The+Great+Aristotle

The Great Aristotle //By: Ariana//  Who was Aristotle? He was one of the greatest men of his time. His discoveries have influenced ancient science and philosophy all throughout history; as well as what we learn about motion to this day. Aristotle was a man, a writer, a scientist, a philosopher and the father of zoology.

Aristotle was a great philosopher and scientist. He was born in Stagira, Greece in 384 B.C.E. and died in Chalis, Greece, 322 B.C.E. His father was a man named Nicomauchus who was a physician. There are many people who think that Aristotle’s interest for philosophy and science were sparked due to is father having this occupation. When Aristotle was of the age seventeen he joined Plato’s circle. This circle was part of the Academy, a school made for aspiring and already made philosophers. It was over the course of twenty years that Plato and Aristotle grew to be friends, but in the end their differences caused a break in their relationship. Later in his life, Aristotle got married to a woman named Pythias, the niece of Hermias. Around 343 B.C.E., after the death of his wife, he went and got a job as a tutor for King Phillip’s son, Alexander. Wow, this kid has moved around quite a bit! It is said that during this time, of tutoring the king’s young son, that Aristotle bestowed some political advice. There is no concrete evidence of this man to man exchange except for some hints given in a letter found years later. After leaving his tutoring job, Aristotle opened up his own academy of philosophy. As the years went on and he grew older Aristotle left Athens, where his academy was located, and went to Chalis, Greece. It is in this location that Aristotle passed away due to intestinal problems (Encyclopedia of World Biographies).

Aristotle is known for many things; he is of course one of the most famous scientists and philosophers of his time. The main things that he is recognized for are his writings, and his discoveries in the field of zoology. His writings consisted of many things. Aristotle wrote books, took many notes and occasionally wrote poems too. In his lifetime, the great philosopher produced a large amount of notes and writings. Though, from the large abundance of writings, very few have survived. Even though we may not have knowledge to what had been written in these writings, the titles of them live on. How? This is due to the writings of some of Aristotle’s colleagues that he worked with at the Academy. Eudemus, On Philosophy, Alexander, On Justice and Sophistes are among these lost works. The philosopher did not only write notes and such for himself, but decided to share his work with the public. He did this by devoting a whole bunch of works that were written just for this purpose. The main ideas for all these books dealt with favored philosophical themes. Many scientists, in present time, can say, without doubt, that Plato was the inspiration for many of these ([|Encyclopedia of World Biography]).

The scientist Aristotle was also known as “The Father of Zoology”. He was honorably bestowed this nickname due to all his discoveries in this field. It is said that Aristotle was the man who turned the study of natural history into science. During his research; Aristotle was able to name and describe over 500 species of animals. There were two main categories of which “The Father of Zoology” classified animals he was studying. The categories were titled “bloodless” meaning animals without a backbone, and “blooded”. From those two broad categories the scientist broke them down even more. To explain more, the group “bloodless animals” was divided into four smaller groups. He later realized that just these basic groups would not suffice and would not work. He came to this conclusion because while researching more, he realized that some animals placed in separate groups; would still have things in common with eachother. Aristotle’s studies in the zoology field were very detailed. He would conduct dissections and write in depth observations. Despite the many mistakes in his notes, this man’s knowledge of the animal kingdom was crazy; in a good way. There is without a doubt that Aristotle was a man way ahead of his time (Anderson and Stephenson).

In the time period of which Aristotle lived, there were many undiscovered and unlooked at areas in the field of science. One of these areas was motion. What was motion? How did it work? Aristotle probably pondered over these questions several times before stopping himself and saying, “Well, why don’t I look into this?” This may or may not have been the case. According to historians and researchers this man was the first to think “quantitatively” about different speeds that correlated with a wide range of movements. These movements included people walking, birds flying, animals doing their thing and also the movement of inanimate objects. In order to make sense of and account for the movement of things that were inanimate, such as someone dropping a stick from their hands, he widened the idea of nature. A concept that he had suggested, said that the reason for this movement is because //the elements tend to seek their natural place in the order of the order of things.// He explained that this would mean earth moves downwards most strongly and water moves downwards also; though not so strongly. Aristotle also says that to contrast this, air moves up (bubbles in the water) and that fire, out of all of them, moves upwards the strongest. The great scientist also elaborated on natural motion and violent motion. Aristotle used the word “violent” as his label for the opposing “natural” motion because it is when an external force is applied to the object, causing the motion. From this idea of “violent” motion Aristotle had wrote, “That the speed of the moving object was in direct proportion to the applied force. Many conclude that Aristotle’s work on motion was not as interesting as his study of animals (Fowler).  To be a philosopher back in ancient Greece was, in some ways, similar to being a protestant during Mary Tudor’s reign. In present time there is not much news about philosophy and its new discoveries. Contrary to this; back in Aristotle’s time there would be large debates and intense arguments when the subject was ever brought up. A common question would be, what is the field of philosophy? The field of philosophy, by definition, is the rational investigation of the truths and principles of being, knowledge, or conduct. To translate that into more understandable terms, the field of philosophy deals with thoughts on the natures of justice and the meaning of life. Even knowing of the risks to being a philosopher in this time, Aristotle followed through with his passion. Being a philosopher at the time meant that you would be put in jeopardy. It is said that back then some were run out of town or even put to death for what their beliefs were. Due to the fact that Athens was the center of philosophy in ancient Greece at the time, leads historians to conclude that this is why Aristotle made the decision to pack his belongings and make way to the city. Building up his academy in the heart of this city would prove to be a good and prosperous idea. Oh Aristotle, you’re such a smart guy (Anderson and Stephenson).

Aristotle was an amazing man. He has created a large impact in the field of science and philosophy. Without his help, who knows, all the information that Aristotle concluded about motion might not have been discovered until later times. This could have caused our current society to not be as advanced as it is now.


 * //Works Cited //**

Anderson, Margaret J., and Karen F. Stephenson. //Aristotle: Philosopher and Scientist//. New Jersey: Enslow, 2004. Print.

"Aristotle Biography - Life, Name, Death, History, School, Young, Son, Information, Born, Time, Year." //Encyclopedia of World Biography//. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. .

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">"Aristotle." //Galileo and Einstein Home Page//. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. <http://galileoandeinstein.physics.virginia.edu/lectures/aristot2.html>.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">"Aristotle [Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]." //Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy//. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. <http://www.iep.utm.edu/aristotl/>.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Wright, Anne. //Philosophy and Writing//. Armonk, NY: Sharpe Focus, 2008. Print.

//<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Yahoo! Directory //<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. <http://dir.yahoo.com/>.