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|Summary=Born in Stagira, Chalkidice, he was raised by Proxenus of Atarneus after his father died.[[CiteRef::During (1957)|pp. 253]] Most notoriously in the philosophy of science, Aristotle is associated with ‘the scientific method’ or as it is now known, the Aristotelian-medieval method (changed to better allude to transitions between different scientific methods). Throughout his life, Aristotle covered wrote on a broad range of topics including: encompassing what we would now call physics, ethics, biology, theatre, music, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, logic, zoology, metaphysics, and aesthetics. Amongst these, those Those topics most relevant to the philosophy issues of science scientific change are his theory of causation, theories on metaphysics, and his method of science, which was based on intuition schooled by experience. Due to his incredible range of topics|Historical Context=Aristotle was born in Stagira, Aristotle is not so easily graspedChalkidice in central Macedonia in 384 BCE. Across His father was the last two millennia, court physician to the explorations king of Macedonia, and his works by many authors has resulted interest in [even the most basic empirical study of] his works subject living things is thought to controversial interpretationderive from this source.|Historical Context=After his father’s death, Aristotle lived with Proxenus until he turned [[CiteRef::Anagnostopoulos (2009)]] At the age of 17 or 18. At this age, Proxenus he was sent off Aristotle to Athens to pursue a higher educationat Plato's (427-347 BCE) Academy, then the premier Greek learning institution. In Athens, Aristotle joined Plato’s Academy and remained there until Plato had been the age student of thirtythe renown Socrates (469-seven (347 BC399 BCE). It Aristotle was in this year, his teacher an outstanding scholar and great philosophical companion, remained at the Academy for twenty years.[[CiteRef::Biography.com Editors (2017)]][[CiteRef::Shields (2016)]] When Plato, had died. Unfortunately, because of the many disputes amongst the two, Aristotle he did not , as he expected, receive the directorship of Plato’s the Academy . He returned home to Macedonia, and became a tutor to King Philip II of Macedon's son Alexander. Upon succeeding his father as he imagined he wouldking, Alexander won the appellation 'Alexander the Great' for his military conquests.[[CiteRef::Biography.com Editors (2017)]][[CiteRef::Shields (2016)]] After conquering Aristotle's former home; Athens, for Macedonia, Alexander helped him found the Lyceum there as a school and library.[[CiteRef::Shields (2016)]] The pro-Macedonian government of Athens was overthrown in 323 BCE. Because of his ties to Alexander, Aristotle was forced to flee to Chalcis on the Greek island of Euboea where he died a year later at the age of 62.

Returning home to Macedonia, Aristotle was met with the request drew on a preceding Greek tradition of Philip II inquiry which he saw as dating back to Thales of Macedon.[[CiteRef::Biography.com Editors Miletus (2017circa 620-546 BCE)]] Philip IImore than 150 years previously. We know of this tradition from surviving fragments of text, and its mention by subsequent authors, including, particularly, asked Aristotle to tutor his son Alexander, soon to be Alexander the greathimself. A subject Aristotle distinguished between a group of great dispute is how long this tutorship lastedthinkers which he called 'inquirers into nature' or ''physiologoi'' as distinct from poetical 'myth-makers'. Some speculate Aristotle continued to tutor Alexander for three years The latter, however others posit it may have been such as long as eight years.[[CiteRef::Shieldsthe Greek poet Hesiod (2016circa 750-650 BCE)]] A little further down explained the lineworld primarily by positing divinities who behaved like super-powerful versions of human beings, at around 335 BC Alexander succeeded his father with human-like genealogies and conquered Athensconflicts. It was with Alexander’s permission and their previous relationship that Aristotle started LyceumThese gods intervened in all aspects of the world, rendering it beyond mere human understanding. The Lyceum would act By contrast, ''physiologoi'' saw the world as a school an ordered natural arrangement, or '''Kosmos''' potentially comprehensible to the human mind. Plato and a library, where most Aristotle used the term '''philosophy''' to refer to this latter line of his works would be storedinquiry. The students Beginning in the eighteenth century this group of Aristotle thinkers, who studied at the Lyceumwere active before, eventually became known or contemporaneously with Socrates came to be referred to as the Peripatetics'''pre-Socratics'''.[[CiteRef::ShieldsCurd (2016)]] The students were called Peripatetics because of their tendency to ‘travel about’ just as the word means. Remarkably, Aristotle’s association with Alexander the Great also contributed to where he spent the last years of his life. When the pro-Macedonian government was overthrown in 323 BC, Aristotle was to be executed for impiety. His charges were for associating with Alexander, and to avoid them, Aristotle fled to Chalcis, Euboea to remain until he died a year later.

