Aristotle was born in 384 BCE in Stagira, a small Greek town in what is now northern Greece, which is why he is sometimes called “Aristotle of Stagira.”

His father, Nicomachus, was a court physician to the Macedonian king, which gave Aristotle early exposure to biology and anatomy.

Aristotle joined Plato’s Academy in Athens at about age 17 and stayed there for nearly 20 years as a student and later as a teacher.

Despite studying under Plato, Aristotle disagreed with many of his teacher’s ideas, famously saying, “Plato is dear to me, but dearer still is truth.”

Aristotle later became the tutor of Alexander the Great, educating him in philosophy, ethics, politics, and science.

Alexander the Great’s conquests reportedly helped Aristotle by sending him exotic plants and animals to study from across the known world.

Aristotle founded his own school in Athens called the Lyceum, where students learned while walking, earning them the nickname “Peripatetics.”

Unlike Plato, Aristotle believed knowledge came largely from observation and experience rather than purely abstract reasoning.

Aristotle wrote on an astonishing range of topics, including logic, biology, physics, politics, poetry, ethics, and metaphysics.

He is considered the father of formal logic and developed the system of syllogisms still taught in philosophy today.

Aristotle classified living things by shared characteristics, making him one of the earliest biologists in history.

He personally dissected animals and documented their anatomy, an unusual and sometimes controversial practice in ancient Greece.

Aristotle believed the heart, not the brain, was the center of thought and emotion, a mistake that persisted for centuries.

He identified more than 500 species of animals based on direct observation, a massive scientific achievement for his time.

His work Nicomachean Ethics is named after his son Nicomachus and remains a foundational text in moral philosophy.

Aristotle believed happiness, or eudaimonia, came from living a life of virtue rather than pursuing pleasure or wealth.

He introduced the idea of the Golden Mean, which argues that virtue lies between extremes, such as courage existing between cowardice and recklessness.

Aristotle wrote one of the earliest surviving works on literary criticism, Poetics, where he analyzed tragedy and storytelling.

In Poetics, he introduced the concept of catharsis, the emotional release audiences feel through drama.

Aristotle believed the universe was eternal and had no beginning, an idea later challenged by religious thinkers.

He argued that everything is made of four causes: material, formal, efficient, and final cause.

Aristotle believed the Earth was spherical, citing lunar eclipses and changes in star positions as evidence.

He thought heavier objects fell faster than lighter ones, an idea later disproved by Galileo.

Aristotle’s writings were preserved and expanded upon by Islamic scholars during the Middle Ages.

Medieval European universities treated Aristotle’s works as near absolute authority for centuries.

Thomas Aquinas later integrated Aristotle’s philosophy with Christian theology, shaping Western thought.

Aristotle wrote extensively about politics and believed humans are “political animals” by nature. He argued that a good government exists for the benefit of its people, not just its rulers. He categorized governments into six types, dividing them into good and corrupt forms. He also believed education was essential for creating virtuous citizens and a stable society.

Aristotle thought leisure was necessary for intellectual growth and not a form of laziness.

Many of Aristotle’s works are believed to be lecture notes rather than polished books.

After Alexander the Great’s death, Aristotle fled Athens to avoid execution for impiety. He reportedly said he would not let Athens “sin twice against philosophy,” referencing Socrates’ execution.