Aristotle Research Paper

“Some men are just firmly convinced of what they think as others are of what they know” (Esar). This quote came from a Greek philosopher who went by the name of Aristotle. Broadly considered one of the greatest minds in the history of philosophy, Aristotle is an influential Greek thinker. He set the base for any theoretical approach to biology and literature. Aristotle was and is an influence on science and philosophy in his time period and ours. Born in Stagira, Greece in 384BC, Aristotle always had an interest in the development of living things. Very little is known about Aristotle during his time in Stagira. At the age of 18, he traveled to Athens to study at Plato’s Academy (“Aristotle 1”).

Everyone knew that Aristotle was Plato’s favorite

He was mostly focused on the idea that everything had a soul and some type of consciousness. He lectured on logic, physics, astronomy, meteorology, biology, zoology, metaphysics, ethics, politics, rhetoric, and poetics (Cotterell 35). He was curious and always looking for answers. There was a conundrum going around the scientific world, “For something to come to be, it must come either from what it is or from what it’s not. But it cannot come from what it is, for what already exists cannot come to be nor can it come from what it is not, because there would be nothing for it to come from” (Blanchard). Aristotle’s answer to the riddle included this example: “ A kettle comes to be from & remains what it is, iron; but at the same time it comes from what it is not, not yet a kettle” (Blanchard). After traveling for a few years, Aristotle was requested by King Philip himself to teach his son Alexander, better known in history as Alexander the Great, in Greek literature. Alexander the Great died in 335 BC and Aristotle then returned to Athens to open a school (“Aristotle

Aristotle lectured to his students and to the public. He conducted research in a number of subjects, including science and poetry (“Aristotle 1”). When Alexander died in 323 B.C., Athens fought against Macedonian rule, and Aristotle's life and credibility was in danger. So to avoid being put to death, Aristotle went to the island of Euboea where he soon died in 322BC (“Aristotle 2”). It is believed that Aristotle had written over 150 philosophical treaties on his knowledge and discoveries. Of those, only 30 survive today (“Aristotle 2”). During the Dark Ages, Aristotle’s writings were found, preserved, and studied by Arabs (‘Aristotle 1”). They were then rediscovered during the Middle Ages and were immediately adopted by most medieval scholars (“Aristotle 2”). His writings when unchallenged until the Early Modern Science era when some mistakes were found when it came to his experiments. Anything proven wrong we due to his lack of funds and technology to fully test his theories. His basic theories and hypotheses were all accurate and supported