The pre-Socratics developed a variety of ideas about the nature of reality and cosmology. The '''Pythagorean tradition''', founded in the sixth century BCE by Phythagoras of Samos, maintained that mathematical order and harmony is the reality that underlies nature.[[CiteRef::Curd (2016)]][[CiteRef::Losee (2001)|p. 14-19]] Leucippus (5th century BCE) and Democritus (460-370 BCE) were pre-Socratic '''atomists''' (although they were actually contemporaneous with Socrates). They maintained that all things are composed of assemblages of invisibly small, solid, indivisible particles called atoms. These atoms exist within a void space and interact mechanically by contact. All things and processes in the world, they supposed, could be explained in terms of the arrangements, movements, and mechanical interactions of atoms. Although it may seem that there are colours, tastes, and smells, in reality, they supposed there are only atoms and void. They denied that any teleology exists at this fundamental level. Democritus distinguished two kinds of knowledge, that obtained from the senses, and that garnered through the understanding. Reason, applied to sensory experience in the proper way, yielded atomistic understanding.[[CiteRef::Curd (2016)]][[CiteRef::Berryman (2016b)]][[CiteRef::Berryman (2016c)]][[CiteRef::Losee (2001)|p. 24-25]][[CiteRef::Berryman (2016a)]] The ideas about knowledge which most directly set the context for Aristotle's work were those of his teacher Plato.  As one of the first writers on method, Aristotle’s ideas on method are found mostly in a body of texts known as Organon. The most important of these ideas to philosophy of science come from Analytica Priora and Analytica Posteriora. In the former, Aristotle discusses deduction, while in the latter, he discusses induction. Out of the two, Analytica Priora forms the basis of most systems of logic found up until the late 19th century, while Analytica Posteriora forms the basis of empirical science to around the same date . [[CiteRef::Falcon (2015)]] The philosophies in Analytica Priora worked particularly well in taxonomical frameworks within biology. Beyond mentioned works, the Organon comprises 4 other works, Categoriae, Topica, De Sophisticis Elenchis, and De Interpretatione).

