Aristotle
Introduction
Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC) was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. Aristotle is one of the most important philosophers in Western philosophy.
He was one of the first to classify Western philosophy and science. Though Aristotle wrote many elegant treatises and dialogues (Cicero described his literary style as "a river of gold"), it is thought that the majority of his writings are now lost.
Aristotle
Early Life Aristotle was born in
Stageira, Chalcidice, in 384 BC. His father was the
personal physician to King Amyntas of Macedon. Aristotle was trained
and educated as a member of the
nobility . At about the age of
eighteen, he went to Athens to continue his education at
Plato's Academy. Aristotle remained at the academy for nearly twenty
years, not leaving until after Plato's
death in 347 BC. He then traveled with
Xenocrates to the court of Hermias of
Atarneus in Asia Minor. While in Asia, Aristotle
traveled with Theophrastus to the island of Lesbos, where
together they researched the botany and zoology of the island.
Aristotle married Hermias' daughter (or
niece) Pythias. She bore him a daughter, whom they named Pythias.
Soon after Hermias' death, Aristotle was
invited by Philip of Macedon to become
tutor to Alexander the Great and
is said to have disciplined him by his teachings.
It is the opinion of many that Aristotle's system of thought remains the most influential one ever put together by any single mind.
According to historian Will Durant, no other philosopher has contributed so much to the clarification of the world.
He single-handedly founded the sciences of Logic, Biology and Psychology. At the opposite pole, Bertrand Russell discharge much of Aristotle's work as not particularly deep.
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