Studying the biography of Aristotle is studying the history of philosophical thought as such. The cosmology of this philosopher was accepted by all thinkers of subsequent generations from Thomas Aquinas to Karl Marx.
The philosopher was born in 384/383. BC e. in Stagira (Chalkidiki). Some modern scientists believe that this city was Macedonian and Aristotle himself was a Macedonian (this explains the fact that he was invited to the post of educator of the son of the Macedonian king Philip).
The philosopher’s father Nicomachus was a doctor (it is believed that he came from the family of the legendary hero Machaon, the son of Asclepius, glorified in Homer’s poem “The Iliad”). He knew Alexander the Great's grandfather and father very well. Mother Thestis was from Euboean Chalcis.
Aristotle was raised by his maternal uncle Proxenus, who sent the 17-year-old boy to Athens. He studied there with the rhetorician and philosopher Isocrates and with Plato at his Academy (Aristotle spent 20 years at the Academy and left it only after the death of his teacher).
Independent philosophical work
After Plato's death, Aristotle went to Assos, and then to the island of Lesbos, where he taught until he received an invitation to become a teacher of Alexander, the heir of the Macedonian king Philip.
He was his teacher for about 10 years, and then remained an adviser for a long time, although he lived in Athens, where he founded a philosophical school, Lycium, where the greatest works were written, such as Metaphysics, the theory of thinking, the theory of cosmology, the content of which boils down to the fact that the Earth is the center of the Universe and that it is spherical, a political theory (he wrote a large work “Politics”, in which many forms of political structure, divided into “right” and “wrong”) are presented and explained, ideas about the possibilities of knowledge, ethics and logic were formed (Aristotle was the author of the basic logical laws: identity, contradiction and the exclusion of the third).
After the death of Alexander, in 323 BC. e., an anti-Macedonian uprising began in Athens, and Aristotle, having been subjected to various kinds of attacks, was forced to flee to his mother’s homeland (he did not want to repeat the fate of his colleague Socrates, who was forced to take poison due to attacks and political persecution).
In 322, Aristotle died of a stomach ailment, although there is evidence that he took the poison aconite.
Now a short biography of Aristotle is studied at school in the 5th grade during history lessons.
Family
It is known for certain that Aristotle was married once to the niece of the ruler of Assos, Hermias, Pythias. From her he had a daughter. Aristotle also had a relationship with a maid named Herppelida, from whom a son named Nicomachus was born.
Other biography options
- Some biographers of Aristotle, such as Plutarch or Strabo, argued that Aristotle had a speech impediment, was very ugly in appearance, but was very fond of dressing luxuriously.
- There is evidence that the philosopher slept very little and even in his sleep held a bronze ball in his hand, which, falling into the basin, woke the philosopher.
- In total, Aristotle wrote over 40 works on rhetoric, poetics, ethics, politics, metaphysics, logic and natural science (cosmology).
- It is believed that it was Aristotle who instilled in Alexander the Great a love for Homer’s Iliad. The king always kept the poem under his pillow, next to his dagger.
The message about Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher and natural scientist is presented in this article.
Post on topic: Aristotle
brief information
The future philosopher was born around 384-332 BC in Stagira on the Aegean coast into a family of doctors. Both of the naturalist’s parents were healers, so they gave him an excellent education. At the age of 17, Aristotle had encyclopedic knowledge and entered Plato's Academy in Athens. Here he studied for 20 years. After the Academy, he began to serve as the personal mentor of Macedonian for four years, until he ascended the throne. In Athens he opened his own school of philosophy called the Lyceum. Aristotle died in 322 from a stomach disease.
A message about Aristotle as a natural scientist
He always longed to understand the world in which he lived and to pass on his acquired knowledge to future generations. He was the first to create physics as a system of nature and define its basic term - motion. The scientist was engaged in revealing the anatomical essence of animals, and also described the mechanisms of movement of four-legged animals and studied mollusks and fish.
His greatest contribution to natural science is that he offered society his system of the world. Aristotle believed that the stationary Earth was located in the center of the Universe, and around it were moving celestial spheres with fixed stars and planets. The great sage had knowledge of geology and metaphysics. His ideas and knowledge were embodied in the works “On Origin and Destruction”, “On Heaven”, “Meteorology”.
