Aristotle (382–322 B.C.)

Aristotle of Stagira was a Greek philosopher, logician, and scientist and one of the most influential ancient thinkers. As a young man, Aristotle entered Plato's Academy in Athens, where he studied for 20 years. Subsequently, he was invited by Philip of Macedon to tutor his son, the future Alexander the Great. Aristotle later returned to Athens to found his own school, the Lyceum, and write some of his most important treatises. After Alexander's sudden death, Aristotle had to flee Athens because of his Macedonian affiliation, and he died soon after. Although many of his writings are lost, a substantial corpus survives, consisting of treatises probably compiled from his lecture notes. These works influenced Roman, Byzantine, Arab, and Jewish philosophers, and their rediscovery in Western Europe ...