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[[File:Aristotle Altemps Inv8575.jpg|thumbnail|left|250px|Figure 1. Bust of Aristotle.]]
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====Work in Philosophy====Although several well known Greek philosophers had lived and even taught Aristotle, who lived between (384-322 BCE), one can argue it is Aristotle's views on ethics and morality that became highly were the most influential of any scholar to modern philosophy. While many of Aristotle's works have not survived, where he likely authored well over a hundred large works, his surviving works influenced Greek and Roman thought, with this philosophy coming down to our own societies particularly in the West.<ref> For a biography on Aristotle, see: Natali, C., & Hutchinson, D. S. (2013). <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0691096538/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0691096538&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=8a7c0d8d30a584b6d0b30f6a5bc53eb1 Aristotle: his life and school].</i> Princeton: Princeton University Press.</ref> One major area where he contributed was in logic. In fact, his contributions in logic were still the main form utilized in Western philosophy at least until the 19th century AD. Most of what we term as logic deals with word analytics, where word structure and order are analyzed and interpreted in forming a conclusion. Reasoning was something derived from the order and presentation of an argument.
Ethics was also a key area of Aristotle also 's works, where he saw ethics as central to well-being and the centrality key component to a human's life. Concepts of justice, courage, temperance, and importance of politics others are central to humans. He even quipped the famous line that man is developing good virtues and living a political animal by his naturewell-balanced life.<ref> For more on Aristotle's politics and political thinkingethics, see: AristotleMiller, J. (ed. ., & SinclairMiller, T. AJ. (19812015). The politics (Rev<i>[https://www. ed)amazon. Harmondsworth, England New York, Ncom/gp/product/052151388X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=052151388X&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=b2cbf19d6d7f8211e657e93723915e36 The Reception of Aristotle’s Ethics]</i>.YCambridge: Penguin BooksCambridge University Press.</ref> Rationality were key aspects What Aristotle does is make ethics an autonomous field that is divorced from the sciences and focused on developing and living a life of humanity virtue and that had to be central in successful politics according to Aristotlehappiness. He saw the city as Ethics is still a key place where humans can live distinct field today and prosper; in fact, the city was more central than the individualalthough there are many philosophies or views on ethics, as the greater good was seen above the individual. A city was also a place where beauty should be found and art should be made to flourish in such places according to his beliefhas been heavily influenced by Aristotle's works.
====Work in Science====Aristotle had a profound influence on the sciences. This impact includes his ideas of deduction and induction, and he also heavily emphasized the ideas of empirical research or observation. While earlier scientific philosophers were more theoretical and less observation oriented, Aristotle tried to make observations around him, including organizing trips to places, such as Lesbos or dissecting animals to understand how they functioned. For instance, he observed that dolphins were not fish and appeared to be much more similar to land animals.<ref> For more on Aristotle's approaches to science, see: Leroi, A. M. (2014). <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143127985/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0143127985&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=fe18e8482be00532319dae1fd5177826 The Lagoon: How Aristotle Invented Science]</i>. New York, New York: Viking.</ref> He created a classification system for animals that eventually became a predecessor for our concepts of classifying animals into distinct categories or what can be called a type of species. His classifications were based on shared features, which is more similar to our form of classification. He successfully identified more than 600 species of wildlife. <ref> For more on Aristotle's contribution to Biology, see: Lennox, J. G. (2001). <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0521659760/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0521659760&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=bd14bdf0a0ad0cac1b382b30869b4323 Aristotle’s philosophy of biology: studies in the origins of life science]</i>. Cambridge, UK ; New York: Cambridge University Press.</ref> Aristotle also noted how geological features are changing and they are difficult to observe because the timescales are often longer than human life. However, by noting that lakes and land forms landforms are constantly changing, these ideas do influence famous geologists such as Charles Lyle, who ultimately helped develop modern geology.<ref> For more on Aristotle's contribution to Geology, see: Green, J. (2013). <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1448872006/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1448872006&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=90783b115fb4870bdc1c8ad6681f400b Geology: investigating the science of the Earth]</i> (1st ed). New York: Rosen Central, pg. 9.</ref>
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Aristotle also tried sought to created create a theoretical foundation in areas such as sleep, psychology, physics, astronomy, and other fields. Often, his views were wrong, but that often had to do with the fact he lacked means to properly observe events.<ref>For more on areas Aristotle impacted, see: Byrne, P. H. (1997). <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0791433226/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0791433226&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=dba4e50f39931077a6d70d99f0f6e0c9 Analysis and science in Aristotle]</i>. Albany: State University of New York Press.</ref> Nevertheless, because Aristotle's ideas were so influential, because many of his concepts were adopted and held for centuries or even millennia. For instance, his belief that the Earth was the center of the universe was eventually adopted as a core belief by the Catholic church. Thus, his ideas also began to be adopted by later religious authorities.
