Aristotle vs Marcus Aurelius on Mind
Aristotle and Marcus Aurelius on mind, side by side — 4 passages against 6, and what the disagreement is actually about.
Aristotle and Marcus Aurelius both have a great deal to say about mind — 4 passages and 6 respectively in thinkr's library — and they do not say the same thing. Setting them side by side is more useful than reading either alone, because the disagreement shows you what each position is actually giving up.
Aristotle on mind
Student of Plato, tutor of Alexander. His Nicomachean Ethics defines virtue as the mean between extremes, and happiness as activity of soul in accord with virtue.
“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”
“Knowledge of the fact differs from knowledge of the reason for the fact.”
“If a man knows what it is right to do, he does not require a formal reason. And a person that has been thus trained, either possesses these first principles already, or can easily acquire them. (Bk I, Ch II)”
“Now men seem, not unreasonably, to form their notions of the supreme good and of happiness from the lives of men.”
Marcus Aurelius on mind
Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher. His Meditations — private notes in Greek, never meant for publication — are the most beloved Stoic text in the modern world.
“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.”
“Be not unwilling in what thou doest, neither selfish nor unadvised nor obstinate; let not over-refinement deck out thy thought; be not wordy nor a busybody.”
“Nothing has such power to broaden the mind as the ability to investigate systematically and truly all that comes under thy observation in life.”
“By a tranquil mind I mean nothing else than a mind well ordered.”
“Think on this doctrine,—that reasoning beings were created for one another's sake; that to be patient is a branch of justice, and that men sin without intending it.”
“You have a mind? —Yes. Well, why not use it? (Hays translation)”
Where they part
Greece, 384–322 BCE and Rome, 121–180 CE are not the same world, and the difference is not only historical. Aristotle treats mind as something to be it is the mark of an… — a matter of practice. Marcus Aurelius approaches it from another side entirely. Neither is refuting the other; they are answering slightly different questions, and noticing which question you are actually asking is most of the work.