There are 3 elucidations (*) that we present about peripatetics in Post CAMINAR AND THE PERIPATETICS, which emerge as principles (first fruits) of this system: 1) obtaining health, 2) the generation of ideas and 3) the transmission of knowledge, all while walking. We have stated: “Although in most translations of Aristotle’s works not much attention is paid to the teaching method he used in the Lyceum, Athens”, since he himself did not express it explicitly in his writings, I must point out 2 aspects that In my opinion, I consider that they coexisted in their traditional and inexcusable walks: the trees (Post WALKING WITH THE TREES; Future Post WHY DON’T TREES AND PLANTS WALK?) and the rays of the sun ( Post Futuro THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND A BATH OF SOLAR RAYS; In each of the respective Posts, in which I point out the importance of both trees and the sun’s rays with respect to the 3 mentioned elucidations, walking under the tree fronds and sunlight was a conscious source or semiconscious for Aristotle to generate ideas and transmit his knowledge.
(*)Quote from post : “It is interesting to investigate the purposes that led Aristotle to use this teaching system. The little or much that we clarify about this, in the future, will be very important. Undoubtedly (first elucidation) that in those times they knew what walking meant from the point of view of promoting the physical health of the body, but they also had the certainty (second elucidation) that the practice of walking caused the incontrovertible gestation and flowering of ideas, the stimulation and development of memory, fundamental aspects in the development of the field of creativity (ideas, memory, inspiration, imagination, etc.) and teaching and learning (third elucidation) always seeking higher thinking.”
Aristotle, as the first Peripatetic, taught in a somewhat different way than we are accustomed to today. His pedagogical method was based on direct interaction with his disciples while walking through the gardens of the Lyceum, a kind of park where he used to give his classes.
This approach was called “peripatetic”, which means “one who walks” in Greek, because Aristotle taught while walking with his students. During these walks, Aristotle discussed various philosophical, metaphysical, moralistic, social and ethical topics, encouraging his disciples to actively participate in conversations and debates (walking and talking).
During his walks, Aristotle used various forms of teaching, such as reading texts, group discussions, and conducting experiments and observations of nature. Its objective was to encourage critical thinking and reflection in its students, as well as transmit their knowledge to them in a practical and accessible way. And always walking under the foliage of the trees.
He had verified, for many years, that doing it this way, his disciples listened to him with greater pleasure, the ideas were better fixed in their minds and it caused them to generate more of them.
Acroamatism (**) was the most private and direct way to carry out these wanderings of knowledge. His oral teachings, through stories and speeches, under the trees, and always walking, were the ideal way to transmit his knowledge.
Aristotle pointed out to his students that they should walk alongside him, and not get too far away, to assimilate knowledge in an ideal way. He constantly repeated this instruction during his walks to all of them so that they would stay together and not lose any of his harangues and the comments and questions they asked him. It was a physical way to keep them in the middle, close to him so they could hear him. Later, as a result of this, it would be used as a metaphor: “In the middle is virtue,” and this phrase became a proverb to regulate the search for knowledge and appropriate behavior in all human activities.
In Greek, the idea of the “middle way” is expressed through the concept of “μεσότης” (mesotēs), which relates to the Aristotelian notion of finding a balance or moderation in the virtuous life.
In Latin, the phrase “In medio stat virtus” was used, which took up that proverb: “In the middle is virtue”, referring to the idea that virtue is found in balance or moderation, avoiding extremes. This phrase has been used by several classical authors, such as Horace and Cicero, to express the importance of moderation in life. Although this phrase “In medio stat virtus” is not a direct quote from Aristotle, it does reflect Aristotle’s philosophy regarding virtue and balance, and was used in later philosophical tradition to summarize these concepts.
Saint Thomas Aquinas, an influential medieval philosopher and theologian, also drew on Aristotelian ethics in his philosophical interpretations and disquisitions. The “middle way” defined in this phrase “In medio stat virtus” was used by him in his Aristotelian interpretations and disquisitions, which meant “Virtue is in the middle” or “Virtue is found at the intermediate point.” This expression effectively reflects a central concept in Aristotelian ethics, maintaining that virtue is found by seeking a balance, or middle ground between two extremes.
We have already mentioned this Aristotelian philosophical sense in Post THE PATH OF VACUITY, when we believe that: “This moderation is the qualification that must be available so that actions under the guidelines of the Mahayana or school of emptiness of Nagarjuna They are at the midpoint of human behavior, centered within the extreme limits of the human condition. Extreme actions are canceled as a functional demand of the Sunyata, however, if for some reason the “sunyatins” (adepts) had – or have – to relate to exaggerated actions or ideas, they can always cancel or avoid them, rejecting them. The Nagarjuna School flourished precisely because it responded to this moderation in demands and condemned the obligatory nature of behavior to exaggerated extremes; hence, he has included in his philosophy the Path of the Middle Way, or the Middle Center or the Middle Way (Madhyamaka). […]Nagarjuna’s instruction and teaching was a path that had to be followed rejecting extremes; this path had to be followed through the middle points, without touching the extreme limits of the human condition.[…] In everything related to the WALK-RWD system, we must avoid and eliminate all extremes, in such a way that the “walk” must be carried out along that middle path, between the extreme limits, and the 3 structured activities (reading, writing and drawing) must also be maintained on that path.”
An Aristotelian walker, ergo: peripatetic, means that individual who wanders on a path covered with trees, around a space full of light, and who does so by reading aloud, commenting on his readings and his ideas, and also writing.
Surely Aristotle and other people did know what trees emitted, which is why they used to walk under their shade.
Let’s find a path lined with trees and walk for 30 minutes, which represents only 2% of a day, and with this we will give our body 100% health, every day.
(**)ACHROMATIC: From gr. akroama: “that is heard” or “relating to the ear”; it was understood as what is heard with pleasure. It applied to the procedure or teaching that uses speeches, explanations or narratives to transmit knowledge, and always communicating orally. It applied to the most exclusive and private teachings that Aristotle gave to his favorite and special disciples. In its original meaning, it referred to the secret oral teachings of the Greek philosophers, which were transmitted orally and not in writing. Over time, the term has evolved to refer to something that is difficult to understand or that is reserved for a select group of people with specific knowledge about a topic, hence its synonymy with esoteric, exoteric and abstruse.
With this post we are starting the 7th year of the Blog.