Aristotle, a Greek philosopher and scientist who lived from 384 BCE until his death in 322, was one of the most influential thinkers in Western history. He was born in Stagira, Chalcidice, Greece. He created a philosophical and scientific framework that served as the foundation and means of expression for both medieval Islamic philosophy and Christian Scholasticism. Aristotelian ideas continued to be ingrained in Western thought even after the intellectual revolutions of the Renaissance, Reformation, and Enlightenment.
Life
Northern Greece’s Chalcidic peninsula is where Aristotle was born. Nicomachus, his father, served as Amyntas III’s personal doctor during his rule from c. 393-c. the Great (reigned 336-323 BCE), was a Macedonian king who lived in 370 BCE. Aristotle moved to Athens after his father passed away in 367, where he enrolled in the Academy of Plato (circa 400 BC). 428-c. 348 BCE). He was Plato’s student and coworker for the next 20 years.
Travels
Aristotle left Athens when Plato’s nephew Speusippus took over as head of the Academy after Plato’s passing in around 348. He relocated to the city of Assus, which was ruled by the Academy graduate Hermias, on the northwest coast of Anatolia (in modern-day Turkey). Hermias and Aristotle grew to be close friends, and eventually Aristotle wed Pythias, his ward. Hermias’ alliance with Macedonia was negotiated with Aristotle’s assistance. This infuriated the Persian king, who had Hermias treasonously captured and executed around 341. In his only surviving poem, “Ode to Virtue,” Aristotle honored Hermias’ memory.
The Aristotelian Lyceum
Aristotle, who was then 50 years old, was living in Athens when Alexander began his conquest of Asia. He opened his own school in the Lyceum, a gymnasium located just outside the city limits. He established a sizable library and attracted a group of brilliant research students who became known as “peripatetics” after the name of the cloister (peripatos) where they congregated and held discussions. Unlike the Academy, which was a private club, the Lyceum hosted many lectures that were free and open to the public.
Except for the zoological treatises, the majority of Aristotle’s remaining writings date from this second Athenian residence. Their chronological order is uncertain, and it’s likely that the major treatises—on physics, metaphysics, psychology, ethics, and politics—were continuously revised and updated. Although Aristotle’s prose is frequently neither lucid nor elegant, each of his arguments is full of ideas and energy.
Writings
The writings of Aristotle can be divided into two categories: those that he published himself but are now almost entirely lost, and those that were not intended for publication but were gathered and preserved by others. The second group is made up of treatises that Aristotle used in his lectures, while the first group consists primarily of popular works.
Works that have been lost
Poetry, letters, essays, and Platonic dialogues are among the works that have been lost. Their content frequently diverged significantly from the doctrines of the remaining treatises, judging by the fragments that have survived. Alexander of Aphrodisias, a commentator (born c. 200) proposed that Aristotle’s writings might convey two truths: an “exoteric” truth intended for the general public and an “esoteric” truth only for Lyceum students. However, according to the majority of modern scholars, Aristotle’s works that are considered to be popular do not accurately reflect his time or his public opinions, but rather an early stage of his intellectual growth.
Existing works
The manuscripts that Aristotle left behind after his death are the source of the works that have survived. Traditional wisdom from antiquity—conveyed by Plutarch (46–c. Strabo (c. 119 CE) and Cicero (c. Neleus of Scepsis (64 BCE–23 CE) received the writings of Aristotle and Theophrastus, which his heirs concealed in a cellar so they wouldn’t be mistaken for the. royal library of Pergamum (in modern-day Turkey). The books were later bought by a collector, who brought them to Athens, where they were taken by the Roman general Sulla when he conquered the city in 86 BCE. Andronicus of Rhodes, the last head of the Lyceum, took them to Rome where they were edited and published in the year 60 BCE. Although there are many improbable aspects to this tale, it is still widely believed that Andronicus edited Aristotle’s writings and published them under the titles and in the format that is familiar to us today.
Doctrines.
The Categories, the De interpretation, and the Prior Analytics—which, respectively, deal with words, propositions, and syllogisms—are the three main works that support Aristotle’s claim to be the father of logic. These writings were compiled into a collection known as the Organon, or “tool” of thought, along with the Topics, the Sophistical Refutations, and the Posterior Analytics, a book on scientific method.
The syllogism theory, a fundamental inference technique, is the focus of The Prior Analytics. It can be understood by looking at examples like the ones below.
Syllogisms can take many different forms, and Aristotle explains which types of syllogisms result in reliable inferences. Three indicative propositions—what Aristotle refers to as “propositions”—are present in the aforementioned example. (Roughly speaking, a proposition is a proposition that is only taken into account in terms of its logical characteristics. Aristotle refers to the third proposition, which starts with “therefore,” as the syllogism’s conclusion. Even though Aristotle doesn’t consistently use a specific technical term to describe the other two propositions, they could be referred to as premises.
Place
Each body appears to be in a specific location, and each body can move from one location to another (at least theoretically). Similar to how a flask can initially contain wine and then air, the same space can be occupied by various bodies at various times. Therefore, a place cannot be the same as the body that occupies it. The first immobile boundary of the body that contains something, in Aristotle’s view, defines its place. As a result, the location of a pint of wine is its interior surface, provided the flask is stationary.