My family is one of complainers. My sisters complain, I complain, my father complains, and my mother complains about everyone’s complaining. One day I was so sick of hearing all the constant complaints, I promised myself I’d try harder to look on the bright side, or at least keep my complaints to myself. Up until recently, I had been doing fairly well I think. But after reading the introduction to Joe Moran’s book, “Interdisciplinarity,” my streak was quickly broken.
Although interesting, I have come across many statements belonging to Aristotle of which I don’t necessarily agree with. Early on, Moran mentions a statement believed by Aristotle that reads, “The theoretical subjects were the highest for of knowledge, and comprised theology, mathematics and physics, in descending order of importance…” He then went on to report that “…and the productive subjects, which were the lowest… included fine arts, poetics and engineering” in accordance with Aristotle.
It was odd to me that the subjects included in the lowest category were labeled as “productive” when Aristotle clearly felt differently towards those subjects. Subjects such as math and science although important, depend on the arts and engineering as a vehicle for their notoriety and the ability to cause advances in the world in which we live. Fine arts enables societies to preserve, retain and advance its culture, and therefore I believe Aristotle was mistaken when he placed fine arts, poetics and engineering into the lowest point at his “hierarchy.”
Continue reading “WARNING: A Complaint To Follow”
