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Ask yourself, “Did Alexander the Great exist?” If he did, and he was taught by Aristotle, then Aristotle is someone who also existed.
It is a well-known fact that Alexander was tutored and mentored by Aristotle, the greatest philosopher of classical antiquity, who had a very important influence on shaping the personality of the future Macedonian king and inspired him to achieve great things. 31 Dec 2020
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The reason for the unprecedented interest was an announcement by a Greek archaeologist that a monumental grave excavated in 1996 at Stageira, the birthplace of Aristotle, most likely belonged to the great philosopher.31 May 2016
https://www.ekathimerini.com/opinion/209156/so-it-s-true-aristotle-did-exist/
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Kostas Sismanidis first announced that the site, which he has been excavating since 1996, was the site of the tomb of Aristotle in 2016 at a conference celebrating 2,400 years since the philosopher’s death. The location of the tomb, in Stagira, lends credence to the claim, as Aristotle was born there in 384 BC.15 Sept 2023
A Greek archaeologist claimed that he had found the tomb of Aristotle, during excavations at the site of Stagira in central Macedonia. Credit: Dimitris Siskopoulos, CC BY 2.0/Wikipedia
https://greekreporter.com/2023/09/15/aristotle-tomb-mystery/
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Jin Canrong is a top propagandist for the CCP and China.
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Jin Canrong (金灿荣), the notoriously nationalistic Professor and Associate Dean of Renmin University of China’s School of International Studies, raises doubts about the existence of Aristotle in a talkshow in Oct, claiming that the Greek philosopher and polymath is a fictional character who never existed.
Jin claims that there is no written record about Aristotle before the 13th century and the ancient philosopher could not have written hundreds of books containing millions of words on parchment cuz too much parchment would be needed.
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SCMP
Published: 11:00pm, 4 Nov, 2023
Aristotle becomes latest casualty in China’s narrative war with the West as scholar questions philosopher’s existence
- Chinese politics expert goes viral by claiming ancient Greek’s legacy not supported by written record, but mainstream historians disagree
- The statements reflect growing trend among nationalist intellectuals who argue the world needs a less Western-centric version of history
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Jin Canrong said Aristotle did not exist and was criticized as superficial and flawed | Parchment | The Epoch Times
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[The Epoch Times, November 05, 2023](Epoch Times reporter Cheng Jing reported) “Does Aristotle really exist?” Chinese Communist Party expert Jin Canrong recently raised this provocative question in a video, triggering It represents another debate in the narrative war between China and the West, as well as a public discussion on the reliability of Western history.
This statement is regarded as a fringe theory in Western academia, but it has attracted considerable attention on Chinese social media. On Douban, “Is ancient Greek civilization fake?” is one of the hot topics that appears when searching for “ancient Greece.” Hot discussion among netizens: It’s magical enough.
Jin Canrong said in the interview that Aristotle did not exist. He gave three reasons: First, there were no written records before the 13th century to prove the existence of Aristotle. He said in the video: “Aristotle Dodd just showed up.”
Secondly, “What is even more suspicious is that he seems to have an all-encompassing knowledge system, covering everything from optics and ethics to economics and politics.” Finally, “He has written too much, and the West has made false claims. ”, said Kim.
Jin Canrong is not a historian, but an authoritative expert on Sino-US relations at Renmin University in Beijing and a consultant to the Chinese Communist Party government.
The South China Morning Post reported that mainstream historians criticized Jin’s arguments as superficial and flawed, noting that similar questions could be raised about ancient Chinese philosophers such as Laozi.
But Jin Canrong’s comments reflect a growing trend among some nationalist intellectuals who argue that as China rises on the world stage and engages in a “war of narratives” with the United States and its allies, the world needs a new, less prescriptive narrative. A Western-centered version of history.
According to the report, Chinese nationalist scholars have called for a re-examination of Western narratives and history. They believe that Western narratives and history should be judged by the standards used to evaluate Chinese history.
Scholar: Most were not written on parchment but on papyrus
Ancient Greece is widely regarded as the birthplace of democracy and Western civilization, and Aristotle, who was born in 384 BC, is one of the most famous and influential figures in ancient Greece.
The polymath is thought to have written between 400 and 1,000 books, covering the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, political science, psychology and the arts. The philosophical tradition that followed him is considered to have laid the foundation for the development of modern science.
“It is said that Aristotle wrote 3 million words of works on parchment during his lifetime.” Jin Canrong questioned in his video that parchment is expensive and difficult to obtain, so how could ancient writing materials record Aristotle’s works? .
“According to the analysis of some experts, 3 million words means that even if all the sheepskins produced in the entire region – from the Mediterranean, Europe… to the Black Sea – in 100 years were given to Aristotle, the material would not be enough,” Jin said.
However, Jeremy McInerney, a professor of classical studies at the University of Pennsylvania, said: “There is a lot of evidence that philosophers were exposed to Aristotle’s ideas as early as the third century (B.C.). His texts are even quoted.”
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Jin also expressed doubts that Aristotle could write a work of 3 million words, noting that some of the Chinese philosopher’s oldest classics only have a few thousand words and “he wrote too much.”
Exactly how many words Aristotle wrote is uncertain. Xu Songyan, director of the Greek Studies Center of Southwest University in Chongqing, said, “It is roughly estimated to be 1 million to 1.2 million words.”
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Furthermore, Aristotle did not write these works alone. “About 10 people worked for Aristotle, and his students also helped write down some of his spoken speeches,” Xu said.
McInerney said it was likely that “Aristotle had a philosophical school working behind his back, so some of the menial work was done by his students.”
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Mainland netizens hotly discuss: It’s magical enough
Mainland social media platforms such as Weibo, Zhihu and Xueqiu are full of discussions among netizens:
“I originally thought that “Marx Meets Confucius” was magical enough, until Jin Canrong said that Aristotle did not exist…”
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“First, it’s not that I can’t accept your conclusion, but I can’t tolerate an overly mentally retarded derivation process. Second, the premise of Jin Canrong’s derivation is wrong. The entire derivation process went in the opposite direction from the beginning, so there’s no need to look at the conclusion.
Third, the errors in these premises reveal Jin Canrong’s lack of basic understanding of the object of his criticism.
Fourth, I suggest people like Jin Canrong to carefully study the target of their criticism and shut up. After all, if you don’t investigate a certain issue, you will stop having the right to speak on a certain issue… you don’t know the bottom line about that issue. His speech must be nonsense. ‘”
“There is no need to refute it. If Political Commissar Kim really believed that he had discovered such a significant historical fact, he would not go through the media at all. Instead, he would write books and papers and spend his life proving it. As it is now, it is just harvesting traffic to maintain the hot speculation trend. “
Editor in charge: Li Ling
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weehingthong 