====Impact on the Modern World====Aristotle's philosophies and ethic ethics have been very influential. Many logicians, in fact, state that Aristotle produced the definitive work on logic and there is no sense of even changing it, although this has now changed. Nevertheless, his ideas of logic and ethics are now central to many philosophies that subsequently formed the foundations of Western ideals.<ref>For more on Aristotle's long-term influences, see: Sgarbi, M. (2016). [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1438459971/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1438459971&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=1a9641dbbf684c7a7585443247cf0c7b Kant and Aristotle: epistemology, logic, and method]. Albany: State University of New York Press.</ref> Modern philosophy developed later by Kant often see sees Aristotle as a core foundation for their own thinking, particularly as it placed such emphasis on ethics and virtue and the tenants that are required to develop these.
Today, in the sciences, relatively few ideas held by Aristotle are actually still utilized in the sciences; however, his key understanding of logic used to create a scientific theory, particularly through induction and deduction, have influenced the sciences the most. His emphasis on empirical research was also new and becomes another key tenant of modern science.
Because Aristotle was so prolific in his lifetime, he also influenced other fields such as poetry and tragedy.<ref> For more on Aristotle's view on poetry and tragedy, see: Sifakis, G. M. (2001). <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/9605241323/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=9605241323&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=5af8594170e184f049be28b4f521d334 Aristotle on the function of tragic poetry]</i>. Herakleion: Crete University Press.</ref> Aristotle wrote about how poems and tragedy should be composed and key components that they should have, including epic poems and tragedies having the great spectacle that Greek literature is so well known for.
Few people have been both famous during their lifetime and influential for millennia as Aristotle has been (Figure 1). Aristotle and his earlier and later colleagues were also influential in establishing what eventually became the concept for universities. For instance, the idea of a school, such as Athens' famous Lyceum, where Aristotle taught, as a place to discuss and teach, while pursuing one's own research and discovery, were later adopted in the early Medieval period to become the foundation in which universities in the West developed.<ref>For more on how the concept of the university developed and Aristotle's lifetime and history, see: Höffe, O. (2003). <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/079145634X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=079145634X&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=4a45113d0bcbbd980217f8c9bae882c2 Aristotle]</i>. Albany: State University of New York Press.</ref> Although Greek society still often meant that participation was often limited to free men, women had begun also to also be involved in science and philosophical thought. Aristotle's wife Pythias worked along with her husband and probably helped him develop some of his philosophical and scientific understanding. She likely accompanied him on his field trips as well where he made important observations related to Biology and Geology.
====Conclusion====Few thinkers directly known to us have so influenced the modern world as Aristotle. While in many ways he was a flawed character who did hold beliefs we may consider racist or ethno-centricethnocentric, he did create the foundations of what would ultimately become modern philosophy and science. Aristotle in his own lifetime was a famous figure who taught not only Alexander but Ptolemy and famous figures within Greek society who went on to impact the world in different ways. While some of his thoughts, such as the idea of four key elements to the universe, are not held by the modern sciences, his understanding that perception and observation are critical to understanding our world became the foundation of modern scientific thinking and understanding.
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Updated January 19, 2018