Aristotle also stands out as a famous writer on causation. His work on causation is also in response to Plato’s views. Plato had a teleological view of causation perpetuated by his idea of forms. Similarly, Aristotle writes on the teleological account of causation in Physics II 3 and Metaphysics V 2.[[CiteRef::Biography.com Editors Falcon (20172015)]] Aristotle’s account of causation is made pertinent by forming the basis of all of his sciences. Each Aristotelian science consists of an investigation of causes within reality – in which an appropriate science would have knowledge of relevant causes. Aristotle’s teleological account of causation was the preferred account until Rene Descartes’ corpuscular mechanicism.[[CiteRef::DePierris (2006)]]|Major Contributions==== Scientific Method ===Aristotle’s writings on the scientific method encompass the entire Organon, however, the works forming the basis of most empirical science are Analytica Priora and Analytica Posteriora.  Generally, Aristotle’s method takes heavily from intuition and experience. It implements the requirement to grasp the nature of a thing, a requirement which is abstract in nature. As such, his method acts as an illustration of the capacity of methods to implement different abstract means of assessment. His method can be phrased as “a proposition is acceptable if it grasps the nature of a thing through intuition schooled by experience, or if it is deduced from general intuitive propositions.”[[CiteRef::Barseghyan (2015)|pp. 144]] ==== Prior Analytics ====In his work Analytica Priora, Aristotle essentially forms the foundation of syllogisms. Before he begins, he defines a few important terms: major premise, minor premise, and conclusion. The major and minor premises act as the antecedents of an argument and should logically follow to form a consequent, the conclusion. If the conclusion follows from the premises, in that it is a logical valid consequence, the logical structure is known as a syllogism (see the first figure for a common example).  It should be noted, Aristotle’s syllogisms draw on modifiers of certainty, e.g. ‘some’, ‘all’, ‘might’, ‘must’, ‘no’. As such, syllogisms can have different forms.  As a consequence of syllogisms Aristotle recognizes an infinite regress of premises cannot provide a foundation of knowledge for science. Additionally, in this work, Aristotle identifies himself against apriori foundationalists, stating apriori knowledge can never form the foundation of knowledge. Instead, Aristotle opts the scientist to look towards observation and memory to form the foundation of their knowledge.  ==== Posterior Analytics ====In contrast to Prior Analytics which defined syllogisms with respect to their forms, Aristotle deals with syllogisms’ content in Posterior Analytics. The reason to take a look at the distinction is much akin to why checking the validity of an argument is not enough to ascertain it as a good argument. The form of a syllogism lies in the connection between the premises and conclusion. However, even when there is no problem with the form, the matter of the premises or the conclusion may be problematic. To clarify what type of content is problematic, Aristotle explains what good content looks like.  ===== What Constitutes Knowledge =====Primarily, all knowledge must be formed on existing matter. Anything formed outside the scope of what is already known is not useful information.[[CiteRef::Aristotle (1994a)|ch. 3]] Knowledge is not opinion and one cannot hold knowledge about something while holding an opinion on it simultaneously.[[CiteRef::Aristotle (1994a)|ch. 33]] Furthermore, the existing matter or principles on which information is founded must be demonstrable, and if not demonstrable then they must be self-evident.[[CiteRef::Aristotle (1994a)|ch. 1]] ===== Rules of Demonstration =====To explain proper demonstration, Aristotle provides some principles and guidance as to how demonstration should be conducted. *Demonstration should follow the figures of syllogism. When the figures are followed, they assert conclusions as universally affirmative.[[CiteRef::Aristotle (1994a)|ch. 4]]*Demonstrated affirmative propositions hold more value than demonstrated negations.[[CiteRef::Aristotle (1994a)|ch. 25]]*Content which demonstrates other content cannot be further asserted through that which it demonstrates; if α is used to demonstrate µ, then µ cannot be used to demonstrate α.[[CiteRef::Aristotle (1994a)|ch. 2]]*There cannot be an infinite number of premises between the principle which forms the foundation of our knowledge and the conclusion.[[CiteRef::Aristotle (1994a)|ch. 19-20]]*The foundation of knowledge, the premises which follow from that foundation, and the conclusion must all be necessarily true. Anything purely contingent or coincidental cannot be used within a syllogism because it can never be consistently demonstrated.[[CiteRef::Aristotle (1994a)|ch. 8]]*The foundation on which knowledge is demonstrated should always be more certain than the conclusion.