Aristotle was also interested in philosophy, which he divided into several types: practical, poetic and theoretical. He identified 4 reasons for everything on the planet. It is matter, form, producing cause and purpose.
The great natural scientist discovered the laws of logic and created a classification of the properties of being, based on certain characteristics and philosophical categories. He also created the doctrine of the soul, which was associated with spiritual and material components.
He was married. His wife is Pythias, the niece of the ruler of Assos, Hermia. The couple had a daughter. In addition, Aristotle had an illegitimate child from the maid Herppelida, the son Nicomachus.
Biographers of the natural scientist claim that Aristotle was ugly in appearance, but loved to wear luxurious clothes.
Had a speech impediment.
I slept little. In his dreams he always held a bronze ball in his hand, which, when it fell into the basin, woke him up.
Aristotle, while in the service of Alexander the Great, instilled in him a love for the works of Homer.
We hope that the report on Aristotle helped you in preparing for classes. And you can leave your message on the topic: “Aristotle is a great natural scientist” using the comment form below.
Aristotle
Aristotle was born in 384. b.c.e. in the Greek city of Stagira. Aristotle's deep provincial origins were compensated by the fact that he was the son of the famous physician Nicomachus. To be a doctor meant to occupy a great social position in Ancient Greece, and Nicomachus was known throughout Macedonia.
Aristotle, according to eyewitnesses, had a homely appearance from his youth. He was thin, had thin legs, small eyes and had a lisp. But he loved to dress up, wore several expensive rings and had an unusual hairstyle. Having been brought up in the family of a doctor, and therefore practicing medicine himself, Aristotle, however, did not become a professional doctor. But medicine remained such a native and understandable field for him throughout his life that later in his most difficult philosophical treatises he gives explanations using examples from medical practice. Arriving from the north of Greece, Aristotle entered the school of Plato at a very early age (at the age of 17). He was at first principled
Platonist, and subsequently moved away from strict Platonism. Aristotle's first works within the walls of the Platonic Academy, where he entered, are distinguished by his penchant for
rhetoric, which he subsequently practiced throughout his life. In 364 BC. Aristotle meets Plato, and they communicated until Plato's death, i.e. for 17 years. Aristotle seemed to Plato as a zealous horse that had to be restrained with a bridle. Some ancient sources directly speak not only of divergence, but even of hostility between the two philosophers. Plato strongly disapproved of Aristotle's manner of carrying himself and dressing. Aristotle attached great attention to his appearance, and Plato believed that this was unacceptable for a true philosopher. But Aristotle apparently also boldly attacked Plato, which later led to Aristotle creating his own
schools. For all these disputes, the good-natured Plato said that “Aristotle kicks me like a suckling foal kicks its mother.” In Plato’s school, Aristotle receives the most important foundations of knowledge, possessing which, subsequently, he opens his own school opposite Plato’s, and becomes an inveterate opponent your teacher.
The name of Aristotle in world literature is directly related to the name of Plato. Let's try to consider the philosophy of Aristotle and correlate it with the philosophy of Plato. The central idea of Plato's philosophy - eidos - passed to Aristotle almost entirely. Neither Plato nor Aristotle thinks of things without their ideas, or eidos. The entire philosophy of Socrates, and then Plato, stemmed from practice and vital necessity, emerging in pure
the theoretical field only in its highest manifestation - in the doctrine of ideas. According to Plato, the world of things, perceived through the senses, is not a world of truly existing things: sensory things are continuously born and die, change and move, there is nothing permanent, durable in them,
perfect and true. And yet things are not completely separated from what truly exists, they are all somehow involved in it. Namely: everything that is truly existent in them, Plato claims, sensory things owe to their causes. These causes are the forms of things, not perceived by the senses, comprehended only by the mind, incorporeal and insensible. Plato calls them “species” or much less often “ideas.” “Species”, “ideas” are forms of things visible to the mind. Each class of objects of the sensory world, for example, the class of “horses” corresponds in the incorporeal world there is a certain “type” or “idea” - the “type” of a horse, the “idea” of a horse. This “species” can no longer be comprehended by the senses, like an ordinary horse, but can only be contemplated by the mind, moreover, by a mind well prepared for such comprehension. These “ideas” or “eidos” are not born, do not die, and do not transform into any other state. There is a "realm of ideas"
1. Ideas of the highest value categories of existence. This includes
concepts such as beauty, justice, truth.
