Aristoteles, usually called **Aristotle** in English, was one of the most influential philosophers in history.

## Basic facts
- **Born:** 384 BCE, in **Stagira** in northern Greece
- **Died:** 322 BCE, in **Chalcis** on the island of Euboea
- **Father:** Nicomachus, who was connected to the Macedonian royal court and worked as a physician
- **Student of:** **Plato**, at the Academy in Athens
- **Teacher of:** **Alexander the Great** (traditionally reported)

## His life
Aristotle came to Athens as a young man and studied in Plato’s Academy for about 20 years. Although he admired Plato, he later developed very different philosophical views.

After Plato died, Aristotle left Athens. He spent time in Assos and Lesbos, doing philosophical and biological work. Later he was invited to tutor the young Alexander, son of Philip II of Macedon.

He returned to Athens and founded his own school, the **Lyceum**. His followers were sometimes called the **Peripatetics**, possibly because Aristotle taught while walking.

After Alexander died, anti-Macedonian feeling rose in Athens. Aristotle left the city, reportedly saying he did not want Athens “to sin twice against philosophy” — a reference to the execution of Socrates. He died soon after.

## What he wrote about
Aristotle wrote on an enormous range of subjects:
- logic
- metaphysics
- ethics
- politics
- rhetoric
- poetry
- biology
- physics
- psychology
- astronomy

Few thinkers have had such broad influence.

## Major ideas

### 1. Logic
Aristotle is often called the founder of formal logic in the Western tradition.  
He developed the theory of the **syllogism**, a structured form of reasoning, for example:

- All humans are mortal.
- Socrates is a human.
- Therefore, Socrates is mortal.

His logical works were later grouped as the **Organon**.

### 2. Metaphysics
Aristotle studied what exists and how things are. Some key ideas:

- **Substance:** individual things, like a particular horse or person, are primary realities
- **Form and matter:** physical things are combinations of matter and form
- **Potentiality and actuality:** things can have capacities that become realized
- **Four causes:** to explain a thing fully, you ask:
  - material cause: what it is made of
  - formal cause: its structure or essence
  - efficient cause: what produced it
  - final cause: its purpose or end

He also argued for an ultimate principle often called the **Unmoved Mover**, a perfect actuality that causes motion without itself being moved.

### 3. Ethics
His best-known ethical work is the **Nicomachean Ethics**.

He argued that the goal of human life is **eudaimonia**, often translated as “flourishing,” “well-being,” or “living well,” not merely pleasure.

Virtue, for Aristotle, is developed through habit. You become just by doing just actions.

He is famous for the **doctrine of the mean**:
- virtue often lies between two extremes
- for example, courage lies between cowardice and rashness

This does not mean simple moderation in every case; the “mean” depends on the situation and the person.

### 4. Politics
In the **Politics**, Aristotle argues that humans are **political animals**. He believed the polis, or city-state, exists by nature because people fulfill themselves in communities.

He classified constitutions and distinguished between good and corrupt forms of rule:
- monarchy / tyranny
- aristocracy / oligarchy
- polity / democracy (in one of his technical uses, democracy could mean rule by the poor in their own interest)

He preferred a mixed and stable constitution and emphasized the importance of a strong middle class.

However, some of his political views are deeply problematic by modern standards, including his defense of “natural slavery” and exclusionary views about women and non-Greeks.

### 5. Biology
Aristotle was one of the greatest ancient observers of living things. He collected, compared, and classified animals and studied reproduction, anatomy, and behavior.

Although many of his biological conclusions were wrong by modern science, his emphasis on careful observation was hugely important.

Important biological works include:
- **History of Animals**
- **Parts of Animals**
- **Generation of Animals**

### 6. Physics and nature
Aristotle developed a comprehensive picture of nature:
- everything has a natural place
- earthly things and heavenly things behave differently
- motion requires explanation in terms of causes and purposes

His physics was eventually overturned by early modern science, especially by Galileo, Descartes, and Newton, but it dominated for many centuries.

### 7. Psychology
In **De Anima** (“On the Soul”), Aristotle treats the soul not as a ghostly separate substance in the modern sense, but as the **form of a living body**.

He distinguishes levels of soul:
- nutritive soul in plants
- sensitive soul in animals
- rational soul in humans

### 8. Art, poetry, and rhetoric
In the **Poetics**, Aristotle analyzes tragedy and epic poetry. He is famous for discussing:
- **mimesis** (imitation/representation)
- plot structure
- **catharsis** in tragedy

In the **Rhetoric**, he studied persuasion and identified three persuasive appeals:
- **ethos**: credibility
- **pathos**: emotion
- **logos**: reason

## Important works
Many surviving Aristotelian texts may be lecture notes or school texts rather than polished books. Major works include:

- **Nicomachean Ethics**
- **Eudemian Ethics**
- **Politics**
- **Metaphysics**
- **Physics**
- **On the Soul** (*De Anima*)
- **Categories**
- **Prior Analytics**
- **Posterior Analytics**
- **Topics**
- **Sophistical Refutations**
- **Rhetoric**
- **Poetics**
- **History of Animals**
- **Parts of Animals**
- **Generation of Animals**

## Influence
Aristotle’s influence has been enormous.

### In antiquity
His school continued after him, though some of his works were not widely known for a time.

### In the Islamic world
Aristotle was studied and commented on extensively by major philosophers such as:
- **Al-Farabi**
- **Avicenna** (Ibn Sina)
- **Averroes** (Ibn Rushd)

They preserved, interpreted, and transformed Aristotelian thought.

### In medieval Christianity
Aristotle became central to scholastic philosophy, especially through **Thomas Aquinas**, who integrated Aristotelian philosophy with Christian theology.

### In Judaism
Thinkers like **Maimonides** engaged deeply with Aristotelian philosophy.

### In modern thought
Even where his conclusions were rejected, his methods, questions, and terminology shaped philosophy and science. Modern fields like logic, ethics, political theory, literary criticism, and biology still bear his mark.

## Limitations and criticisms
Aristotle was brilliant, but not infallible.
- Some empirical claims were mistaken.
- His physics was superseded.
- Some moral and political views are now regarded as unjust or indefensible.
- His teleological approach is controversial in modern science.

Still, his framework remains foundational.

## Why he matters
Aristotle matters because he tried to build a systematic understanding of:
- how we reason
- what exists
- how nature works
- how humans should live
- how societies should be organized
- how art persuades and moves us

Very few thinkers have shaped so many disciplines at once.

If you want, I can also give you:
1. a **short biography of Aristotle**,  
2. a **list of his main ideas in simple language**, or  
3. a **deep dive into Aristotle’s ethics, politics, or metaphysics**.
