“Aristoteles” is the Greek/Latin form of **Aristotle** — one of the most influential philosophers and scientists in history.

## Basic facts

- **Name:** Aristotle / Aristoteles  
- **Greek:** Ἀριστοτέλης, *Aristotelēs*  
- **Born:** 384 BCE  
- **Birthplace:** Stagira, in northern Greece, near Macedonia  
- **Died:** 322 BCE  
- **Died in:** Chalcis, on the island of Euboea  
- **Teacher:** Plato  
- **Student:** Alexander the Great  
- **School:** Founded the **Lyceum** in Athens  
- **Tradition:** Ancient Greek philosophy; foundational figure in Western thought

Aristotle studied almost every subject known in his time: logic, metaphysics, ethics, politics, biology, physics, rhetoric, poetry, psychology, and more.

---

## Life

Aristotle was born in **Stagira**. His father, **Nicomachus**, was a physician to the Macedonian royal family, which likely influenced Aristotle’s lifelong interest in biology and natural science.

At around age 17, Aristotle went to Athens and joined **Plato’s Academy**, where he stayed for about 20 years. Although deeply influenced by Plato, Aristotle eventually developed his own philosophical system, often disagreeing with Plato’s theory of Forms.

After Plato’s death, Aristotle left Athens. He later became tutor to **Alexander**, son of King Philip II of Macedon, who became **Alexander the Great**.

Around 335 BCE, Aristotle returned to Athens and founded his own school, the **Lyceum**. His followers were called **Peripatetics**, possibly because they discussed philosophy while walking.

After Alexander’s death in 323 BCE, anti-Macedonian feeling grew in Athens. Aristotle, associated with Macedonia, left the city, reportedly saying he would not allow Athens to “sin twice against philosophy,” referring to the execution of Socrates. He died the following year.

---

## Aristotle and Plato

Aristotle was Plato’s student, but their ideas differed sharply.

### Plato
Plato believed that the truest reality consisted of eternal, perfect **Forms** existing beyond the physical world. For example, individual beautiful things are beautiful because they participate in the Form of Beauty.

### Aristotle
Aristotle rejected the idea that Forms exist separately from things. He argued that form and matter are found together in actual objects. To understand reality, one should study the world around us.

In simplified terms:

- **Plato:** ultimate reality is beyond the physical world.
- **Aristotle:** reality is found in the things of this world.

This difference helped shape later debates between idealism and empiricism.

---

## Logic

Aristotle is often considered the founder of formal logic.

His logical works were later collected under the title **Organon**, meaning “instrument” or “tool.” Logic, for Aristotle, was a tool for all knowledge.

He developed the theory of the **syllogism**, a structured argument with premises and a conclusion.

Example:

1. All humans are mortal.  
2. Socrates is human.  
3. Therefore, Socrates is mortal.

Aristotle’s logic dominated Western intellectual life for nearly two thousand years, until the development of modern symbolic logic in the 19th and 20th centuries.

---

## Metaphysics

Aristotle’s **Metaphysics** investigates being, substance, cause, change, and ultimate reality.

One of his central ideas is that everything is composed of:

- **Matter** — what something is made of
- **Form** — what makes it the kind of thing it is

For example, a bronze statue has bronze as its matter and the shape/design of the statue as its form.

### Substance

Aristotle thought that individual things — this horse, this tree, this person — are primary substances. They are not merely copies of abstract Forms, as Plato suggested.

### Potentiality and actuality

Aristotle explained change using the concepts of **potentiality** and **actuality**.

- An acorn is potentially an oak tree.
- A grown oak tree is the actuality of that potential.

Change is the process by which potential becomes actual.

---

## The Four Causes

Aristotle believed that to understand something fully, one must know its causes. He identified four kinds of cause:

1. **Material cause** — what something is made of  
   - A statue is made of bronze.

2. **Formal cause** — its form or structure  
   - The statue has the shape of a human figure.

3. **Efficient cause** — what brings it into being  
   - The sculptor makes the statue.

4. **Final cause** — its purpose or end  
   - The statue may exist to honor a person or decorate a temple.

The **final cause**, or purpose, is especially important in Aristotle’s thought. He often understood nature in terms of ends or goals, a view called **teleology**.

---

## Ethics

Aristotle’s most famous ethical work is the **Nicomachean Ethics**, probably named after either his father or his son, both called Nicomachus.