2.Motion of physical phenomena - ideas of movement, rest, light,
sound, etc.
3. Ideas of categories of creatures - ideas of animals, humans.
4.Ideas for objects produced by human effort -
ideas for table, bed, etc.
5.Ideas of science - ideas of numbers, equality, relationships. Principles of the existence of ideas:
a) an idea is made by an idea;
b) the idea is a model, looking at which Demiur created
the world of things;
c) the idea is the goal towards which everything that exists strives as the highest good. The world of things and the world of ideas are united by the soul of the Cosmos. It makes ideas present in things and vice versa. Between the world of things and the world of ideas is the deity - Demiur. Aristotle strongly criticizes the fundamental separation of the idea of a thing from the thing itself. The idea of a thing, according to Aristotle, is inside the thing itself. The thesis about the existence of the idea of a thing inside the thing itself is the main and fundamental difference between the Platonic and Aristotelian schools. The idea of a thing, according to Aristotle, is necessarily some kind of generality, i.e. eidos in every sense. But the eidos of a thing is not only the generalization of its individual elements. It also represents something singular. By this singularity, this eidos of a thing differs from other eidos, and, therefore, from all other things. The eidos of a thing, being a certain community and a certain individuality, at the same time is also a certain kind of wholeness. It is absolutely impossible to separate the general from the individual, and the individual from the general. That is. by removing one moment of integrity, we thereby eliminate integrity itself. By removing, for example, the roof from a house, the house ceases to be whole, and, strictly speaking, ceases to be a house.
Aristotle expounded his doctrine of a thing as an organism many times and in different ways. He identifies four causes, or four principles of any thing understood as an organism.
The first principle is that the eidos of a thing is not at all its extra-celestial essence, but its essence that is in it itself and without which it is generally impossible to understand what a given thing is.
The second principle concerns matter and form. It seems that matter and form are a common and understandable opposition, and there seems to be nothing to talk about here. For example, the matter of this table is wood. And the shape of this table is the form that wooden materials took, processed for a specific purpose. It seems that everything here is very simple and understandable. Nevertheless, this problem was one of Aristotle’s deepest philosophical problems. After all, for Aristotle, material is not just just material. Aristotle’s material already has its own form. Everything, even the most chaotic, disordered, formless and chaotic, already has its own form. Clouds and clouds during a thunderstorm look absolutely formless. However, if the cloud did not really have any form, then how could it be some kind of knowable thing for us. From here Aristotle concludes that the matter of a thing is only the very possibility of its design, and this possibility is infinitely varied. And yet, without matter, eidos would remain only its abstract meaning, without any embodiment of this thought in reality. Only complete identification of the matter of a thing with its eidos makes a thing a thing. Plato knew how to distinguish between eidos and matter, and identified them quite well, but what Aristotle did in this area is almost, one might say, a revolution in relation to Platonism. Of those philosophers of antiquity who distinguished form and matter, Aristotle was their deepest and most subtle identifyr. Matter is not
there is eidos, neither eidos in general, nor any eidos in particular. According to Aristotle, only cosmic spheres above the Moon are eidetically complete. And what happens inside the lunar sphere, in the sublunar one, is always partial and imperfect. and sometimes downright ugly. If where
Aristotle acts as a principled materialist, i.e. preaches matter as the principle of the living reality of the world existing around us, then only in his teaching about matter in the form of the kingdom of chance. According to Aristotle, movement is a completely specific category and cannot be reduced to anything else. Thus, according to Aristotle, movement is the same basic category as matter and as
form. Aristotle raises the question of the possibility of the category of movement itself. He identified four principles of the existence of every thing as an organism: matter, form, efficient cause. The last principle of the existence of any thing, according to Aristotle, is purpose. Purpose is a specific category that cannot be reduced to anything else. Aristotle with his theory
