Aristotle was one of the most influential thinkers in western culture, and a
Greek philosopher, teacher, and scientist. He was probably the most scholarly
and learned of the ancient Greek Philosophers. Aristotle mastered the entire
development of Greek though before him and employed this knowledge in his
writings. He criticized, summarized, and furthered the development of the Greek
philosophies. Aristotle, along with his teacher Plato, are the two most
important Greek Philosophers. Aristotle was born in Satagira, a small town in
Greece. Aristotle’s father worked as a personal physician for the grandfather
of Alexander The Great. Both of Aristotle’s parents died when he was a boy, he
was then raised by a guardian. When Aristotle was about eighteen years old, he
entered Plato’s school in Athens known as the Academy. He trained there for
twenty years. Plato dubbed Aristotle as the brightest student in the Academy and
called him the “reader”. When Plato died in 347 B.C., Aristotle left the
Academy to join a group of Plato’s followers. While there, Aristotle married a
young woman named Pithias. Around 342 B.C., PhilipII, invited Aristotle to
supervise the education of his young son Alexander. Alexander later conquered
all of Greece, ran one of the most powerful empires, and became known as
Alexander The Great. Aristotle was Alexander’s sole teacher until the youth
succeeded his father’s throne in 336 B.C. In 334 B.C., Aristotle founded his
own school in Athens called the Lyceum. In 323 B.C., Aristotle was accused of
lack of reverence towards the gods by the Athenians. To avoid the death
sentence, he fled to the city of Chalcis where he died a year later. After his
death, Aristotle’s philosophy was continued to be taught at the Lycuem by his
successors. Aristotle’s philosophy spread to Rome in 155 B.C. giving Romans
their first contact with Greek philosophy. Aristotle’s philosophy was then
lost until its rebirth in the 1100’s, where it was introduced to the Christian
culture of western Europe. Aristotle philosophy was basically the opposite of
his teacher Plato’s. Aristotle believed that the artist is a creator, that the
artist improves on an original design. Aristotle also believes that Imitation is
necessary. Aristotle used Homeopathic Psychology which is to expose the good to
the bad to purge the bad. Aristotle did not abandon his mentor’s ideas he only
improved on them. Aristotle’s philosophy influenced a countless number of
people since its birth. He was responsible for the tutelage of Alexander The
Great, he Influenced much of Europe in its early stages, and he even affected
the beginnings of the modern Christian culture. Aristotle was definitely one of
the most influential Greek Philosophers of all time.