Aristotle was a Greek philosopher who lived from 384 BC to 322 BC. He was a student of Plato and a teacher of Alexander the Great. Aristotle is often referred to as the “father of science” because his influence on science and philosophy is so great.
In fact, Aristotle did not start out studying philosophy. He was raised in a wealthy family and was sent to Athens at the age of 17 to study rhetoric (the art of writing and speaking) with Plato. After living with Plato for 20 years, Aristotle returned to Athens, where he opened his own school called the Lyceum.
In 323 BC, Alexander the Great conquered Athens, where Aristotle had been living for almost 30 years. At that time, Aristotle decided that it would be best to leave Greece and travel with Alexander while he conquered more lands in Asia Minor (Turkey). During this time, Aristotle wrote many books including Politics, Nicomachean Ethics, Physics, Mathematics and Metaphysics.
After Alexander died in battle in 323 BC at age 33, Aristotle went back home to Athens where he taught until his death at age 62 or 63 (322 BC).
Aristotle’s ideas had a huge impact on later thinkers, but they weren’t all accepted by everyone at the time. In fact, Aristotle was sometimes criticized for being too rational and not paying enough attention to things like emotions. Even so, Aristotle’s work was very influential on people like Plato and Alexander the Great.
In addition, Aristotle studied many different subjects including politics, ethics, science, mathematics and biology (which is why he’s often called “The Father of Zoology”). However, his most famous works were about logic — how we think about things — and metaphysics — how we think about reality.
