Chapter 26
CHAPTER XIII
ARISTOTLE
- Life, Writings, and general character of his Work.
Aristotle was born in 384 B.C. at Stagirus, a Grecian
colony and seaport on the coast of Thrace. His father
Nichomachus was court physician to King Amyntas of
Macedonia, and from this began Aristotle’s long associa-
tion with the Macedonian Court, which considerably influ-
enced his life and destinies. While he was still a boy his
father died, and he was sent by his guardian, Proxenus, to
Athens, the intellectual centre of the world, to complete
his education. He was then aged seventeen. He joined the
Academy and studied under Plato, attending the latter’s
lectures for a period of twenty years. In subsequent times,
Aristotle’s detractors, anxious to vilify his character, ac-
cused him of “ingratitude” to his master, Plato. It was said
that Plato’s old age had been embittered by dissensions in
the school caused by the factious spirit of Aristotle. That
there is no ground for attaching any blame to Aristotle for
the troubles of Plato, which either did not exist or have
been grossly exaggerated, is evident both from the facts
within our knowledge and from the reference to Plato in
Aristotle’s works. It is not likely that, had Aristotle ren-
dered himself genuinely objectionable, he could have re-
mained for twenty years in {250} the Academy, and only
left it upon the death of Plato. Moreover, although Aristo-
tle in his works attacks the teaching of Plato with unspar-
ing vigour, there is nowhere to be found in these attacks
any suggestion of acrimony or personal rancour. On the
contrary, he refers to himself as the friend of Plato, but
a greater friend of the truth. The fact, in all probability,
is that a man of such independent and original mind as
Aristotle did not accord to Plato the kind of blind ado-
ration and hero-worship which he may have received from
the inferior intellects in the school. As is so often the case