Aristotle believed that the goal of human life is **eudaimonia**, often translated as:

- happiness
- flourishing
- living well
- human fulfillment

For Aristotle, eudaimonia is not just pleasure or wealth. It is an activity of the soul in accordance with virtue.

### Virtue ethics

Aristotle is the central figure in **virtue ethics**. He argued that a good life depends on developing good character.

Virtues are habits acquired through practice. People become just by doing just actions, brave by doing brave actions, and temperate by practicing self-control.

### The Golden Mean

Aristotle taught that moral virtue often lies between two extremes.

Examples:

| Virtue | Deficiency | Excess |
|---|---|---|
| Courage | Cowardice | Recklessness |
| Generosity | Stinginess | Wastefulness |
| Temperance | Insensibility | Self-indulgence |
| Proper pride | Small-mindedness | Vanity |

The “mean” is not always the mathematical middle, but the appropriate response in the right situation, toward the right people, at the right time, for the right reason.

---

## Politics

Aristotle’s **Politics** examines the city-state, citizenship, constitutions, education, and the good life.

He famously wrote that the human being is a **political animal**. By this he meant that humans naturally live in communities and reach their fullest development within a political society.

Aristotle classified governments by whether they rule for the common good or for the rulers’ own interest.

### Good forms

- **Monarchy** — rule by one for the common good
- **Aristocracy** — rule by the best few for the common good
- **Polity** — constitutional government by many for the common good

### Corrupt forms

- **Tyranny** — rule by one for personal advantage
- **Oligarchy** — rule by the wealthy few for their own interest
- **Democracy**, in Aristotle’s technical sense — rule by the poor many for their own interest

His use of “democracy” differs from modern usage. He often preferred a mixed constitution, especially one with a strong middle class.

Aristotle’s political thought has been influential, though some of his views — especially his defense of natural slavery and his views on women — are now widely rejected.

---

## Biology and natural science

Aristotle was not only a philosopher but also a pioneering biologist. He studied animals in great detail and wrote works such as:

- **History of Animals**
- **Parts of Animals**
- **Generation of Animals**
- **Movement of Animals**

He classified animals, studied reproduction, anatomy, movement, and behavior. Some of his observations were remarkably accurate, while others were mistaken.

Unlike Plato, Aristotle emphasized empirical observation. He collected data and tried to organize living things systematically.

However, Aristotle’s physics and biology also included teleological explanations: he often explained features of organisms in terms of their purposes.

---

## Physics and cosmology

Aristotle’s physics was very different from modern physics.

He believed that earthly things are composed of four elements:

- earth
- water
- air
- fire

Each element naturally moves toward its proper place. Earth and water move downward; air and fire move upward.

For Aristotle, the heavens were made of a fifth element, often called **aether**, and heavenly bodies moved in perfect circles.

His cosmology placed the Earth at the center of the universe. This **geocentric** worldview was later integrated into medieval astronomy, especially through Ptolemy, and remained influential until the scientific revolution.

Many of Aristotle’s scientific theories were eventually overturned by figures such as Galileo, Newton, and modern scientists. Still, his attempt to give systematic explanations of nature was historically crucial.

---

## Psychology and the soul

Aristotle’s work **On the Soul** explores life, perception, thought, and the principle of living beings.

For Aristotle, the “soul” is not necessarily a ghostly substance separate from the body. Rather, the soul is the **form of a living body** — the organizing principle that makes a living thing alive.

He distinguished different kinds of soul:

1. **Nutritive soul** — plants have this; growth, nutrition, reproduction  
2. **Sensitive soul** — animals have this; perception and movement  
3. **Rational soul** — humans have this; reason and intellect

This framework influenced later philosophy, psychology, theology, and biology.

---

## Rhetoric

Aristotle’s **Rhetoric** is one of the foundational works on persuasion.

He identified three main modes of persuasion:

1. **Ethos** — the character or credibility of the speaker  
2. **Pathos** — emotional appeal to the audience  
3. **Logos** — logical argument

These concepts are still taught in communication, writing, politics, law, and public speaking.

---

## Poetics

Aristotle’s **Poetics** is a major work of literary theory. Much of it concerns tragedy.

He argued that tragedy represents serious action and produces **catharsis**, often interpreted as a purification, purgation, or clarification of emotions such as pity and fear.

