Aristotle

Aristotle (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English" title="Help:IPA for English">/ˈærɪˌstɒtəl/</a>;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle#cite_note-1">[1]</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_language" title="Greek language">Greek</a>: Ἀριστοτέλης Greek pronunciation: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_Greek" title="Help:IPA for Greek">[aristotélɛːs]</a>, Aristotélēs; 384–322 BC)<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle#cite_note-2">[2]</a> was a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greeks" title="Greeks">Greek</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosopher" title="Philosopher">philosopher</a> and scientist born in the city of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stagira%28ancient_city%29" title="Stagira (ancient city)">Stagira</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chalkidiki" title="Chalkidiki">Chalkidice</a>, on the northern periphery of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_Greece" title="Classical Greece">Classical Greece</a>. His father, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicomachus%28father_of_Aristotle%29" title="Nicomachus (father of Aristotle)">Nicomachus</a>, died when Aristotle was a child, whereafter <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxenus_of_Atarneus" title="Proxenus of Atarneus">Proxenus of Atarneus</a> became his guardian.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle#cite_note-3">[3]</a> At seventeen or eighteen, he joined <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato%27s_Academy" class="mw-redirect" title="Plato's Academy">Plato's Academy</a> in Athens<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle#cite_note-4">[4]</a> and remained there until the age of thirty-seven (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circa" title="Circa">c.</a> 347 BC). His writings cover many subjects – including <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physics%28Aristotle%29" title="Physics (Aristotle)">physics</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biology" title="Biology">biology</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoology" title="Zoology">zoology</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphysics" title="Metaphysics">metaphysics</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logic" title="Logic">logic</a>, ethics, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aesthetics" title="Aesthetics">aesthetics</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetics%28Aristotle%29" title="Poetics (Aristotle)">poetry</a>, theater, music, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhetoric" title="Rhetoric">rhetoric</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistics" title="Linguistics">linguistics</a>, politics and government – and constitute the first comprehensive system of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_philosophy" title="Western philosophy">Western philosophy</a>. Shortly after Plato died, Aristotle left Athens and, at the request of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_of_Macedon" class="mw-redirect" title="Philip of Macedon">Philip of Macedon</a>, tutored <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_the_Great" title="Alexander the Great">Alexander the Great</a> starting from 343 BC.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle#cite_note-philosophy1972-5">[5]</a>

Teaching Alexander the Great gave Aristotle many opportunities and an abundance of supplies. He established a library in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyceum_%28Classical%29" title="Lyceum (Classical)">Lyceum</a> which aided in the production of many of his hundreds of books. The fact that Aristotle was a pupil of Plato contributed to his former views of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platonism" title="Platonism">Platonism</a>, but, following Plato's death, Aristotle immersed himself in empirical studies and shifted from Platonism to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empiricism" title="Empiricism">empiricism</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle#cite_note-6">[6]</a> He believed all peoples' concepts and all of their knowledge was ultimately based on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perception" title="Perception">perception</a>. Aristotle's views on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_science" title="Natural science">natural sciences</a> represent the groundwork underlying many of his works.

Aristotle's views on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotelian_physics" title="Aristotelian physics">physical science</a> profoundly shaped medieval scholarship. Their influence extended from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_Antiquity" title="Late Antiquity">Late Antiquity</a> and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Middle_Ages" title="Early Middle Ages">Early Middle Ages</a> into the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance" title="Renaissance">Renaissance</a>, and were not replaced systematically until <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Enlightenment" title="Age of Enlightenment">the Enlightenment</a> and theories such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_mechanics" title="Classical mechanics">classical mechanics</a>. Some of Aristotle's zoological observations, such as on the hectocotyl (reproductive) arm of the octopus, were not confirmed or refuted until the 19th century. His works contain the earliest known formal study of logic, which was incorporated in the late 19th century into modern <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formal_logic" class="mw-redirect" title="Formal logic">formal logic</a>.

In metaphysics, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotelianism" title="Aristotelianism">Aristotelianism</a> profoundly influenced <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judeo-Islamic_philosophies_%28800%E2%80%931400%29" title="Judeo-Islamic philosophies (800–1400)">Judeo-Islamic philosophical and theological thought</a> during the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Ages" title="Middle Ages">Middle Ages</a> and continues to influence <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_theology" title="Christian theology">Christian theology</a>, especially the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoplatonism" title="Neoplatonism">Neoplatonism</a> of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Church" class="mw-redirect" title="Early Church">Early Church</a> and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scholasticism" title="Scholasticism">scholastic</a> tradition of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholic_Church" class="mw-redirect" title="Roman Catholic Church">Roman Catholic Church</a>. Aristotle was well known among medieval Muslim intellectuals and revered as "The First Teacher" (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_language" class="mw-redirect" title="Arabic language">Arabic</a>: المعلم الأول‎‎).

His ethics, though always influential, gained renewed interest with the modern advent of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtue_ethics" title="Virtue ethics">virtue ethics</a>. All aspects of Aristotle's philosophy continue to be the object of active academic study today. Though Aristotle wrote many elegant treatises and dialogues – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicero" title="Cicero">Cicero</a> described his literary style as "a river of gold"<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle#cite_note-7">[7]</a> – it is thought that only around a third of his original output has survived.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBarnes19959-8">[8]</a>

Aristotle

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