Why exactly is Aristotle famous? Sure I get he was a scientist and he had many arguments but I can’t find anything that clearly anwsers the question.
What was happening in history when Aristotle became famous?
Was anything named after him ?
Thanks
Well, he did tutor Alexander the Great…
But basically, he’s famous because, among other things, he was one of the first people to develop a school of philosophical realism and syllogistic logic, and also because Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all would go on to adopt his ideas and philosophical methods.
He’s one of the great philosophers. His fame does not rest on his contributions to science, even though he did collect a lot of facts about biology which seem to have been vindicated mostly (however, he allegedly made a mistake in stating the number of teeth of women).
In the Middle Ages Aristotle was considered the philosopher. Thomas of Aquinas built his own philosophical theory for a large part on Aristotelian teachings. Aquinas’ philosophy later became the official philosophy of the Catholic Church.
16th-17th century philosophers mostly tried to distance themselves from Aristotle. Modern-day philosophers again actively study Aristotle.
Hence Aristotle is important
- for historical reasons (his influence on others),
- for the intrinsic of interest in his philosophical works.