Aristotle

Full Name: Mr. Aristotle
Date of Birth: 384 B.C.
Place of Birth: Chalcidice, Greece
Died: 322 B.C.
Place of Death: Chalcis, Greece
Classification: Scientists & Thinkers

Known as one of the greatest philosophers of all time and the father of Western thought, Aristotle laid down methods that would lead to the postulation of the Scientific Method. Aristotle learned philosophy from Plato, but upon leaving Plato’s academy, he traveled far and wide to learn more about the world around him, about human nature, God, and the natural world. He would later open up his own school to teach students how to truly think in the greatest abstract sense – something only humans are capable of doing, and something that once honed, can bring true happiness.

The young Aristotle was brought up as a social elite in the most northern Greek region. His father was known as Nicomachus and was a scientist and a physician with elite connections within the country. Aristotle was able to explore his own interests in science and nature as a young lad, but never found a calling to practice medicine, as his father would have liked.

At the age of only 17, Aristotle went to Athens, the center of thought, to study under the famed Plato. He and Plato found a fondness in each other’s philosophical abilities that had previously been unmatched. For twenty years, the two remained together, content to debate, theorize, and delve deeper into the outer limits of human abstract thinking. They would talk, debate, and discuss about politics, science, the natural world, and about God. Upon Plato’s death, the bereaving Aristotle moved to Mysia and was well kept by Herias, the ruler and king of Atarneus. The Persians killed Herias and Aristotle was forced to move again.

Some years later in Macedon, Aristotle tutored the young Alexander, who would later be called Alexander the Great. The education bestowed upon the young Alexander is said to have greatly influenced the way he ran his future empire, once he conquered the Persians. Additionally, some letters remain that show the two continued correspondences even after Aristotle left.

Around 335 B.C., Aristotle returned to Athens. He formed a school and a gymnasium for his pupils to work out. The school was known as Lyceum and was founded on many of the same principles that Plato had run his academy. Even though the two had wide-ranging differences in their later debates and thoughts, Plato still had a great impact on the way Aristotle thought, observed, and wrote. The Academy was set up like a modern school: classes in the morning and afternoon. Students ate together and spent time in common areas. He even constructed an impressive library where he kept some of his own writings. He wrote much in the way of science, philosophy, and politics, but not much survived. The effect that Aristotle had on Western thought is immeasurable and many educational systems and philosophies have derived from his foundations.