Easily one of the most- if not the most- prolific and influential philosophers in world history. Born the son of a royal physician he moved to Athens to study to study under Plato. His interests in various schools of thought are unparallelled. He wrote copiously on biology, zoology, ethics, economics, virtues, poetry, physics, metaphysics, and politics. His concern with forms of association and naturally created forms sent in motion by a Prime Mover that lend themselves to deducible moral virtues through rational deliberation and skilled understanding leave him as the founder of modern conservative thought. He theorized the essence of each thing has two distinct intrinsic principles: matter and form. Matter was simply the elements that the thing comprised of. The essence of that thing's form was it's higher purpose. A plant seed's purpose was to be plant. The evolution and development of that thing without the deviation of perversions in causality would allow it to develop into it's true essence. Behaviors of man were distinctly categorized by their natural higher purpose with varying extremes on both sides. For example: courage is a moral virture to which mankind should aspire. But perversions of that on both sides eg cowardice and reckless abandon exist. The development of natural forms of human association-most notably the highest form of human development: the state- evolve to allow man to attain the Highest Good as a collective body. The purpose of the state is the Good Life. Man is only fully human through the emergence of the state in which citizens (property owners) aspired to administer statecraft for the common good of all. Individuals alone not survive with out any form of association- only beasts and Gods were capable of doing such. Mankind naturally formed families for basic wants and needs. Formed Villages for communal desires and basic cultural needs. But only through the state could they achieve a higher good. Aristotle however theorizes that a Kingship or Aristocracy would be the perfect for of government if men were living Gods- but they are not. These forms of government erode into tryannies (rule for the private interest). The best form of government he argued would a constitutional government that mixed the principles of wealth and the numbers of the masses. This he felt- with a sizable middle class- could create a sustainable equalibrium that would avoid the pitfalls of other forms of government.

It's easy to see much of his theory in the creation of our constitution and the arguments made by our founders. It is impossible to overstate Aristotles importance to Western society. No other philosopher has had such and impact.

While much of Aristotle's work was flawed (especially his Physics, which remained the accepted standard until Galileo) his range of accomplishment in every branch of human knowledge is so great that it surpassed all those who came before or after. The modern division of intellectual labor is inherited from Aristotle, who pushed human knowledge to the point where a single person could no longer possess universal knowledge. To remedy this problem, Aristotle founded the Lycaeum, the first proto-University/Research Institute, where scientists and scholars could share knowledge and collaborate for the common good. Unfortunately, Aristotle's work was so impressive that it became a brake on progress; from shortly after his death until the Renaissance, 'Aristotelian' doctrine was holy writ and scientific progress was limited to a handful of fields (optics, medicine, astronomy). It is unfair to blame Aristotle for those who misused his legacy; he remains the greatest scholar of his own age, or any other.

No, not the father of the West, the father of categorization. Aristotle was a mental house-keeper and loved making categories of just about everything. He would have loved RIA. A thinker who looked for the good life, he believed in the pursuit of happiness and moderation while creating formulaic scientific analysis. Of course he was Alexander the Great's teacher, but it's debatable how much Mr. Great took in. Obviously he had ideas bigger than logical categorization of scientific theories in mind.

What a mind not a good as a writter a Plato.I fond his words a little to entangled.I find it a bit of a task to keep up with his nibble mind and that he did not convey his ideas in fashion in a compelling way as did Plato.Now I realize the subject matter was different in some cases.But never the less a person who for good and ill left his place and made history through his influence.

The father of the West.

Aristotle was perhaps the greatest philosopher of all time. As opposed to Plato, who was a misty eyed idealist, Aristotle was a scientist who always recorded with care all of his observations of the natural world with care. His political writings formed the backbone of western democratic thought. Aristotle, to the pleasure of the Founding Fathers, put forward that any pure government tended to be unstable; it brought about their opposite reaction *(much like Marxist governments). A monarchy, by the granting of privileges to personal favorites and the creation of monopolies, would evolve into oligarchy- that is, government by a few. They exploit resources; thus the few in power become rich while leaving behind the majority. A government by the rich is contrived of. This therefore would lead towards a social unrest that would result in a government by the people, a democracy. According to Aristotle, a democracy is not a good form of government; it is a state run by "opportunistic riffraff politicans". Many mistakes are made at the hands of the masses. Next a charismatic leader rises, one who is a despot, who comes in "to clean up the mess" and the cycle begins once again. This describes in a nutshell Aristotle's view of the cycles, or transformations, of governments through a long period. But all is not lost, for Aristotle believes that the ideal government is the one established according to the model the Founding Fathers established for us, the Republican model (not the political party). Basically, the keystone of a Republican government is the separation of public and private sectors; the checks and balances system. This ensures a stable government with all competeing interests in check. This was the truly the greatest accomplishment Aristotle had for Western Civilization.

Aristotle was an astounding relevance to Western thought. A man ahead of his time, he influenced generations to come.

Aristotle was the bomb! He was a philosopher who upheld the virtue of reason and the potential of mankind. Ayn Rand called him the "barometer" of civilization: when the climate of ideas has been in concert with his philosophical contributions, mankind has enjoyed incredible renaissances. When civilization has turned toward the mysticism of Plato, it has entered prolongued dark periods.