Getting Started with Aristotle's Books
So I decided to tackle Aristotle’s philosophy because honestly, it kept popping up everywhere—podcasts, random quotes, even in my buddy’s basement over cheap beer. Felt like the universe was nudging me. Grabbed a thick translation from the library. Cracked open "Metaphysics" while cooking spaghetti. Boom. Page one felt like getting punched in the brain by Socrates himself. Couldn’t even understand the table of contents.
My Epic Fail Attempt
Tried speed-reading during lunch breaks at work. Bad idea. By day three:
- Forgot what "substance" meant by the time I finished my sandwich.
- Mixed up "actuality and potentiality" with last month’s gym goals.
- Fell asleep reading about Prime Movers—woke up drooling on teleology.
Wasted a full week re-reading the same chapter like a hamster on a wheel. Zero progress.
Ditching the Textbook Approach
Threw the book on my floor. Literally. Decided to cheat instead. Found a 90-minute YouTube summary while scrubbing burnt pots. Watched it twice—game changer. Broke his big ideas into bite-sized chunks:
- Four Causes: Picture a burger. Meat (material cause), recipe (formal cause), grill master (efficient cause), feeding your hunger (final cause).
- Golden Mean: Dragged out old karaoke videos. Saw how screaming lyrics was excess, whispering was deficiency, but belting off-key? That’s Aristotle-approved moderation.
Suddenly his logic clicked through real-life garbage.
Memory Hacks That Stuck
Started scribbling on sticky notes. Slapped them everywhere:
- "UNMOVED MOVER" on the bathroom mirror—freaked out my cat.
- "CATEGORIES: QUANTITY/QUALITY/etc." on the coffee machine. Burned my hand reading about accidents while pouring.
Tried explaining syllogisms to my plants using pizza toppings. ("All pepperoni is tasty, this is pepperoni, therefore...yum.") Sounds nuts, but those dumb conversations made logic stick.
Why It Worked (And Why I Won’t Shut Up)
Here’s the ugly truth: Aristotle’s writing feels like chewing rocks. But when you tie it to your own mess— like why you overcook pasta or suck at karaoke—it suddenly matters. Six months later? I still remember the Four Causes every time I flip burgers. That’s the real hack: link ancient crap to your daily crap. Now pass the burnt spaghetti—I’ve got "Nicomachean Ethics" to butcher next.