The four-principled structure of a thing proceeded solely from the fact that each thing is the result of creativity. Moreover, it does not matter whether this work is good or bad. All
the diversity of the material world, according to Aristotle, is based on different relationships between eidos (form, or idea) and matter in their cause-and-effect embodiment. Transition to peace
animate beings, we see in Aristotle and here in the foreground a four-principled structure. Aristotle distinguishes three types of soul - vegetative, sentient (animal) and
rational. The rational soul also has its own eidos, its own matter, and a causal-target orientation. The eidos of a living body is the principle of its life, i.e. his soul. And every soul that moves the body also has its own eidos, which Aristotle calls Mind. So the soul, according to Aristotle, is nothing more than the energy of the Mind. And Mind is the eidos of all eidos. According to Aristotle, Mind is the highest degree of being. This Mind, being the highest degree of being in general, is for Aristotle, to put it briefly, the ultimate concept in general. He is the “eidos of eidos.” The mind taken by itself is no longer bound by anything and depends only on itself. In this sense, he is eternally motionless. Aristotle believes that the Mind, despite all its freedom from mental matter, contains its own, purely mental matter, without which it would not be
a work of art. No philosophers before Aristotle allowed the existence of matter in the Mind. No one contrasted matter and Mind so sharply and fundamentally as Aristotle did. Aristotle created three concepts of the Prime Mover Mind. The first concept is purely platonic. It boils down to the fact that the Mind is the highest and final being. The mind is nothing more than the kingdom of the gods - higher, or supracosmic, lower, or stellar ideas. In the second concept, Aristotle’s Mind is thinking, and thinking of itself, i.e. “thinking thinking.” The mind contains its own mental matter, which gives it the opportunity to be eternal beauty (since beauty is the ideal coincidence of idea and matter). Aristotle's third concept is strongly
differs from Platonovskaya. For Plato, the cosmos is ruled by the World Soul. For Aristotle, this is the Mind, which moves absolutely everything, and therefore it is life as eternal energy. “If the Mind, according to Aristotle, is the universal goal, and therefore everything loves it, then it itself, being the goal, is not that there is no one at all loves, but since everything in general loves him, the Mind, undoubtedly, must love itself all the more.”
Aristotle said: “Plato is my friend, but truth is dearer.”
And Aristotle’s whole life consisted of an endless desire to find, analyze, grasp the truth, get to the bottom of
meaning of the surrounding world. In his zoological treatises, Aristotle established and characterized more than 400 species
animals. He described 158 different Greek and non-Greek legislations. The entire V book of his main treatise “Metaphysics” is specifically devoted to philosophical terminology, and each term has 5 - 6 meanings. Aristotle was a strong man. And when it turned out that there was nowhere to go, and they could deal with him like before with Sokrkt, he, as one might assume, took poison. Thus ended Aristotle’s life. And yet his quest, his whole life testify to the unprecedented courage of a great man, for whose even death itself became an act of wisdom and imperturbable calm.
Aristotle (BC) Great Greek philosopher, naturalist, founder of natural science, encyclopedist. Disciple of Plato. From 343 BC e. teacher of Alexander the Great.
Aristotle In 335/4 BC. e. founded the Lyceum (Lyceum, or peripatetic school). Founder of formal logic. He created a conceptual apparatus that still permeates the philosophical lexicon and the very style of scientific thinking. Aristotle was the first scientist to create a comprehensive system of philosophy that covered all spheres of human development: sociology, philosophy, politics, logic, and physics. His views on ontology had a serious influence on the subsequent development of human thought. The metaphysical doctrine of Aristotle was accepted by Thomas Aquinas and developed by the scholastic method. Aristotle developed all branches of knowledge of that time, put forward the importance of observation and experience, and was a supporter of moderate democracy. The works that have reached us are divided into several groups according to their content: logical, physical, biological treatises, works on “first philosophy”, ethical, socio-political and historical works, works on art, poetry and rhetoric.
