Aristotle and His Philosophical Journey

The well known Greek philosopher Aristotle is famous for his contribution of both symbolic logic and scientific thinking to Western philosophy. He had a huge role in making advances in the branch of philosophy known as metaphysics, moving away from the idealism of his mentor Plato to a more experiential and less mystical view of the nature of reality.

Aristotle was the one who seriously advanced the theory of Virtue Ethics. Till now, this theory has had been one of the three major schools of ethical thought taken most seriously by contemporary philosophers. With all these contributions, he may have been the single most important philosopher in history until at least the late 18th century.

Aristotle took pursued his education at Plato’s school and remained there until Plato’s death. After completing his studies, Aristotle served as a tutor to Alexander the Great. Unfortunately, like his mentor Plato, most of Aristotle’s work was lost at first. Unlike Plato, Aristotle’s works were never recovered. However, during the medieval period, his work was initially ignored by contemporary philosophers because of their primary concern with theological questions.

He got reorganization when St. Thomas Aquinas synthesized Aristotle’s views with his own Catholic theology. He also reintroduced Aristotelian philosophy to the world and established the foundation for the scientific advances of the Enlightenment.

 By: Priyanka Negi

Content: Hindustan Times