Aristotle facts in this article will help you to know about the ancient Greek philosopher. His name will remain immortal through time.
Just like Socrates, Aristotle was one of the most famous philosophers the world has ever known.
In this article on Aristotle facts, we will take a look into his life. Much of the groundwork for western philosophy was done by Socrates, Aristotle, and Plato.
Interesting Aristotle Facts: 1-5
1. Aristotle was born somewhere around 384 BCE. His birthplace was Stagira, Chalcide in Macedonia, which is now known as northern Greece.
2. His father was Nicomachus. His mother was Phaestis. Nicomachus was a court physician for Amyntas II – the Macedonian King.
3. Nicomachus died when Aristotle was a young boy. Not much is known about Phaestis. It is believed that even Phaestis died when Aristotle was young.
4. After the death of Nicomachus, Proxenus – the husband of Aristotle’s sister Arimneste, became the guardian of young Aristotle.
5. When Aristotle attained the age of 17, Proxenus sent Aristotle to Athens so that Aristotle can pursue higher education.
Interesting Aristotle Facts: 6-10
6. After reaching Athens, Aristotle enrolled in the Academy of Plato or Plato’s Academy. Soon Aristotle was recognized as an extraordinary scholar.
7. Aristotle had a close relationship with Plato and was one of his favorite pupils. It was believed that after Plato, Aristotle would become the director of the Academy.
8. After Plato’s death in 347 BCE, Aristotle didn’t inherit the position of director because Aristotle could not agree with some philosophical treatises of Plato.
9. Aristotle was invited to the court of Hermias – a friend of Aristotle and King of Mysia’s Atarneus and Assos.
10. Aristotle stayed in the court of Hermias for a period of 3 years. During that period, he married Hermias’ niece Pythias.
Aristotle fathered a daughter with Pythias. The name of the daughter was also Pythias.
Interesting Aristotle Facts: 11-15
11. In 338 BCE, Aristotle returned home to Macedonia. There he started tutoring the son of King Phillip II. That boy who was only 13 years old then would grow up to become a man who the world knows as Alexander the Great.
12. In 335 BCE Alexander became king and conquered Athens. That is when Aristotle returned to Athens.
At that point, Plato’s Academy was still running and was still one of the premier institutions of Athens.
13. Aristotle asked for permission from Alexander and opened his own school known as Lyceum.
14. That time forward, Aristotle spent most of his time in Lyceum. He taught students and he himself did much research work and wrote down everything.
15. His pupils were forced to walk around behind him as he had this habit of walking around the Lyceum campus while teaching.
That is why the pupils were known as Peripatetics which in English translates to ‘people who travel about’.
Interesting Aristotle Facts: 16-20
16. Students of Lyceum were engaged in research on a wide range of topics covering math, science, arts, philosophy, and more.
They used to write all they found in manuscripts and in the process, the school became one of the first great libraries of the ancient world.
17. Pythias, wife of Aristotle, died the same year that Lyceum was opened. Soon after her death, Aristotle got engaged in a romantic relationship with a woman named Herpyllis. Herpyllis was from Stagira – the hometown of Aristotle.
18. Historians believe that Herpyllis was a slave given to Aristotle by the court of Macedonia. However later, Aristotle freed Herpyllis and eventually married her.
19. Herpyllis and Aristotle together had children. Their son Nicomachus (named after Aristotle’s father) died in a battle when he was still young.
20. It is believed that to honor his son, Aristotle named his most famous philosophical work Nicomachus Ethics.
Interesting Aristotle Facts: 21-25
21. In 323 BCE Alexander the Great died suddenly, and the government that was pro-Macedonian was overthrown.
There was anti-Macedonia sentiment all around Athens and Aristotle was afraid that he would be prosecuted.
So, he ran off to Chalcis on Euboea island. He stayed there until he died.
22. Aristotle held the belief that the universe was eternal. He said that there was no beginning to this universe and there was no end as well.
23. He said that things can change over time. However, the overall conditions will never change.
24. He was very interested in zoology and carefully studied animals.
He classified the animals into two groups – red-blooded animals and not-red-blooded animals.
In today’s context, it corresponds to vertebrates and invertebrates.
25. Aristotle was also fascinated by marine biology. He even dissected marine animals and studied the anatomical features of those animals.
The observations he made about marine life were significantly accurate.
Interesting Aristotle Facts: 26-30
26. Aristotle was even interested in earth sciences. His treatise called ‘Meteorology’ gives us insights into his knowledge.
In Meteorology we find that he identified water cycles and even discussed astrological events and natural disasters.
27. The primary objective of Aristotle’s philosophy was to get hold of a universal reasoning process.
He observed things based on their characteristics, their actions, and the state in which they are.
28. He gave birth to deduction and inference drawing. According to him, certain things when done, lead to something else because of necessity.
This deduction process was later termed syllogism.
29. After the collapse of ancient Greek civilization, Muslim writers preserved some of Aristotle’s work.
30. Aristotle, whose philosophy greatly influenced the Christian and Islamic religions, eventually died in 322 BCE.