Question

Aristotle was a realist thinker? Discuss.

Answer 1

Answer:

This can be confusing because realism is one of those terms in philosophy which can be used in such a way that it may appear to mean different things depending on the context.

In short to be a realist in the philosophical sense is to believe that some part of our reality is truly independent of our mental processes. In other words it is to believe that there is actually a real world out there to know.

So a small sampling of realisms would include: Platonic realism which asserts the actual existence of abstract forms. This is the sense we mean the term when we speak about mathematical realism which is opposed to constructivism (math is only a human invention); then there is scientific realism which is contrasted with instrumentalism (scientific theories are just constructed models); and Kantian realism that contrasts with idealism (reality only exists as a product of our minds).

The last example may only add to the confusion because it is this contrast between Berkeley's idealism and Kant's realism that is largely responsible for the popular notion that idealism and realism are necessarily mutually exclusive terms, yet Kant is also called a transcendent idealist and he isn't the only realist who depending on context can also called an idealist, so may Plato for instance.

So while all of these uses are different they, nevertheless, are all still predicated on the same logic that realism means that there is something out there which is really existing independently of our own individual mentations.

Aristotle then is called a realist philosopher because he advocated for a world that truly exists and is ontologically independent of our minds. This is metaphysical realism and even in its modern form it is still associated with a strong essentialism.