Important concepts in the **Poetics** include:

- plot
- character
- thought
- diction
- melody
- spectacle
- reversal
- recognition
- tragic error, often called **hamartia**

Aristotle considered **plot** the most important element of tragedy.

His ideas influenced drama and literary criticism for centuries.

---

## Major works

Many of Aristotle’s surviving works are thought to be lecture notes or school texts rather than polished dialogues like Plato’s.

Important works include:

### Logic
- **Categories**
- **On Interpretation**
- **Prior Analytics**
- **Posterior Analytics**
- **Topics**
- **Sophistical Refutations**

### Natural philosophy and science
- **Physics**
- **On the Heavens**
- **On Generation and Corruption**
- **Meteorology**
- **History of Animals**
- **Parts of Animals**
- **Generation of Animals**

### Psychology
- **On the Soul**

### Metaphysics
- **Metaphysics**

### Ethics
- **Nicomachean Ethics**
- **Eudemian Ethics**
- **Magna Moralia** — authenticity debated

### Politics and society
- **Politics**
- **Constitution of the Athenians**

### Art and language
- **Rhetoric**
- **Poetics**

Many of his writings have been lost, including more popular works written in dialogue form.

---

## Influence

Aristotle’s influence is enormous.

### Ancient world
His school, the Lyceum, preserved and developed his ideas. Later philosophers studied, criticized, and adapted his work.

### Islamic philosophy
Aristotle was central to medieval Islamic philosophy. Thinkers such as:

- **Al-Farabi**
- **Avicenna**
- **Averroes**

engaged deeply with Aristotle and helped transmit Aristotelian philosophy to the Latin West.

Averroes in particular became known in Europe as “The Commentator” because of his extensive commentaries on Aristotle.

### Christian scholasticism
In medieval Europe, Aristotle became central to scholastic philosophy and theology. **Thomas Aquinas** integrated Aristotelian philosophy with Christian theology, especially in metaphysics, ethics, and natural law theory.

In this tradition, Aristotle was often simply called **“The Philosopher.”**

### Modern philosophy and science
During the scientific revolution, many Aristotelian scientific views were rejected. Galileo and others challenged Aristotelian physics, especially his ideas about motion.

Still, Aristotle’s influence remained strong in:

- ethics
- logic
- metaphysics
- political theory
- literary theory
- biology
- philosophy of mind
- theology

Virtue ethics, in particular, experienced a major revival in the 20th century through philosophers such as Elizabeth Anscombe, Philippa Foot, and Alasdair MacIntyre.

---

## Ideas associated with Aristotle

Some key Aristotelian concepts include:

- **Substance**
- **Form and matter**
- **Potentiality and actuality**
- **The four causes**
- **Teleology**
- **Virtue ethics**
- **The Golden Mean**
- **Eudaimonia**
- **The unmoved mover**
- **Syllogistic logic**
- **Humans as political animals**
- **Catharsis**
- **Ethos, pathos, and logos**

---

## The Unmoved Mover

In his metaphysics and cosmology, Aristotle argued that motion and change ultimately require a first principle. This is the **Unmoved Mover**.

The Unmoved Mover causes motion not by physical pushing but as a final cause — as an object of desire or thought. Aristotle described it as pure actuality, eternal, immaterial, and engaged in perfect thought.

Later Jewish, Christian, and Islamic thinkers connected this idea with God, though Aristotle’s Unmoved Mover is not identical to the personal creator God of later monotheistic theology.

---

## Controversial and outdated views

Aristotle was a genius, but he was also a thinker of his time. Some of his ideas are now considered false or morally unacceptable.

Examples include:

- Defense of **natural slavery**
- Belief that women were naturally subordinate to men
- Geocentric cosmology
- Incorrect theories of motion
- Some inaccurate biological claims
- Teleological explanations that modern science often rejects or treats differently

His importance lies not in being always right, but in the scope, rigor, and systematic nature of his thought.

---

## Why Aristotle matters

Aristotle matters because he helped define many of the basic categories of Western thought. He asked questions such as:

- What is reality?
- What is knowledge?
- What makes an argument valid?
- What is a good life?
- What is virtue?
- What is the best political community?
- What is the nature of living things?
- How does change happen?
- What makes art powerful?

For centuries, to study philosophy, science, theology, politics, literature, or logic was often to study Aristotle.

In short: **Aristotle was one of history’s greatest system-builders**, a thinker who tried to understand the whole of reality through reasoned inquiry.
