Aristotle
Jared Utley

Aristotle was a Greek philosopher, also known as the teacher of Alexander the Great.He was the student of Plato and was considered to be an important figure in Western Philosophy. Famous for his writings on physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology, he was an extremely intellectual and educated being. He is also among the first person to set a comprehensive system of
Western philosophy, which include views about morality and aesthetics, logic and science, politics and metaphysics.
This system became the foundation of both Islamic and Christian scholastic thought. It is said that he was perhaps the last man who had the knowledge of all the known subjects at that time. His intellectual knowledge ranged from every known field of science and arts of that era. His writing includes work in physics, chemistry, biology, zoology, botany, psychology, political theory, logic, metaphysics, history, literary theory, and rhetoric. One of his greatest achievements was formulating a finished system also known as Aristotelian syllogistic. His other significant contribution was towards the development of zoology. It is quite true that Aristotle’s zoology is now obsolete but his work and contribution was unchallenged till 19th century. His historical importance and contribution towards science is irreplaceable. Aristotle was born in the small Greek town of Stageira, Chalcidice in 384 B.C. His father, Nicomachus was the physician of King Amyntas of Macedon. There isn’t much record of Aristotle’s early life, but it was evident that he was trained and educated as an aristocratic member. Being a physician’s son, he was inspired to his father’s scientific work but didn’t show much interest in medicine.When he turned eighteen, he headed towards Athens and joined the
Plato Academy to continue his education. He spent next twenty years of his life in this academy only. It is said that even though Aristotle really admired and respected Plato, some considerable differences occurred between the two.

After the death of Plato in 348/347 B.C., when his nephew Speusippus became the head of the Plato
Academy, Aristotle left Athens. He and his friend Xenocrates moved towards the court of Hermias of Atarneus in Asia
Minor. In year 343 B.C., Philip II of Macedon invited Aristotle to be the tutor of his son Alexander who later became
Alexander the Great. He was also appointed as the head of the royal academy of Macedon. There are significant indications that Aristotle encouraged Alexander towards eastern conquest. In one of his examples, he told Alexander that he is the leader of Greeks and Persians are