Aristotle’s Life

Aristotle’s Life

1. Purpose:

        Aristotle was a very smart Greek philosopher. In his life, he went to school, founded a school, and was taught by many great people, such as Plato. He tutored Alexander the Great while going to school at Plato’s academy. He had a very interesting, eventful life. He definitely was one of the smartest men ever.

1. Biography and Legacy:

        Aristotle was born in 384 B.C. in Stagira, Greece. When Aristotle was 17, he attended Plato’s academy. When he was younger, he was adopted and raised by Proxenus. While attending Plato’s academy, he started tutoring Alexander the Great. King Phillip, Alexander the Great’s father, and Alexander the Great both held Aristotle in very high respect. Alexander the Great was not only his student, but they ended up being lifelong friends. Around 335 B.C.,         Aristotle founded his own school in Athens. This school was names Lyceum. After he founded it, he spent most of the rest of his life studying there. At his school and for the remainder of his life, he also taught and wrote. Aristotle followed Plato’s lead in writing dialogues. He made himself the main speaker in his dialogues. De anima is considered by some scholars to be one of Aristotle’s best works.         

        Aristotle wasn’t actually a scientist, but while at his school, he studied science along with many other subjects and disciplines. Aristotle really focused on the study of logic when he studied philosophy. He wrote an estimated 200 books in his lifetime. Most of his books were in the form of notes or manuscript drafts. Aristotle fled to Chalcis because he was supposed to be prosecuted for impiety. While in Chalcis, he got a disease in his lungs and died in 322 B.C.

1. Contribution One: 

        Aristotle is sometimes called the “father of science”. He was known to be very influential in developing the key concepts of classification used in science still today. He was the first to try to classify all living organisms. He determined two methods for separating all animals: arranging them by type and dividing them by two names resulting from genus and birth. In arranging organisms by type, he devised the following categories: animals with blood and animals without blood; animals that live on land and animals that live on water. Aristotle also determined that each animal could be classified by two names: genus and difference. In this system of organization, he compared each organism that was placed in the same group to identify their unique traits. Aristotle is often considered taxonomy’s first father.

Aristotle was also the first to discover that the earth had no beginning or end. It was eternal. He also believed that change was recurring. For example, water evaporates, but after time, it rains down again. His ideas of how the Earth worked are very similar to the ideas of modern day Earth studies. Because of the discoveries he made, he was often called Ille Philosophus by his followers. Some of the discoveries made in the Middle Ages and Renaissance were denied because Aristotle didn’t mention them in his books or speeches.