Aristotle

Plato's Academy

He came to Athens at 17 and stayed until Plato's death.

💡 Did you know? Despite 20 years with Plato, Aristotle disagreed with his teacher on key points: above all he rejected Plato's theory of Forms.

Alexander the Great

King Philip II of Macedon brought him to his court for the task.

💡 Did you know? The world conqueror reputedly sent his old teacher plant and animal samples from across Asia for his research.

the Lyceum

Its members were called 'Peripatetics': supposedly because they discussed while walking the colonnades.

💡 Did you know? Because Aristotle walked about while teaching, his pupils were called „Peripatetics“: the „walkers-about“.

logic

The syllogism: from two premises a conclusion follows necessarily: 'All men are mortal, Socrates is a man…'

💡 Did you know? Aristotle's logic remained essentially unchanged for over 2,000 years: Kant said it had „not advanced a single step“ since him.

Nicomachean Ethics

His son (or father) was called Nicomachus; the key concept is eudaimonia: the flourishing life.

💡 Did you know? The work is named after his son Nicomachus: probably because he edited it.

in the mean

Courage lies between cowardice and recklessness, generosity between miserliness and extravagance.

💡 Did you know? For Aristotle, courage lies between cowardice and recklessness: virtue as the „golden mean“.

political animal

Man realises his nature only within the community of the polis.

💡 Did you know? „Man is by nature a political animal“: whoever lives without community is „either a beast or a god“.

eudaimonia

Not a feeling, but an active life lived according to reason.

💡 Did you know? „Eudaimonia“ means not fleeting pleasure but a successful, meaningful life as a whole.

the scientific disciplines

His 'Poetics' shapes drama theory to this day; his biology rested on his own dissections.

💡 Did you know? About a quarter of his surviving work deals with zoology.

Plato is dear, but truth is dearer

Proverbial in Latin: 'Amicus Plato, sed magis amica veritas.'

💡 Did you know? The saying stands for the principle that scientific truth should outweigh loyalty to one's teacher.

a charge of impiety

Athens should 'not sin twice against philosophy', he reportedly said, alluding to Socrates.

💡 Did you know? He died a year later on the island of Euboea.

the Philosopher

Thomas Aquinas and Scholasticism built their systems on him: his word counted almost as the final authority.

💡 Did you know? Such was his authority that medieval scholars simply called him „the Philosopher“: one name sufficed.

Aristotle

Aristotle was a Greek polymath, Plato's pupil and Alexander the Great's tutor: he founded logic and shaped nearly every science.

💡 Did you know? His work spanned physics, biology and poetics: nearly all the knowledge of his age.