Aristotle
(384 - 322 BC) Greece

Athenian philosopher
Born at Stagira, in Thrace, he studied at Athens under Plato, became tutor to Alexander the Great, and in 335 opened a school in the Lyceum (grove sacred to Apollo) at Athens. He walked up and down as he talked, hence "peripatetic school", and his works are a collection of lecture notes. When Alexander died he was forced to flee to Chalcis, where he died. He is sometimes referred to as "the Stagirite".
Of Aristotle's works some 22 treatises survive, dealing with logic; metaphysics; physics, astronomy and meteorology; biology; psychology; ethics; politics; and literary criticism.
In the Middle Ages Aristotle's philosophy first became the foundation of Islamic philosophy, and was then incorporated into Christian theology; medieval scholars tended to accept his vast output whithout question.
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