Aristotle's Influence On Society

Aristotle is easily considered one of the most influential philosophers of all time, even currently in today’s society. The research and findings of Aristotle are credited with helping shape the foundations of philosophy today. Studies from Aristotle are even still studied today to advance what we already know. Aristotle left behind many pieces of work that he contributed to on many different topics that he studied and made inferences about. Some scholars say that he left behind up to two hundred pieces of work for the world to study and use to advance the understanding of different topics around the world (Shields). Aristotle’s constant strive for information and data throughout his life is the reason for the large influence he has had on the modern world today. Aristotle’s influence has shaped the way society thinks and the values that are portrayed

today through his writings, which mention his beliefs and findings after a lifetime of striving to acquire all knowledge possible within one lifetime.
Aristotle is known today as an extremely successful philosopher and scientist. Aristotle was born in 384 BCE in Stagirus. Stagirus is a Greek seaport that is located on the coast of Thrace. Aristotle was not raised by his father, Nichomachus, but instead by Proxenus who became his guardian after his father died when Aristotle was at a young age. It was Proxenus who sent the 17 year old Aristotle to Athens to begin his education at Plato’s Academy - which is where Aristotle was introduced to the fundamentals of philosophy. Aristotle’s studies at Plato’s Academy sparked his interests and therefore are part of the reason Aristotle became the phenomenal philosopher he was. Aristotle’s time at Plato’s Academy lasted for around 20 years - some years spent as a student, while others were spent teaching. First, Aristotle was a student and then later on, once he had shown what he was capable of, he became a teacher for Plato’s Academy. Although Plato was his master, it was said that Aristotle and Plato commonly had disagreements on their philosophical ideals, which is thought to be why Aristotle was not asked to succeed Plato after his passing in 347 BCE. Aristotle is remembered to of said about Plato, “Plato is my friend but truth is much more” (Dunn). This quote shows directly how Aristotle respected Plato, but not his values of philosophy. When Plato died and Aristotle was not appointed to succeed him, Aristotle left Athens for Assos in Asia Minor, where he continued his philosophical activities that he had started at Plato’s Academy. One thing was for sure, Aristotle did not remain in one spot for too long and was constantly advancing his philosophical research. He remained in Assos for around three years until he moved to the island of Lesbos, where he met his wife, Pythias. Aristotle made the journey back to Macedonia in 338 to tutor the well known, Alexander the Great, who was only 13 at the time and not yet a world conqueror. It has been said that Alexander and his father had high regards for Aristotle. Once Alexander conquered Athens, Aristotle decided it was time to return to Athens, where he had not been since the passing of Plato. Upon his return, Aristotle found that the Platonic school was seeing large amounts of success and Platonism was the dominant philosophy of Athens. This led to Aristotle to establish his own school, which he coined as Lyceum. Aristotle spent a great amount of time teaching at Lyceum - 13 years to be exact. Aristotle spent those 13 years teaching and creating his philosophies within the walls of his own school. The term “peripatetics’ was created during the time of Aristotle’s teaching there because it was common for Aristotle to walk around while he taught. The term “peripatetics” is used to describe Aristotle’s students and followers. “Peripatetics” translates to “to walk about” (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy). It was said that Aristotle had two different types of lectures. The first type was in the morning, which was for his advanced and knowledgeable students, while the second type was later in the afternoon for the public who simply thirsted for knowledge, but were not students. When Alexander the Great passed and the Athens rebelled against the rule of Macedonian rule, Aristotle did not have a safe spot within the city. This lead to him leaving Athens once again in an effort to avoid being put to death due to the political issues that were going on within the city. When Aristotle left Athens, he ended up on the Island of Euboea. The Island of Euboea happened to be Aristotle’s last stop on his journey of life as he passed away there in 322 BCE (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy). Aristotle’s life was extraordinary and filled with his journey to find knowledge all around him. Thankfully, most of Aristotle’s brilliant thoughts were put down onto paper which allowed for life today to be influenced by the great philosopher.
Throughout Aristotle’s life, he compiled an ample amount of research and philosophical advancements that laid the foundations of philosophy today. Aristotle would write down most of his findings. Aristotle’s writings are under three different headings: dialogues and other works of a popular character, collections of facts and material from scientific treatment, and systematic works. It has been said that Aristotle wrote up to 150 treatises, but only around 30 are around today (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy). Aristotle’s writing ranges from many different topics including philosophy, physics, zoology, and politics. Within Aristotle’s writings about physics, which his calls “metaphysics,” shows the study of the natural universe. Aristotle was found to focus on “conceptual puzzles pertaining to nature rather than on empirical research.” These puzzles that Aristotle wrote about