[[CiteRef::Aristotle (1994a)|ch. 27]] ===== Explanatory vs Descriptive =====Aristotle also makes the value distinction of explanatory theories and descriptive theories. Explanatory theories explain why something happens the way it does, while descriptive theories explain that it happens. Per Aristotle, explanatory theories should be valued more than descriptive theories.[[CiteRef::Aristotle (1994a)|ch. 13]] ===== Induction =====Aristotle concludes Posterior Analytics with a comment on foundationalism. While dissatisfied with apriori foundationalism, at his core, Aristotle is an aposteriori foundationalist. Knowledge claims cannot infinitely regress, and they must not be formed from apriori principles. === Causation ===For Aristotle, scientific knowledge comes from an understanding of a thing in terms of what causes it.[[CiteRef::Aristotle (1994a)|ch. 8]] Generally, Aristotle divides causes into four categories:[[CiteRef::Aristotle (1993)]] # The material cause: that which an object is made of. # The formal cause: the form of an object.# The efficient cause: the primary source of change.# The final cause: the final reason for why something is being done. An object may encompass all causes in its production. A statue for example, has all four causes through its production. As someone begins to create a statue, they melt down some metal. Metal is the material cause of the statue as it is what makes up the statue. As the metal is molded into the shape of a statue the shape it takes becomes the formal cause. Simultaneously, since the metal is being molded, the efficient cause is the molding of the metal into a statue. Aristotle makes the distinction here that the efficient cause is not relevant or connected to intention or desire; the artisan making the statue is solely responsible for manifesting specific knowledge. Finally, all the processes which the metal is undergoing are for the sake of producing a statue, the final cause. In discussing the causes, it seems that Aristotle has provided a teleological account of causation in that the explanation for an object makes reference to the goal or end of the process. It is also of note that this process ignores intentionality and desire.|Criticism=Due to the philosophical influence of Aristotle, he is very popularly debated and criticized, thus his critics are too numerous too list. Here, however, are some famous arguments against Aristotle. === Religious Reconciliation ===First and foremost, numerous critiques of Aristotle appear through religious reconciliation of his views. In Christianity, Thomas Aquinas attempted to reconcile Aristotle’s views to form a stronger foundation for his religious beliefs. More specifically, Aquinas adopted Aristotle’s analysis of physical objects, cosmology, time, motion and place, and his views on the prime mover. Aquinas, however, rejected Aristotle’s views on sense perception and intellectual knowledge opting to create his own notions of both.[[CiteRef::McInerny (2015)]] In the Islamic world, Al-Kindi was one of the first philosophers to introduce Greek and Hellenistic philosophy into their world. Al-Kindi was particularly interested in applying metaphysics to theology but seemed to conflate the two in his works. Still, the influence of Aristotle is evident in his work.[[CiteRef::Adamson (2015)]] === Syllogism ===An expansion and perhaps some moderate qualms with Aristotle’s syllogisms come from Boole. Boole was very enticed by Aristotle’s logic and in his Laws of Thought sought to re-establish the foundations of Aristotle’s work by giving it a mathematical base. However, despite his enticement Boole had some disagreements with Aristotle. Boole was concerned with what Aristotle had left unsaid in his Analytica Priora. These concerns can be seen in his revisions to Aristotle’s logic. Firstly, Boole did not like that Aristotle’s work was not mathematical, so he converted it into equations. Secondly, Aristotle had never laid out rules for equation solving, thus Boole did this too. Finally, Boole did not like that Aristotle’s logic was limited to only dual term propositions, so he expanded it to allow for more.[[CiteRef::Boole (2003)|pp. 167-169]] === Scientific Method ===Perhaps a problem with the Scientific Method can arise from its empiricism. External world skepticism, perpetuated most famously by David Hume, definitely hurts Aristotle’s method. However, rather than any individual critic, the largest problems with the method were its limitations in scientific fields such as physics, chemistry, and most prominently, cosmology. Aristotle’s earth centered cosmology was called into question by Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton, and his scientific methodology by Descartes, Locke, and Hume. Focusing primarily on intuitive and demonstrable claims, Aristotle’s method did not allow for theories positing unobservable entities nor ''post hoc'' explanations. Granted the significance of Rene Descartes claims on the cosmos, and his ideas on rationalism, the inductive method was adopted in place of Aristotle’s method. Herein the biggest hit to Aristotle’s method is not any singular critique but the overall replacement of his method by the scientific community.[[CiteRef::Barseghyan (2015)|pp. 167]]|Page Status=StubNeeds Editing