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Chapter One
Aristotle's Life
GEORGIOS ANAGNOSTOPOULOS
To many, Aristotle is the last great figure in the distinguished philosophical tradition
of Greece that is thought to begin with Thales (ca. 600 BCE). Of course, Greek philosophy
did not end with Aristotle; it continued for several centuries in the various schools - those
of the Epicureans, Skeptics, and Stoics as well as Plato's Academy and Aristotle's
own Peripatetic School - that flourished in Athens and elsewhere up to the early centuries
of the Byzantine Empire. Yet there is considerable truth in the opinion of the
many, if viewed as a claim about great individual figures in the Greek philosophical
tradition. For Aristotle was the last great individual philosopher of ancient times, one
of the three thinkers - the others being Socrates (470-399 BCE) and Plato (427-347
BCE) - that comprise what many consider to be the greatest philosophical trio of all time.
Their philosophical careers span more than a hundred years, and all three were major
figures in the lively philosophical scene of fifth- and fourth-century A ... read full excerpt from A Companion to Aristotle ebook
