<story><title>Why read Aristotle today?</title><url>https://aeon.co/essays/what-can-aristotle-teach-us-about-the-routes-to-happiness</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>ropeadopepope</author><text>Because human behavior boils down to Plato vs Aristotle. If you don&amp;#x27;t read both, then there is a segment of the population who&amp;#x27;s actions and opinions are going to be a complete mystery to you.</text></comment>
<story><title>Why read Aristotle today?</title><url>https://aeon.co/essays/what-can-aristotle-teach-us-about-the-routes-to-happiness</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>bshepard</author><text>The parts in Guy Robinson&amp;#x27;s &amp;quot;Philosophy and Mystifications&amp;quot; about Aristotle still resonate with me in one way or another a few years after reading it. The book is happily available online: &lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.spiritual-minds.com&amp;#x2F;philosophy&amp;#x2F;assorted&amp;#x2F;0415178517%20-%20Guy%20Robinson%20-%20Philosophy%20And%20Mystification~%20A%20Reflection%20On%20Nonsense%20And%20Clarity%20-%20Routledge.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.spiritual-minds.com&amp;#x2F;philosophy&amp;#x2F;assorted&amp;#x2F;041517851...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Here&amp;#x27;s a relevant bit:&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;When Aristotle looks for a place to begin the investigation
of any topic he suggests that we begin with “the opinions of the many or
the wise.” This is hardly because those opinions are thought to be
infallible. We need not have a mystical view about “the collective wisdom
of humanity” to think it sensible to start there. It simply makes more
sense than wasting our time with random fanciful or extraordinary
views, views that have come out of nowhere and are likely only to lead
nowhere, the wild suppositions of impossible happenings: colors that
change on a certain date, universes that consist only of sounds or of one
object, and so forth. Under the influence of Descartes’s method, these
imaginings have been thought to reveal “conceptual boundaries.”</text></comment>