Aristotle (384-322 BCE) Greek philosopher, scientist and physician from Stagira, Macedonia whose collected works analyze just about everything under and above the sun.
He taught for 20 years at Plato’s Academy in Athens, leaving after Plato died in 347 BCE.
In 342 BCE he became tutor for Philip of Macedon’s son Alexander, who was later to become ‘Alexander the Great.’
At Athens he founded the Lyceum in 335 BCE, a school whose members came to be called peripatetics.
After the death of Alexander, hostilities towards Macedonians in Athens compelled Aristotle to retreat to Calchis in 322 BCE. He remained there until his death.
Aristotle knew the earth was round – in 350 BCE – by noting how the position of the stars changed according to one’s location on the globe.
His views on natural science, although often flawed, make for interesting reading by showing how logic can go astray when based on false premises.
His work relating to politics, poetics, rhetoric, ethics, causality, power and God (i.e. metaphysics), on the other hand, are still taken seriously today.
The medieval Catholic theologian St. Thomas Aquinas respectfully called Aristotle “The Philosopher” and adapted many of his arguments to support Christian belief.
The contemporary writer Umberto Eco likened St. Thomas to a “medieval computer.” Perhaps, then, we could say that Aristotle’s stunning and far-reaching thoughts resemble those of an ancient computer. » Causality, Scholastics
Image Source:
- Resized from original, “Capturing the Philosopher” by Xin Li 88 http://www.flickr.com/photos/70109407@N00/2249868299/, Creative Commons License
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