Life

Aristotle was born in Stagira 384 B.C. to Nicomachus, physician to the Macedonian king Amyntas. Though Nicomachus  died when Aristotle was a child, his occupation as court physician influenced the court's involvement in Aristotle's life. Little is known about Aristotle’s mother Phaestis but it is believed she also died when Aristotle was at a young age.

After the death of Aristotle's father, his brother in law Proxenus of Atarneu  became his legal guardian. At the age of 17 he was sent to Athens to pursue a higher education. Athens at the time was considered the Academic center of the world. In Athens Aristotle enrolled in Plato’s academy, and proved to be one of Plato’s greatest disciples. Aristotle disagreed with some of Plato’s philosophical treatises which caused Aristotle to not inherit the position of director of the academy after Plato's death. 

After Plato’s death Aristotle’s friends Hermias, king of Atarneus and Assos in Mysia, invited Aristotle to his court where he met his first wife Pythias, Hermias’ niece. Together, the couple had a daughter and named her after her mother.

Teaching

In 338 B.C., Aristotle went home to Macedonia to start tutoring King Phillip II’s son, a 13-year-old Alexander the Great. Aristotle Returned to Athens after Alexander had succeeded his father as king and conquered Athens. Plato’s Academy, now run by Xenocrates, was still the leading influence on Greek thought. With Alexander’s permission, Aristotle started his own school in Athens, called the Lyceum.

Lyceum members researched subjects ranging from science and math to philosophy and politics, and nearly everything in between. Members of the Lyceum wrote up their findings in manuscripts. In so doing, they built the school’s massive collection of written materials, which is credited as one of the first great libraries.

Science

Science was among the subjects that Aristotle researched at length during his time at the Lyceum. Aristotle believed that knowledge could be obtained through interacting with physical objects. Aristotle concluded objects were made out of a potential when circumstances were manipulated, would determine the object’s outcome. The objects outcome is subject to human interpretation and personal associations.

Aristotle also researched Geology, Marine Biology, and Meteorology during his time at the Lyceum. 

He attempted to classify animals into genera based on similar characteristics, and the observations.

 Although Aristotle studied Meteorology, meteorology is not the study of the weather as we know it. The meteorology Aristotle studied is “all the affectations we may call common to air and water, and the kinds and parts of the earth and the affectations of its parts.” During his studies Aristotle identified the water cycle.

Philosophy

Aristotle’s philosophy was focused on a systematic concept of logic. Aristotle’s objective was to come up with a universal process of reasoning that would allow man to learn every conceivable thing about reality.

The initial process involved describing objects based on their characteristics, states of being, and actions. Aristotle wrote "man might next obtain information about objects through deduction and inference." A deduction being a reasonable argument in which “when certain things are laid down, something else follows out of necessity in virtue of their being so.” 

His theory of deduction is the basis of what philosophers now call a syllogism, “a logical argument where the conclusion is inferred from two or more other premises of a certain form.” Angie Lewis

Major Writings

Aristotle wrote over 200 works, most are notes and drafts  consisting of dialogues, and records of scientific observations.

His works were preserved by Neleus who stored them in a vault to protect them from moisture until they were taken to Rome and used by scholars. Neleus received Aristotle works from his teacher, and Aristotle’s student, Theophrastus.

Of approximately 200 works by Aristotle only 31 are still in circulation. 

Death & Legacy

In 322 B.C., just a year after Aristotle’s fled to Chalcis to escape prosecution under charges of impiety, Aristotle contracted an illness and died.

In the century following his death, his works fell out of use, but were revived during the first century. They came to lay the foundation of more than seven centuries of philosophy.

Aristotle’s work influenced scholars all the way through the Renaissance.

Aristotle’s influence on Western thought in the humanities and social sciences is largely considered unparalleled, with the exception of his teacher Plato, and Plato’s teacher Socrates.