Theory of knowledge and logic Aristotle's knowledge has being as its subject. The basis of experience is sensations, memory and habit. Any knowledge begins with sensations: it is that which is capable of taking the form of sensory objects without their matter; the mind sees the general in the individual. However, it is impossible to acquire scientific knowledge with the help of sensations and perceptions alone, because all things are changeable and transitory. The forms of truly scientific knowledge are concepts that comprehend the essence of a thing. Having analyzed the theory of knowledge in detail and deeply, Aristotle created a work on logic that retains its enduring significance to this day. Here he developed a theory of thinking and its forms, concepts, judgments and inferences. Aristotle is also the founder of logic. The task of the concept is to ascend from simple sensory perception to the heights of abstraction. Scientific knowledge is the most reliable, logically provable and necessary knowledge.
Theory of knowledge and logic In the doctrine of knowledge and its types, Aristotle distinguished between “dialectical” and “apodictic” knowledge. The area of the first is “opinion”, obtained from experience, the second is reliable knowledge. Although an opinion can receive a very high degree of probability in its content, experience is not, according to Aristotle, the final authority for the reliability of knowledge, for the highest principles of knowledge are contemplated directly by the mind. The starting point of knowledge is the sensations obtained as a result of the influence of the external world on the senses; without sensations there is no knowledge. Defending this epistemological basic position, “Aristotle comes close to materialism.” Aristotle correctly considered sensations to be reliable, reliable evidence about things, but added with a reservation that sensations themselves determine only the first and lowest level of knowledge, and a person rises to the highest level thanks to the generalization in thinking of social practice.
Theory of knowledge and logic Aristotle saw the goal of science in a complete definition of the subject, achieved only by combining deduction and induction: 1) knowledge about each individual property must be acquired from experience; 2) the conviction that this property is essential must be proven by a conclusion of a special logical form with a categorical syllogism. The study of categorical syllogism carried out by Aristotle in the Analytics became, along with the doctrine of proof, a central part of his logical teaching. The basic principle of a syllogism expresses the connection between genus, species and individual thing. These three terms were understood by Aristotle as reflecting the relationship between the effect, the cause and the bearer of the cause. The system of scientific knowledge cannot be reduced to a single system of concepts, because there is no such concept that could be a predicate of all other concepts: therefore, for Aristotle it turned out to be necessary to indicate all the higher genera, namely the categories to which the remaining genera of existence are reduced.
Theory of knowledge and logic Reflecting on categories and operating with them in the analysis of philosophical problems, Aristotle considered the operations of the mind and its logic, including the logic of statements. Aristotle also developed problems of dialogue, which deepened the ideas of Socrates. He formulated logical laws: the law of identity, the concept must be used in the same meaning in the course of reasoning; the law of contradiction “do not contradict yourself”; Law of the excluded middle “A or not-A is true, there is no third given.” Aristotle developed the doctrine of syllogisms, which considers all kinds of inferences in the process of reasoning.
Philosophy of Aristotle.
Aristotle (384-322 BC) is the greatest ancient Greek philosopher who created his original teaching, which formed the era of philosophy. Came from the city of Stagira. His father Nicomachus was a doctor at the court of the Macedonian king. To be a doctor meant to occupy a great social position in Ancient Greece, and Nicomachus was known throughout Macedonia.
At the age of 17, Aristotle left for Athens, entered the Platonic Academy, and became a student of Plato. He spent 20 years at the academy (after graduating, he taught there). Plato's death forced him to leave Athens. And Aristotle settled in Asia Minor. Lives for some time on the island. Lesbos. Accepts the invitation of the Macedonian king and moves to Pella (the capital of Macedonia), where he teaches philosophical political science to young Alexander, the future great commander, for three years. Returning to Athens in 335 BC, he founded the Lyceum school, which was named after the nearby temple of Apollo Lyceum. The school became known as "perepathetic" and its students as "perepathetics" ("walking philosophers"), because In the alleys of parks during walks, Aristotle usually explained his philosophical views to his listeners. Aristotle taught at the Lyceum for 12 years. After the death of Alexander (mid-323 BC) and the anti-Macedonian uprising in Athens, Aristotle, who had a Macedonian orientation politically, was accused of “atheism” and was forced to leave for Chalkis on the island. Euboea, where he had an estate. Here he continued to develop philosophical problems.
