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[[File:Aristotle Altemps Inv8575.jpg|thumbnail|left|250px|Figure 1. Bust of Aristotle.]]
Aristotle's contributions to science, philosophy, and thought were remarkable for his time. Even though most of the scientific theories were inaccurate, they played a role in developing the sciences both in his world and Europe after they were reintroduced to Europeans by Islamic scholars in the Middle Ages. He is considered the founder of the field of philosophy and to some the first scientist, where his work has continued to influence modern thought and ideas. Aristotle also wrote about many fields and sciences that have influenced these studies to this day. Despite his fame, there is a lot that is not known about him. We know he was also the tutor of another famous figure and contemporary, Alexander the Great, where he taught him many subjects. Here, we examine some of his ideas and thoughts that have impacted our modern societies.
Although several well known Greek philosophers lived and even taught Aristotle (384-322 BCE), Aristotle's views on ethics and morality were the most influential of any scholar to modern philosophy. While many of Aristotle's works have not survived, he likely authored well over a hundred large works, his surviving works influenced Greek and Roman thought, with this philosophy coming down to our 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 The reasoning was something derived from the order and presentation of an argument.
Aristotle's key compiled work, or a work put together by later followers and scholars, is ''Organon'', which compiled Aristotle's works that eventually formed the key parts of Aristotelian logic.<ref> For more on Aristotelian logic, see: Abed, S. (1991). Aristotelian logic and the Arabic language in Alfārābī. Albany, N.Y: State University of New York Press.</ref> Deduction developed in the syllogism is perhaps his most significant contribution, where a premise is deduced into a conclusion. He also discusses induction, that is from a case to understanding larger phenomenon about the universe or world. These two forms of thinking, induction, and deduction, are the foundations of modern scientific thought and form the primary way in how to create many arguments are created in logic discussions.<ref> For more on induction and deduction as seen by Aristotle, see: Spangler, M. M. (1998). <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0761812113/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0761812113&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=ca462c9864d86bbb8ed1f9dd702cd0c3 Aristotle on teaching].</i> Lanham, Md: University Press of America, pg. 7.</ref>
Ethics was also a key area of Aristotle's works, where he saw ethics as central to well-being and the key component to a human's life. Concepts of justice, courage, temperance, and others are central to developing good virtues and living a well-balanced life.<ref> For more on Aristotle's ethics, see: Miller, J. (ed. ., & Miller, J. (2015). <i>[https://www.amazon.com/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>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.</ref> What Aristotle does is make ethics an autonomous field that is divorced from the sciences and focused on developing and living a life of virtue and happiness. Ethics is still a distinct field today and, although there are many philosophies or views on ethics, has been heavily influenced by Aristotle's works.
Aristotle also saw the centrality and importance of politics to humans. He even quipped the famous line that man is a political animal by his nature.<ref> For more on Aristotle's politics and political thinking, see: Aristotle, & Sinclair, T. A. (1981). The politics (Rev. ed). Harmondsworth, England New York, N.Y: Penguin Books.According to Aristotle, </ref> Rationality were was crucial aspects of humanity, and that had to be central in successful politics according to Aristotle. He saw the city as a critical place where humans can live and prosper; in fact, the city was more central than the individual, as the greater good was seen above the individual. A According to his belief, a town was also a place where beauty should be found, and art should be made to flourish in such areas according to his belief.
====Work in Science====
Aristotle had a profound influence on the sciences. This impact includes his ideas of deduction and inductionideas, 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 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>
====Impact on the Modern World====
Aristotle's philosophies and ethics have been very influential. Many logicians 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 ideas 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 sees Aristotle as a core foundation for their 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 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.