I have been reading a lot both from and about Aristotle lately.
I have come to the conclusion that Aristotle is important for all of the following reasons:
- Aristotle was an ancient Greek philosopher who made significant contributions to the science of logic and a number of other disciplines.
- His most famous work is called the Nicomachean Ethics, which was a treatise on ethics and human behavior. It is also regarded as the first real work of philosophical psychology.
- Aristotle also wrote about the soul and he was one of the first western philosophers to write about biological processes.
He was one of the most influential thinkers of ancient Greece.
What did Aristotle contribute to society?
Aristotle was a great man, who was born in 384 BCE in Stagira, Macedonia. He is well known for his works on logic and physics, as well as political philosophy.
He grew up to be a great thinker, and his contributions are far reaching. In fact, he is considered the first human philosopher. He used logic as the foundation of philosophical thinking.
He believed that you can only know truth through reason. He taught us to be skeptical of things we see and hear.
He was a wise man, and he had great insight on political matters. In fact, his works are still used today by people who study politics.
Aristotle is one of the greatest men who ever lived. His works cannot be replicated, as he was a man ahead of his time.
I think that Aristotle contributed a lot to society, and he is easily one of the greatest men who ever lived.
Is Aristotle the greatest philosopher of all time?
Aristotle was a great philosopher. However, I have several objections to the claim the he was the greatest of all time.
First of all, I am not convinced that the concept of greatness is in fact coherent. To say one philosopher was greater than another presumes an apples to apples comparison. However, it seems obvious to me that there is no such thing as a person who has ‘all’ traits desirable for philosophical greatness.
Here is a non exhaustive list of such traits:
- Philosophical sophistication
- Intellectual honesty
- Theoretical and practical creativity
However, in my estimation no one has all three.
For instance, I am sure that no one has ever been more sophisticated than Wittgenstein. His Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus is a work of unparalleled philosophical sophistication and profundity.