If you went to the Light Blues at Grand Lodge this year you would have been in for a treat with many different presentations ranging from Freemasonry and Aristotelian ethics and to the likes of the Masonic Fishing Association
They were all really very well done, but as you can imagine that Aristotle connection really stood out for me.
The speaker was Brother George Boys-Stones. He pointed out that there are three traditional forms of ethics in Aristotelian philosophy. That of Moral, Intellectual, and that of Contemplative and that the three degrees of Freemasonry do fit with this format.
The Entered Apprentice represents the outer chamber of King Solomon’s Temple where we learn Morality, the Fellowcraft the middle chamber where we learn Intellectual Truth and then finally the Master Mason in the sanctum sanctorum where we learn spiritual virtue through contemplation of our own mortality.
If you know these degree take a few moments to muse on this suggestion. I think you may like I be surprised to see the wording of the ritual does match this very well
I was quite taken by this and it made me realise that the authors and practitioners of our rituals would most certainly be aware of Aristotle works. It also put a few things into Sharp focus. Often in Masonic ritual we hear talk of being happy and communicating happiness or leaving happiness when we’ve gone and if you think of it in terms of Aristotle this could have a higher meaning
Eudaimonia
Eudaimonia is a term which was used by both Aristotle and the Neo-platonic philosophers to represent human flourishing, that would be success on every level. You’ve reached a state whereby you inherently make the world better by just existing and the world makes you better by being present, just imagine a situation whereby you have the correct job, the right romantic relationship, the best friends you can have, you are doing the right thing you are eating the food, you’ve got the right posture, you get the drift!
Now the Freemasons time will have read in Iamblichus and some other writers that you can achieve your Eudaimonia through ritual, so I’m starting to suspect that philosophy particularly, Greek philosophy has had a far stronger influence on Freemasonry and it’s a rituals than previously thought.