Aristotle
<p ><b>Aristotle</b> (Aristatolie)(<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English" title="Help:IPA for English" >/</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >ˈ</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >æ</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >r</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >ɪ</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >ˌ</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >s</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >t</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >ɒ</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >t</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key" title="Help:IPA for English" >əl</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English" title="Help:IPA for English" >/</a>;<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle#cite_note-1" >[1]</a></sup> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_language" title="Greek language" >Greek</a>: Ἀριστοτέλης <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_Greek" title="Help:IPA for Greek" >[aristotélɛːs]</a>, <i>Aristotélēs</i>; 384–322 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Era" title="Common Era" >BCE</a>)<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle#cite_note-2" >[2]</a></sup> was a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greeks" title="Greeks" >Greek</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosopher" title="Philosopher" >philosopher</a> and scientist born in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macedonia(Greece)" title="Macedonia (Greece)" >Macedonian</a> city of<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stagirus" title="Stagirus" class="mw-redirect" >Stagirus</a>, in 384 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Era" title="Common Era" >BCE</a>. His father, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicomachus(father_of_Aristotle)" title="Nicomachus (father of Aristotle)" >Nicomachus</a>, died when Aristotle was a child, whereafter <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxenus_of_Atarneus" title="Proxenus of Atarneus" >Proxenus of Atarneus</a> became his guardian.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle#cite_note-3" >[3]</a></sup> At eighteen, he joined <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato%27s_Academy" title="Plato's Academy" class="mw-redirect" >Plato's Academy</a> in Athens and remained there until the age of thirty-seven (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circa" title="Circa" >c.</a> 347 BCE). His writings cover many subjects – including <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physics(Aristotle)" title="Physics (Aristotle)" >physics</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biology" title="Biology" >biology</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoology" title="Zoology" >zoology</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphysics" title="Metaphysics" >metaphysics</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logic" title="Logic" >logic</a>, ethics, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aesthetics" title="Aesthetics" >aesthetics</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetics(Aristotle)" title="Poetics (Aristotle)" >poetry</a>, theater, music, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhetoric" title="Rhetoric" >rhetoric</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistics" title="Linguistics" >linguistics</a>, politics and government – and constitute the first comprehensive system of <a href="http://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="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_of_Macedon" title="Philip of Macedon" class="mw-redirect" >Philip of Macedon</a>, tutored <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_the_Great" title="Alexander the Great" >Alexander the Great</a> between 356 and 323 BCE. According to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica" title="Encyclopædia Britannica" >Encyclopædia Britannica</a>, "Aristotle was the first genuine scientist in history ... [and] every scientist is in his debt."<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle#cite_note-4" >[4]</a></sup>
Teaching Alexander the Great gave Aristotle many opportunities and an abundance of supplies. He established a library in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyceum" title="Lyceum" >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="http://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="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empiricism" title="Empiricism" >empiricism</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBarnes20076_5-0" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBarnes20076-5" >[5]</a></sup> He believed all peoples' concepts and all of their knowledge was ultimately based on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perception" title="Perception" >perception</a>. Aristotle's views on <a href="http://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="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotelian_physics" title="Aristotelian physics" >physical science</a> profoundly shaped medieval scholarship. Their influence extended into the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance" title="Renaissance" class="mw-redirect" >Renaissance</a> and were not replaced systematically until <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Enlightenment" title="Age of Enlightenment" >the Enlightenment</a> and theories such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_mechanics" title="Classical mechanics" >classical mechanics</a>. Some of Aristotle's zoological observations were not confirmed or refuted until the 19th century.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template" >[<i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Please_clarify" title="Wikipedia:Please clarify" >examples needed</a></i>]</sup> His works contain the earliest known formal study of logic, which was incorporated in the late 19th century into modern <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formal_logic" title="Formal logic" class="mw-redirect" >formal logic</a>.
In metaphysics, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotelianism" title="Aristotelianism" >Aristotelianism</a> profoundly influenced <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judeo-Islamic_philosophies_(800%E2%80%931400)" title="Judeo-Islamic philosophies (800–1400)" >Judeo-Islamic philosophical and theological thought</a> during the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Ages" title="Middle Ages" >Middle Ages</a> and continues to influence <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_theology" title="Christian theology" >Christian theology</a>, especially the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scholasticism" title="Scholasticism" >scholastic</a> tradition of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church" title="Catholic Church" >Catholic Church</a>. Aristotle was well known among medieval Muslim intellectuals and revered as "The First Teacher" (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_language" title="Arabic language" >Arabic</a>:المعلم الأول).
His ethics, though always influential, gained renewed interest with the modern advent of <a href="http://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="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicero" title="Cicero" >Cicero</a> described his literary style as "a river of gold"<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle#cite_note-6" >[6]</a></sup> – it is thought that only around a third of his original output has survived.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle#cite_note-7" >[7]</a></sup></p>