Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and scientist whose writings on logic, biology, ethics, and politics laid foundational groundwork for Western intellectual thought for over two thousand years.
Before he became one of history's most influential philosophers in his own right, Aristotle spent years tutoring a teenage Alexander the Great, years before Alexander set out to conquer most of the known world.
Nearly Two Decades at the Academy
Aristotle studied under Plato at the Academy in Athens for nearly 20 years, absorbing his teacher's philosophical framework before eventually developing his own distinct and, in many respects, contrasting approach to knowledge and the natural world.
Tutor to a Future Conqueror
Aristotle was hired to tutor the young Alexander the Great, son of King Philip II of Macedon, providing the future conqueror with a broad education in philosophy, science, and literature before Alexander's world-changing military campaigns began.
Founding the Lyceum
Aristotle later founded his own school in Athens, the Lyceum, where he lectured on an extraordinarily wide range of subjects, from logic and metaphysics to biology, physics, and poetry, often while walking with his students through the school's covered walkways.
A Pioneer of Natural Science
Aristotle's systematic approach to studying the natural world, including detailed classification of hundreds of plant and animal species, represented some of the earliest examples of organized biological science, and his methods influenced scientific thought well into the medieval period.
Preserved Across Civilizations
Aristotle's works were carefully preserved and expanded upon by Islamic scholars during the medieval period, later reintroducing his ideas to Christian Europe, where his philosophy became deeply integrated into medieval scholastic thought and university education.
