Philosophy
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and scientist from 384 to 322 B.C. (Dunn F75). He was born in Stagira of Chalkidiki in northern areas of Greece. He was among those people who laid the foundation of western philosophy. Nicomachus, who was the father of Aristotle, worked as the court physician to the Macedonian king Amyntas II. He died when Aristotle was a child. Phaestis, mother of Aristotle, is also thought to have died in the young age of Aristotle. After the death of his father, Proxenus of Atarneus became the guardian of Aristotle. Proxenus of Atarneus was the husband of Arimneste, who was the older sister of Aristotle.
At the age of 17 years, he joined the Plato’s Academy for higher education in Athens. Athens was highly regarded as the academic center. Aristotle became a very good scholar at that time. He maintained his relationships with Plato, who was himself the student of Socrates, for about twenty years. Plato left the world in 347 B.C., but due to some contradictions in thoughts of Plato and Aristotle, he was not selected as the director of the academy, as many people were thinking. After the death of Plato, Hermias, king of Atarneus and Assos in Mysia, requested Aristotle to come to court. In Mysia, Aristotle met his first wife Pythias, who was Hermias’ niece. Aristotle and Pythias had a daughter, Pythias, who was named after her mother.
In 338 B.C., he started teaching and mentoring Alexander the Great. In 335 B.C., he laid the foundation of his own school, the Lyceum, in Athens with the permission of Alexander the Great. In this school, he spent most of the remaining part of his life in studying, writing, and teaching others. After the death of Alexander the Great, and the downfall of pro-Macedonian government, Aristotle was charged with immorality. In order to avoid prosecution, he left Athens and moved to Chalcis on the island of Euboea, where he remained till his death.
Why is Aristotle my favorite figure?
Aristotle composed about 200 works, most of which were composed in the Lyceum. Nearly 30 works of Aristotle have survived (Grant 34-35). He worked in different ways ranging from theoretical basis to practical works. His works under the category of “Organon” can help in providing a logical toolkit for investigation in philosophy and science. His theoretical works are on a number of different topics ranging from animals, to physics and metaphysics. His practical works, especially the “Politics” and “Nicomachean Ethics”, have investigated the nature of human flourishing in a good level of details. His “Poetics” and “Rhetoric” work on the refined outcomes of human productivity.
His way of studying and teaching are among the most influential parts of his life making him my favorite figure. He was a very versatile scholar, whose thoughts and views have affected the world not only in his time but also in the Middle Ages. He was one of the first scholars, who were involved in formal study of logic. His classification of animals was very much close to our present day classification. In metaphysics, his thoughts and views highly influenced the philosophical and theological viewpoints in the Islamic and Jewish traditions in the Middle Ages, and they are continuously influencing Christian theology. He made so many contributions that a complete account of his work would not be presented in a single document. His followers used to call him Ille Philosophus (The Philosopher) (Hiebel 252), or “the master of them that know.” Many of them accept every word of his writing that didn’t contradict the Bible. Aristotle’s philosophy is still an object of active academic study.
Works Cited
Dunn, P. M. "Aristotle (384–322 BC): philosopher and scientist of ancient Greece." Archives of Disease in Childhood-Fetal and Neonatal Edition 91.1 (2006): F75-F77.
Grant, E. Science and Religion, 400 B.C. To A.D. 1550: From Aristotle to Copernicus. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006. Print.
Hiebel, F. The Gospel of Hellas: The Mission of Ancient Greece and the Advent of Christ. Anthroposophic Press, 1949. Print.
