar with and supporting the same genus and species resulted in a better chance for all, though I do not think that this position is necessary any longer. I think it would be best now to improve the entire species by support those who are actually better than others.

Aristotle Reason Über Alles

Question: Why does Aristotle favor political activity above other lifestyle activities?

I think that Aristotle favors the political life over other life styles because he recognizes that human cannot be only reasonable. In fact, he doesn't think they should be at all. He does not support pure reason in so much as it hinders social interaction and such. He recognizes that humans are indeed social creatures. He still does think that reason and intellectual inquiry are necessary in living a fulfilled life. Not only does he think that they are necessary, he thinks they are best.

People who enter into politics, if fact, have the opportunity to improve the lives of others and try to persuade them to join a life of reason. They can control certain economic and political events which may interfere with people's ability to improve themselves. Wielding this power, they are expected to use it in a manner that is supported by reason and promote the well-fare of others. I would guess that he wouldn't be a fan of contemporary politics (though not many people are).

Aristotle's Animals and Research

Question: What would a contemporary Aristotle think about the nature of animals?

Given that there has been quite the sum of research done on animal intelligence since the time of Aristotle, I can imagine that he may have to  edit his view of the nature of animals. Since he lived in Greece in the fourth century, I don't think he had many animals to observe of test with puzzles and so on. And seeing as how he was a scientist foremost, I can assume that if he had access to chimpanzees he may have viewed things different, though we cannot be certain.

If he were alive today he could probably do research regarding the intelligence of apes and African grey parrots, for example. These animals are very intelligent and have puzzle solving abilities. They can learn new things and repeat them without having to be reminded. If Aristotle were to be alive during this era, I think he would have to greatly modify his view on what makes us different from non-human animals. Though I wonder if, for the sake of his argument, he would come up with something new for his philosophical views. I don't suppose he would have to do much, it's pretty apparent that parrots do not live as humans do, though there is something to be said about their intelligence.

What Came First?

Question from class: did the chicken come first or did the egg come first?

I would, in all seriousness, have to argue that the egg came first. If we are thinking about this from the perspective of a creationist, or someone of that mindset, we cannot know because 'god' could have very well made either first. I determined that, evolution tells us that before there was a chicken, there was an almost-chicken. So, basically, go back until you find the first thing that you would consider a chicken, that chicken was born from the egg of a almost-chicken. A hybridization of fowls, over a given length of time, could have very well resulted in the creation of a chicken egg, which is to say, again, the first creature that we would consider a chicken.