F.+Aristotle



Aristotle was born at Stagira, Greece in 384 BC. As he grew up, Aristotle was influenced greatly by the medical work of his father Nicomachus. He went to Athens as a student already with the knowledge of then known natural phenomenons. Aristotle was a student of the famous philosopher Plato for almost 20 years in Athens. Plato and Aristotle were known for their many disagreements about various subjects as Aristotle was more investigative and searched for the facts and laws of the physical world. Nevertheless, Plato and Aristotle, despite their differences were great friends who shared a common passion in philosophy (Quote Monk: Aristotle). Five years after Plato’s death, Aristotle took a position as tutor to King Philip of Macedonia’s thirteen year old son Alexander for three years. Alexander grew up to be the legendary military leader Alexander the great who spread Greek civilization conquering Persia, the Middle East, Egypt, southern Afghanistan, some of Central Asia and the Punjab in India.

Aristotle made his first contribution to history with his academy in Athens, the Lyceum (Fowler 1). Aristotle was very organized and thus tried to sort all human knowledge into separate categories. He organized language into ten different word types and ultimately created the first form of logic in Western philosophy, syllogism. He also sorted all living things into either the plant, animal, or mineral category, which was revolutionary. Aristotle was fascinated with marine biology and found 500 different species of sea life. Aristotle died in 322 BC, but he left the world a more knowing and organized place with many new ways of thinking mainly the process of investigation.