Aristotle (/ˈærɪˌstɒtəl/;[1] Greek: Ἀριστοτέλης Aristotélēs, pronounced [aristotélɛːs]; 384–322 BCE)[2] was an ancient Greek philosopher and scientist born in the city of Stagira, Chalkidice, on the northern periphery of Classical Greece. His father, Nicomachus, died when Aristotle was a child, whereafter Proxenus of Atarneus became his guardian.[3] At seventeen or eighteen years of age, he joined Plato's Academy in Athens[4] and remained there until the age of thirty-seven (c. 347 BCE). His writings cover many different subjects – including physics, biology, zoology, metaphysics, logic, ethics, aesthetics, poetry, theater, music, rhetoric, psychology, linguistics, politics, and government – and constitute the first comprehensive system of Western philosophy. Shortly after Plato died, Aristotle left Athens and, at the request of Philip II of Macedon, tutored Alexander the Great beginning in 343 BCE.[5]
Teaching Alexander the Great gave Aristotle many opportunities and an abundance of supplies. He established a library in the Lyceum which aided in the production of many of his hundreds of books, which were written on papyrus scrolls.[6] The fact that Aristotle was a pupil of Plato contributed to his former opinions of Platonism, but, following Plato's death, Aristotle immersed himself in empirical studies and shifted from Platonism to empiricism.[7]He believed that all peoples' concepts and all of their knowledge was ultimately based upon perception. Aristotle's theories in the natural sciences represent the groundwork that underlies many of his works.
Aristotle's theories in physical science profoundly shaped medieval scholarship. Their influence extended from Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages into the Renaissance, and were not replaced systematically until the Enlightenment and theories such as classical mechanics. Some of Aristotle's zoological observations, such as on the hectocotyl (reproductive) arm of the octopus, were not confirmed or refuted until the 1800s. His works contain the earliest known formal study of logic, which was incorporated in the late 1800s into modern formal logic.
In metaphysics, Aristotelianism profoundly influenced Jewish and Islamic philosophical and theological thought during the Middle Ages and continues to influence Christian theology, especially the Neoplatonism of the Early Church and the scholastic tradition of the Catholic Church. Aristotle was well known among medieval Muslim scholars, and has been revered as "The First Teacher" (Arabic: المعلم الأول).
His ethics, though always influential, gained renewed interest with the modern advent of virtue ethics. All aspects of Aristotle's philosophy continue to be the object of active academic study today. Though Aristotle wrote many elegant treatises and dialogues – Cicero described his literary style as "a river of gold"[8] – it is thought that only around a third of his original output has survived.[9]
Aristotle, whose name means "the best purpose",[10] was born in 384 BCE in Stagira, Chalcidice, about 55 km (34 miles) east of modern-day Thessaloniki.[11] His father Nicomachus was the personal physician to King Amyntas of Macedon. Aristotle was orphaned at a young age. Although there is little information on Aristotle's childhood, he probably spent some time within the Macedonian palace, making his first connections with the Macedonian monarchy.[12]
Aristotle by Francesco Hayez (1791–1882)
Portrait bust of Aristotle; an Imperial Roman (1st or 2nd century CE) copy of a lost bronze sculpture made by Lysippos
At the age of seventeen or eighteen, Aristotle moved to Athensto continue his education at Plato's Academy.[13] He remained there for nearly twenty years before leaving Athens in 348/47 BCE. The traditional story about his departure records that he was disappointed with the Academy's direction after control passed to Plato's nephew Speusippus, although it is possible that he feared anti-Macedonian sentiments and left before Plato died.[14]
Aristotle then accompanied Xenocrates to the court of his friend Hermias of Atarneus in Asia Minor. There, he traveled with Theophrastus to the island of Lesbos, where together they researched the botany and zoology of the island. Aristotle married Pythias, either Hermias's adoptive daughter or niece. She bore him a daughter, whom they also named Pythias. Soon after Hermias' death, Aristotle was invited by Philip II of Macedon to become the tutor to his son Alexander in 343 BCE.[5]
Aristotle was appointed as the head of the royal academy of Macedon. During that time, he gave lessons not only to Alexander, but also to two other future kings: Ptolemy and Cassander.[15] Aristotle encouraged Alexander toward eastern conquest, and his attitude towards Persia was unabashedly ethnocentric. In one famous example, he counsels Alexander to be "a leader to the Greeks and a despot to the barbarians, to look after the former as after friends and relatives, and to deal with the latter as with beasts or plants".[15]
By 335 BCE, Aristotle had returned to Athens, establishing his own school there known as the Lyceum. Aristotle conducted courses at the school for the next twelve years. While in Athens, his wife Pythias died and Aristotle became involved with Herpyllis of Stagira, who bore him a son whom he named after his father, Nicomachus. According to the Suda, he also had an eromenos, Palaephatus of Abydus.[16]
This period in Athens, between 335 and 323 BCE, is when Aristotle is believed to have composed many of his works.[5] He wrote many dialogues of which only fragments have survived. Those works that have survived are in treatise form and were not, for the most part, intended for widespread publication; they are generally thought to be lecture aids for his students. His most important treatises include Physics, Metaphysics, Nicomachean Ethics, Politics, De Anima (On the Soul), and Poetics.
Aristotle not only studied almost every subject possible at the time, but made significant contributions to most of them. In physical science, Aristotle studied anatomy, astronomy, embryology, geography, geology, meteorology, physics, and zoology. In philosophy, he wrote on aesthetics, ethics, government, metaphysics, politics, economics, psychology, rhetoric, and theology. He also studied education, foreign customs, literature, and poetry. His combined works constitute a virtual encyclopedia of Greek knowledge.
Near the end of his life, Alexander and Aristotle became estranged over Alexander's relationship with Persia and Persians. A widespread tradition in antiquity suspected Aristotle of playing a role in Alexander's death, but the only evidence of this is an unlikely claim made some six years after the death.[17]
Following Alexander's death, anti-Macedonian sentiment in Athens was rekindled. In 322 BCE, Demophilus and Eurymedon the Hierophant reportedly denounced Aristotle for impiety,[18] prompting him to flee to his mother's family estate in Chalcis, on Euboea, at which occasion he was said to have stated: "I will not allow the Athenians to sin twice against philosophy"[19][20] – a reference to Athens's prior trial and execution of Socrates. He died on Euboea of natural causes later that same year, having named his student Antipater as his chief executor and leaving a will in which he asked to be buried next to his wife.[21]
Charles Walston argues that the tomb of Aristotle is located on the sacred way between Chalcis and Eretria, and that it contained two styluses, a pen, a signet-ring, and some terra-cottas, as well as what is supposed to be the earthly remains of Aristotle, in the form of some skull fragments.[22]
In general, the details of the life of Aristotle are not well-established. The biographies of Aristotle that were written in ancient times are often speculative, and historians only agree on a few salient points.[23]
Edith Hall's book 'Aristotle's Way' features on Five Book's Best Philosophy Books list.