Aristotle is a systematizer of all branches of scientific knowledge available in that era and the founder of a number of sciences (logic, psychology, biology, history of science, history of philosophy, aesthetics, political economy, government studies, etc.)
Aristotle's philosophy embraced the entire sum of non-religious knowledge, scientific knowledge in general (as well as art, politics) as opposed to faith. He divided it into theoretical (speculative), practical, related to human communication, and visual. In turn, each of them also consisted of parts:
The presented classification of sciences (it was the first in the history of ancient Greek culture) constituted philosophy in the broad sense of the word. In its own meaning, philosophy was “first philosophy.” Logic was included in it. “First philosophy” was the basis for practical and visual sciences; she performed a guiding function towards them.
According to Aristotle, the general goal, including philosophy, is to establish truths, objective meanings about existence and things of nature; no subjective goals, no matter how significant, should distort the “truth of things.” The logic of thinking should reproduce the logic of nature, and not vice versa.
An important place in Aristotle's worldview was given to ideas about form and matter. It seems that matter and form are a common and understandable opposition, and it seems that there is not even anything to talk about here. For example, the matter of this table is wood. And the shape of this table is the form that wooden materials took, processed for a specific purpose. It seems that everything here is very simple and clear. Nevertheless, this problem was one of Aristotle's deepest philosophical problems. Touching on this problem, the philosopher also comes to the conclusion that:
Everything that exists on Earth has potency (matter itself) and form;
A change in at least one of these qualities (either matter or form) leads to a change in the essence of the object itself;
Reality is a sequence of transition from matter to form and from form to matter;
Potency (material) is a passive principle, form is an active principle;
The highest form of all existence is God, who has existence
out of the world.
Aristotle also touched upon the problem of the soul. The carrier of consciousness is soul.
The philosopher highlights three levels of the soul:
Vegetable soul;
Animal soul;
Intelligent soul.
Being the bearer of consciousness, the soul also controls the functions of the body.
Vegetable soul responsible for the functions of nutrition, growth and reproduction. The same functions (nutrition, growth, reproduction) are also in charge of animal soul, however, thanks to it, the body is supplemented with the functions of sensation and desire. But only rational (human) soul, covering all of the above functions, it is also in charge of the functions of reasoning and thinking. This is what sets a person apart from the entire world around him.
Aristotle takes a materialistic approach to the problem of man. He believes that the Human:
According to its biological essence, it is one of the types of highly organized animals;
Differs from animals in the presence of thinking and reason;
Has an innate tendency to live with others like themselves (that is, to live in a group).
During his years at the Lyceum, Aristotle paid a lot of attention, along with philosophical problems proper, to issues of government. Under his leadership, many collective works were carried out, including a description of 158 government structures. All forms of government, he believed, are divided by the number of rulers (based on property) and by the purpose (moral significance) of government. In accordance with the first sign, there is a monarchy, aristocracy and polity (republic) - these are the “correct forms of government” - and tyranny, oligarchy and democracy are “incorrect”.
In contrast to Plato’s “ideal state,” Aristotle’s project substantiates the position of the advantage of private property. At the same time, excessive wealth corrupts and disintegrates states. Moderate wealth is needed. In the political structure, Aristotle distinguished 3 parts: legislative, administrative and judicial. There should be no discord between them.
Aristotle's legacy is so vast and multifaceted that it is difficult to characterize all of its sections. But you need to know the main thing - the main directions of his thought determined the development of European philosophical thought. And with his death, philosophy began to decline and came to him.
Aristotle's philosophy is not only a definite generalization, but also a logical processing and completion of all previous Greek philosophy. He wrote more than 150 scientific papers and treatises. He described 158 different Greek and non-Greek legislations. The entire fifth book of his main treatise “Metaphysics” is specifically devoted to philosophical terminology, and each term has 5-6 meanings.
Aristotle was a strong man. And when it turned out that there was nothing to do
there is nowhere to go, and they can deal with him like before with Socrates
he can be assumed to have taken poison. This is how life ended
Aristotle. And yet his quest, his whole life testify to
the unprecedented courage of a great man, for whom even death itself
became an act of wisdom and imperturbable calm.
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