drew the attention of different physicist and mathematicians (Shields). On the topic of zoology, Aristotle was strikingly correct on much of the information he provided during his time. It was said that he had the most extensive information at the time on zoology. Aristotle did have some errors within his work that today have been proven different, but it is astonishing that he could find his research in his day without the extensive resources and tools scientists have today. Aristotle even began a system similar to the animal kingdom, except much broader than the one used today in science (Waggoner). Aristotle’s writings on politics includes 14 different parts describing in detail how politics and the government should be conducted to best benefit everyone (Aristotle). Aristotle’s writings were thankfully not destroyed after his death thanks to his student Theophrastus, but his writings definitely did go through a long journey until they were actually read for the advancement of philosophy. Theophrastus was the successor of Aristotle at the Peripatetic School and he held Aristotle’s pieces of work in his library, which was eventually passed on to Neleus. In an attempt to protect the pieces of literature from theft, Neleus’s heirs placed them within a vault. While the writings were protected from thieves, they were not protected from the elements of the Earth. While in the vault, many of the writings faced irreversible damage due to wetness and insects. Along with the damage, the books were concealed in the vault and not found until 100 BCE by a man named Apellicon, who brought the writings to Athens. In a way, Aristotle did kind of make his way back to Athens again through his writing. When Athens was eventually taken by Sulla, the writings made their final destination Rome, where they were studied for the history of Aristotle himself and his philosophical ways (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy). It has been said that if one was to pick up Aristotle’s writings, they would not be able to follow it due to the use of technical and eccentric terms that are never defined. Another common issue with reading Aristotle’s writing is the unorganized thoughts. This is thought to be because some of Aristotle’s writings were not intended to be published, but were simply his notes and random thoughts put down on paper (Shields).
Aristotle had many writings on the subject of logic, which he excelled in writing about. When hearing the word “logic,” one may think of simply intelligence. Aristotle’s logic sticks to the firm definition of logic, which is the reasoning assessed according to strict principles of validity. Logic from Aristotle’s eyes is an extremely sensible set of actions to prove the validity of the things around him in life. Aristotle used the word logic as an equivalent to verbal reasoning. The Peripatetics, Aristotle’s followers, of a later time reorganized all of Aristotle’s writings about logic together, which they named Organon. For Aristotle, logic was the same as verbal reasoning - which means that he was creating a way for scientific findings to be found logically. Within “The Categories of Aristotle,” there is a list of single words which are arranged in the order of questions that should be asked in order to logically question something. The list is as follows: substance, quantity, quality, relation, place, time, situation, condition, action, and passion. Asking questions related to these words would definitely help one to fully understand what an object is and to logically make a decision on what it is. Within Aristotle’s writings of logic, he brings the topics of truth and falsity to the table. It is said that notions alone are not enough to prove whether something has truth to it or falsity. To find the definition of something and to prove it true, Aristotle talks about how the definition needs to not exhibit obscurity, be too broad on the topic, and stating nonsense that does not pertain directly to the definition. A definition can exhibit obscurity from the use of technical and metaphorical phrases. A major part of logic for Aristotle was syllogism. Syllogism is the form of reasoning where if one thing equals another, then it is vice versa. The example used from Aristotle was, “All men are mortal; Socrates is a man; therefore, Socrates is mortal” (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy). This quote shows how syllogism worked throughout Aristotle’s studies firsthand. Syllogism may sound familiar as it is used today within a lot of aspects - especially math. In math, it is known as the law as Syllogism, where if x equals a, then a equals x. This example of Aristotle’s logic brought to life shows how small writings of Aristotle have made an impact on the world today.
Throughout Aristotle’s life, it is evident that his strive for knowledge not only benefited him, but benefits the world today in too many ways to count.

From day one, Aristotle was bound to be the admired and one of the most successful philosophers to date. Aristotle’s constant journeying lifestyle accompanied his thirst for knowledge well as it allowed for his research to take on new heights. Thankfully today, some of Aristotle’s writings can be viewed to study and further understand the philosophical side of life. The world benefits today from Aristotle’s writings on subjects ranging from logic, politics, and even earth sciences - which can be found in his treatise, Meteorology (Waggoner). Aristotle may have passed away in 322 BCE, but his philosophical ideals will live on forever. The legacy of Aristotle will outlive him by a landslide. Aristotle’s influence on society has shaped the way that one thinks and the values that are portrayed. This was all done through Aristotle’s strive for information and scientific findings that he put into words in his writings that he left behind for the world to strive off

of.