Aristotle

987 Words2 Pages

Background

Again, men in general desire the good, and not merely what their fathers had.

- Aristotle, Politics

* Aristotle was born in 384 BC at Stagira in northern Greece.

* He was the son of Nicomachus, a physician with close connections to the Macedonian court.

* Some believe it to be his father's influence that gave Aristotle his interest in anatomy and the structure of living things in general.

* He was a Greek philosopher and scientist.

Life / Career

Education is the best provision for the journey to old age.

- Aristotle

* Aristotle went to Athens to study at Plato's Academy at the age of 17. He stayed for 20 years, first as a student and then as a teacher.

* Aristotle moved to Assos, a city in Asia Minor, after the death of Plato in 347 BC. Here he counseled his friend, Hermias of Atarneus, and married Hermias' niece and adopted daughter, Pythias.

* After Hermias' execution at the hands of the Persians in 345 BC, Aristotle travelled to Pella, the Macedonian capital.

* In 342 BC, he began tutoring King Philip II's young son Alexander, who later became known as Alexander the Great.

* When Alexander became king in 335 BC, Aristotle returned to Athens where he founded his own school, the Lyceum.

* The Lyceum was involved in a greater range of subjects than the Academy, even during Plato's time.

* The Lyceum was often refered to as the Peripatetic ('walking' or 'strolling') school because many teacher-student discussions took place while walking on its grounds.

* Aristotle spent the last year of his life at a family estate in Chalcis on the Aegean island of what is now Evvoia. He died in 322 BC.

# Many believe Aristotle to be the most influential philosopher in the history of Western thought.

* The logic of this last century was based on much of his thoughts and logic.

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