A-Z: General definitions: Aristotle

Definition

Together with Plato, he was the leading Greek philosopher, whose works on literature and science have had an enormous influence on Western culture. Aristotle was born in 384 BC, in Macedon, a kingdom in northern Greece. He went to Athens to enrol at Plato’s Academy. There, over the next 20 years, as student and then as teacher, he developed the empiricist view that we can only know what can be seen and tested by observation. This became the basis for the whole system of modern scientific thought.

Related Topics

Impact of classical literature: Aristotle's empiricism 

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