A peripatetic individual is one who wanders around an atrium, park, courtyard or promenade.
Aristotle founded in 334 B.C. his philosophical school in the Lyceum, an ancient promenade in Athens, which was referred to as the peripatetic school.
Peripatetism was constituted as a doctrinal system within the Aristotelian school -the Lyceum-, because the philosophers -teachers- with their students -and among themselves-, dialogued and discussed ideas while walking. Always walking around a space.
Probably this practice was derived from the word “peripatos” which was used to designate a “covered walk or path”. It may come from “peripatoi” which is how the covered portals of the Lyceum were designated; but this word was also used to designate Aristotle’s habit of walking under the fronds of trees while reading [Future Post WALKING WITH THE TREES]. It seems that in any of these cases it has to do with a path or road that is covered with something and also that one is walking a certain distance around a point, defined or not, that is to say, one is walking in a certain circular way (Future Post WALKING AND CIRCUMAMBULATION).
Etymologically, the word peripatetism comes from the Greek: from the prefix “peri“, around; the verb “patein“: to wander (to walk, to wander aimlessly, without a definite end); and the suffix “ism“: system, doctrine.
Although in most translations of Aristotle’s works not much attention is paid to the teaching method he used in the Lyceum, it is obvious that it was intimately related to his thought and the way he dealt with the special way of transmitting his ideas and specifically with the teaching of the lessons in his school, to all his students. Manual for Walking, Reading, Writing and Drawing (*).
Similarly it is called ACROAMATIC (or ACROMISM or ACROMATISM) to the method or teaching that uses speeches, explanations or narratives, communicating them orally; and it was also applied to the more private teachings that Aristotle gave to his special and favorite disciples.
It is interesting to investigate the purposes that led Aristotle to use this system of teaching. What little or much we elucidate in this regard, in the future, will be very important.
Undoubtedly (first elucidation) that in those times it was known what walking meant from the point of view of promoting the physical health of the body, but they were also certain (second elucidation) that the practice of walking provoked the incontrovertible gestation and flowering of ideas, the stimulation, and development of the memory, fundamental aspects in the development of the field of creativity (ideas, memory, inspiration, imagination, etc.) and learning, always looking for the superior thought.
We have already mentioned that the coordinated movement generated by walking causes the brain to “promote and transmit” the self-production of various substances through the endocrine system, which in turn stimulates the development and full functioning of neurons, greatly increasing the number of connections between them and the functional areas of the brain itself. There are several fields where we can appreciate the effect exerted by provoking the gestation of substances and neuronal processes, and where we can obtain positive and effective results in human behavior (Post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND THE SELF-PRODUCTION OF ORGANIC SUBSTANCES). The field of creativity (ideas, memory, inspiration, imagination, etc.) is one of them. Let us keep in mind that ideas are vectors with their own energy and that they are in movement and therefore provoke stimuli to all areas of the organism and fundamentally to the brain (Post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM ENCOURAGES CREATIVE THINKING). So much has been experimented that walking promotes the harmonious functioning of the cerebral hemispheres, that there is no doubt about it. Walking is an exercise that causes effects on the 2 symmetrical parts of the human body, so any exercise that does so, will have similar effects. (Post THE SYMMETRY OF THE BODY, ITS BALANCE AND WALKING).
On the other hand, in Ancient Rome we have Seneca, in the first century of our era, who commented that because of the love he had for letters he had become lazy and this made him neglect his health and his physique, which indicated that he should also take care of his body through exercise. He therefore decided to take a walk while reading, so as not to neglect his devotion, since in this way, in addition to taking away his laziness, it was good for his health.
He considered reading as the most important of his needs to be satisfied, since it nourished his spirit, but he should not only limit himself to reading, but should complement it with writing; he recommended that they should be combined alternately: what is gathered from reading should be used in a composition. And he recommended that man should ingest all kinds of knowledge and concepts to process them and make them tend to new ideas.
It seems that in both times and places (Greece and Rome) it was known (third and last elucidation) that the best and most effective teaching and instruction should be done while walking, communicating ideas and knowledge in an oral way, in a loud voice, narrating, explaining knowledge and experience, in order to transmit them with effectiveness and erudition (Post WALK AND READ IN LOUD VOICE; Future Post WALKING READING POETRY IN LOUD VOICE).
Let us imitate Aristotle and Seneca, by setting ourselves to read and write, while walking, and if possible, orally, aloud; and also, let us draw those images that come to mind, while enjoying a walk in the open air.