Aristotle (384-322 BC)
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Greek philosopher and scientist, who shares with Plato and Socrates the distinction of being the most famous of ancient philosophers.
Born at Stagira, in Macedonia, the son of a physician to the royal court, Aristotle moved at the age of 17 to Athens to study at Plato's Academy. He remained there for about 20 years, first as a student and then as a teacher. When Plato died in 347 BC, Aristotle moved to Assos, a city in Asia Minor, where a friend of his, Hermias, was ruler. There he counselled Hermias and married his niece and adopted daughter, Pythias.
After Hermias was captured and executed by the Persians in 345 BC, Aristotle moved to Pella, the Macedonian capital, where he became the tutor of the king's young son Alexander, later known as Alexander the Great. In 335, when Alexander became king, Aristotle returned to Athens and established his own school, the Lyceum. Because much of the discussion in his school took place while teachers and students were walking about the Lyceum grounds, Aristotle's school came to be known as the Peripatetic ("walking" or "strolling") school.
Upon the death of Alexander in 323 BC, strong anti-Macedonian feeling developed in Athens, and Aristotle retired to a family estate in Euboea. He died there the following year. Works Aristotle, like Plato, made regular use of the dialogue form of reasoning in his earliest years at the Academy; lacking Plato's imaginative gifts, however, he probably never found it congenial. Apart from a few fragments in the works of later writers, his dialogues have been wholly lost. Aristotle also wrote some short technical notes, such as a dictionary of philosophical terms and a summary of the doctrines of Pythagoras. Of these, only a few brief excerpts have survived. | |
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