Aristotle is the greatest philosopher of ancient Greece, the creator of the peripatetic school, a scientist. The beloved student of Plato and the mentor of the great commander Alexander of Macedon is also Aristotle.
Biography briefly for children: about youth
In 384 BC e. in Stagira, the Greek colony near Athos, Aristotle was born - one of the great philosophers of all time.
The parents of the future scientist, often referred to as Stagyrite, were of noble birth. Nikomakh, the father of a future scientist, a hereditary doctor, served as a court physician and trained his heir in the basics of medical art and philosophy, which at that time was inseparable from medicine. Aristotle from childhood was closely associated with the Macedonian court and knew his peer, the son of King Amynta III, Philip.
As a child, Aristotle orphaned and was raised by a relative of Proxen. The latter laid on his shoulders the worries about the young man: he helped in getting an education, in every possible way encouraged the curiosity of the teenager, spent money on the purchase of books, which at that time were very expensive pleasure, almost a luxury. The condition that remained after the death of the parents favored such expenses. Aristotle’s biography, the summary of which is of genuine interest to modern youth, truly inspires deep respect for this man, who has shoulder on his shoulders the responsibility of educating other people who are interested in the favorable future of their country.
Plato is my friend
Aristotle's biography briefly describes how, with the aim of studying philosophy, in 367 BC. e. Aristotle moved to Athens, where he stayed for two decades. In the glorious Greek city, the young man enrolled as an apprentice at the Academy, opened by the great philosopher Plato. The mentor, paying attention to the brilliant mental qualities of the student, began to distinguish him from the rest of the students.
Aristotle, however, gradually began to recede from the views and ideas of his teacher and rely on his own worldview. Plato did not really like it, but the difference in views did not affect the personal relations of the two geniuses. Most of all, the opinions of the two great minds diverged in the doctrine of ideas, which, according to Plato, formed an incorporeal world. For his student Aristotle, ideas were just the essence of the occurring material phenomena, dressed in these very ideas. Regarding this dispute, Aristotle announced a well-known phrase, abridged as: "Plato is my friend, but the truth is more expensive." Aristotle's incredible reverence for his beloved mentor Plato can be judged by the fact that a young man who already had an established system of worldview, and therefore the prerequisites for organizing his philosophical school, did not do this during the life of a mentor.
Aristotle's biography briefly describes that in 347 BC. e., after the departure of another great teacher into the world, his place as the head of the Academy was taken by the nephew Speusip. Aristotle, who was among those dissatisfied with this circumstance, left Athens and, at the invitation of the tyrant Germia (Plato’s disciple), went to the city of Assos, located in Asia Minor. After 2 years, for active opposition to the Persian yoke, Hermias was betrayed and crucified, in connection with which Aristotle had to hurry leave Assos. Pifiada, a relative of Germany, who later became the wife of the Greek philosopher, also fled. A refuge for a young couple was found in the city of Mytilene (Lesbos island). It was here that Aristotle was invited to become a mentor to the son of Philip - Alexander, at that time a 13-year-old teenager.
About the pupil of Aristotle
Aristotle's biography briefly shows that the influence of the Greek philosopher on the character of his student and the way of his thoughts, which subsequently entrenched the glory of the greatest commander, was enormous.
Aristotle, skillfully tempering the passion of the ward’s soul, directed the young man to serious thoughts, aroused the noble aspirations for accomplishing feats and fame, instilled a love for the Iliad, the book of Homer, which accompanied Macedonian throughout his life. Alexander received a classical education, in which the emphasis was on the study of politics and ethics. Also, the young commander was well versed in literature, medicine and philosophy.
School foundation
Aristotle’s biography briefly describes how the Greek philosopher, having left his nephew Callisthenes with Macedon, in 335 BC. e. returned to Athens, where he founded the philosophical school Lyceum (lyceum), otherwise referred to as “peripathetic” (from “peripatos” - a covered gallery around the courtyard, a walk). This characterized the place of the lessons or the manner of the teacher in the process of presenting information - walking back and forth. Representatives of the peripatetic school, along with philosophy, were engaged in various sciences: physics, geography, astronomy, and history. The morning classes, called “acroamatic”, were attended by the most prepared pupils; after lunch, anyone could listen to the philosopher.
This period in the biography of the Greek philosopher is a crucial stage, because it was at this time in the process of research that many important discoveries were made and a huge part of the work was created, which in many ways determined and directed the development of world science in the right direction. During these years, his wife Pifiada died. The second time Aristotle married her former slave Herpillis.
last years of life
Aristotle’s biography briefly and clearly describes that the ancient Greek philosopher, enthusiastically engaged in the world of science, was completely far from political events, but after the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC. e. a wave of anti-Macedonian persecution and repression began in the country, the sky thickened and over the head of the Greek philosopher. Aristotle was charged with disrespect for the gods and sacrilege, which forced the scientist, who understood the impartiality of the upcoming trial, to leave with some students in Chalkida, on the island of Euboea, which became the last refuge in his life. The 62-year-old philosopher died of a hereditary stomach disease. As the head of Likey Aristotle was replaced by his best student Theophrastus. The clan of the great scientist was continued by his daughter Pythia (the son of Nicomache, according to some assumptions, was killed in the war in his younger years).
Aristotle: a brief biography and its discoveries
There is an opinion that the great Aristotle was a short and sickly man. His speech was very quick and defective: the philosopher mixed some sounds, which did not detract from his grandiose contribution to science.
Like most thinkers of ancient times, Aristotle, in addition to philosophy, worked diligently in various sciences and became the founder of certain sections: logic, scientific rhetoric, and grammar. The great thinker also established a large number of important facts in anatomy and zoology, the first to create a philosophy of art and a theory of poetry. The most important and famous works of Aristotle are considered to be "Politics", "Metaphysics", "Poetics", "Physics". The philosophical system of the Greek enlightener affected various aspects of humanity and globally influenced the subsequent development of scientific thinking.
In geography, Aristotle expressed the idea of the integrity and infinity of the oceans. In biology, the scientist described about five hundred species of animals and founded zoological systematics, the first in scientific history. Studying animals, he divided them into 2 groups: bloodless and animals with blood (he put a man at the head), which practically corresponds to today's concept: vertebrates and invertebrates. The great philosopher is considered the father of meteorology (the term was first mentioned in a treatise on celestial phenomena).
Of all the works of Aristotle to date, only a fourth of the works has survived. According to some assumptions, the rich library of the philosopher after his death passed to Theophrastus and his descendants, who, being uneducated people, dumped books in boxes and closed them in the basement. Dampness and worms completed what was begun.