A Brief Biography of the Ancient Greek Philosopher Aristotle

Aristotle was born in 385BC within Greek civilization in a little city called Stagirus which was a part of the Chalcidic peninsula, also known as Chalcis. He was the student of Plato and the teacher/tutor of Alexander the Great. He studied at the famous Platonic Academy where he was a member for 20 years until Plato's death in 347BC. In 335BC, he opened a rival institution in the Lyceum where the main difference in education was portrayed in the heavy influence Aristotle upheld in the teachings of biology and history, as opposed to the Platonic Academy which concentrated heavily on philosophy with a strong emphasis in mathematics.

Aristotle became the tutor of Alexander the Great when Alexander was only 13 years old. It is doubtful though that Aristotle had any influence over the character of Alexander the Great as Aristotle had a dislike of monarchies and the ideals of the two men were too different to allow any immediate or intimate influence over or to the other. In fact, it is believed that Aristotle was only able to assume the position of tutor over Alexander due to his own position as a pupil of Plato, not necessarily for his own personalized beliefs and thoughts. Once Alexander assumed the throne, Aristotle decided to dedicate himself completely to the workings of scientific theory and relocated to Athens.

The connection and influence Plato and Aristotle had on each other is very interesting. They were both professors and philosophers though Plato's philosophy was concentrated in mathematics and Aristotle's in science. In this sense, their teachings were very different and clashed in many ways. Aristotle's beliefs and workings were motivated mostly by his quest in the theory of knowledge - proved knowledge. Science plays a big role in this because it points out the reason why of things and to have science is to know things through their causes or proven reasons why. He believed in scientific truths and logical dependence. He disagrees with Plato because of Plato's belief in sense perception - the feeling, knowing, conceptualizing of the things around us. Aristotle does not believe that sense perception can give us scientific truth because it cannot explain the facts or give us the reason to why something is the way it is in its scientific purity. In Aristotle's view, knowledge of perception is always immediate and for that fact only it cannot be scientific. Essentially he is saying that even if you feel or see something through the use of your senses, it cannot be verified and confirmed as real until you find out the exact reason why, the reason behind its existence, to which you need science to prove in order to conclude it as a fact. He believed that "science as knowledge was a direct part of the influence between the universal interconnections between facts and events."

When defining Philosophy, Aristotle believes that it is a science that considers what is simply in a character of Being, and the properties which it has as such. This leads right into his principle beliefs of "First Philosophy", also known as Metaphysics, which he defines as being the science that attempts to discover the most ultimate reason of the character of things and also "the knowledge of immaterial being". It is simply the study of "What is simply as such". He investigates the causes of "What Is" starting with the physical existence to perception of the senses. Being that First Philosophy/Metaphysics is concerned with first causes and ultimate principles, it is therefore in a direct correlation to 4 divisions which Aristotle defines as follows: 1) Logic; 2) Theoretical Philosophy including metaphysics, physics, and mathematics; 3) Practical Philosophy; and 4) Poetical Philosophy.

Aristotle also attempted to answer the question of "What are the causes of the world order", which previously had always been the central problem of Greek philosophy. His doctrine of the Four Causes is said to be the final solution to this problem as all previous philosophies were regarded as inadequate attempts to answering this question, which is answered completely by his own system. The Four Causes are as follows: 1) Matter or the Material Cause; 2) Form or the Formal Cause; 3) The Efficient Cause; and lastly 4) the End of Final Cause. If any one of these had been different, it has been determined that the resultant state of things would be different and not applicable.

The above is just a brief glimpse into the workings and mind of Aristotle as a summarized overview at some of the most important aspects of his life. Aristotle has been defined as summarizing the whole of human knowledge as it was known to the Greeks during his time, advancing to impact modern day philosophy and science. His thoughts, ideas, and workings remain as a threshold of inspiration and motivation for today's thinkers.

Source:

Taylor A.E. Aristotle. Dover Publications, 1955.