Aristotle was born on the Aegean coast, in Stagira. His year of birth is between 384-332 BC. The future philosopher and encyclopedist received a good education, because his father and mother served as doctors for the king, grandfather of Alexander the Great.

At the age of 17, the promising young man, possessing encyclopedic knowledge, entered the Academy of the Samo, which was located in Athens. He stayed there for 20 years, until the death of his teacher, whom he highly valued and at the same time allowed himself to get into arguments with him because of different views on significant things and ideas.

After leaving the Greek capital, Aristotle became a personal tutor and moved to Pella for 4 years. The relationship between the teacher and the student developed quite warmly, until the moment when Macedonian ascended the throne with inflated ambitions - to conquer the whole world. The great naturalist did not approve of this.

Aristotle opened his own philosophical school in Athens - the Lyceum, which was successful, but after the death of Macedon, an uprising began: the scientist’s views were not understood, he was called a blasphemer and an atheist. The place of death of Aristotle, many of whose ideas are still alive, is called the island of Euboea.

Great naturalist

The meaning of the word "naturalist"

The word naturalist consists of two derivatives, so literally this concept can be taken as “to check nature.” Therefore, a natural scientist is called scientist who studies the laws of nature and its phenomena, and natural science is the science of nature.

What did Aristotle study and describe?

Aristotle loved the world in which he lived, longed to know it, to master the essence of all things, penetrate into the deep meaning of objects and phenomena and pass on their knowledge to subsequent generations, preferring the reporting of accurate facts. He was one of the first to found science in its broadest sense: for the first time created a system of nature - physics, defining its main concept – movement. In his work there was nothing more important than the study of living beings, and, therefore, biology: he revealed the essence of animal anatomy, described the mechanism of movement quadrupeds, studied fish and shellfish.

Achievements and discoveries

Aristotle made enormous contributions to ancient natural science - proposed his own world system. Thus, he believed that in the center there is a stationary Earth, around which celestial spheres with fixed planets and stars move. Moreover, the ninth sphere is a kind of engine of the Universe. Moreover, the greatest sage of antiquity predicted Darwin's theory of natural selection, he demonstrated a deep understanding of geology, in particular the origin of fossils in Asia Minor. Metaphysics was embodied in many works of the ancient Greek - “On Heaven”, “Meteorology”, “On Origin and Destruction” and others. Science as a whole was for Aristotle the highest level of knowledge, because the scientist created the so-called “ladder of knowledge.”

Contribution to philosophy

Philosophy occupied a fundamental place in the researcher’s activities, which he divided into three types - theoretical, practical and poetic. In his works on metaphysics, Aristotle develops the doctrine of the causes of all things, defining four basic ones: matter, form, productive cause and purpose.

The scientist was one of the first revealed the laws of logic and classified the properties of being according to certain criteria, philosophical categories. It was based on the scientist’s conviction in the materiality of the world. His theory is based on the fact that the essence is in the things themselves. Aristotle gave his own interpretation of Platonic philosophy and a precise definition of being, and also thoroughly studied the problems of matter and clearly defined its essence.

Views on politics

Aristotle took part in the development of the main fields of knowledge of the time - and politics was no exception. He emphasized the importance of observation and experience and was a supporter of moderate democracy, understanding justice as the common good. It is justice, according to the ancient Greek, that should become the main political goal.

He was convinced that the political system should have three branches: judicial, administrative and legislative. Aristotle's forms of government are monarchy, aristocracy and polity (republic). Moreover, he calls exclusively the latter correct, because it combines the best aspects of oligarchy and democracy. The scientist also spoke about the problem of slavery, drawing attention to the fact that all Hellenes should be slave owners, unique masters of the world, and other peoples should be their faithful servants.

Ethics and the doctrine of the soul

It is impossible to underestimate Aristotle’s contribution to psychological science, because his doctrine of the soul is the center of all worldviews. According to the ideas of the sage, the soul is connected on the one hand - with the material component, and on the other - with the spiritual, i.e. with God blessing. She represents only the natural body. In other words, all living things have a soul, of which, according to the scientist, there are only three types: plant, animal and human (intelligent). However, the ancient Greek philosopher categorically refuted the opinion about the transmigration of souls, considering the soul, although not the body, but an inseparable part of it, and assuring that the soul is not indifferent in whose shell it resides.

Aristotle's ethics is, first of all, the “correct norm” of human behavior. Moreover, the norm has no theoretical basis, but is determined by the characteristics of society. The central principle of his ethics is reasonable behavior and moderation. The scientist was convinced that only through thinking does a person make his choice, and creativity and actions are not the same thing.

The significance of Aristotle's works

Aristotle's views were disseminated by Arabs throughout medieval Europe and were only questioned during the technological revolution of the mid-16th century. All the scientist’s lectures were collected in books - 150 volumes, a tenth of which has survived to this day. These are biological treatises, philosophical works, works on art.

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Presentation on the topic: Aristotle. Merits in biology

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Brief biography of Aristotle (384-322 BC), ancient Greek philosopher and scientist. Born in Stagira. In 367 he went to Athens and, becoming a student of Plato, for 20 years, until Plato’s death, was a member of the Platonic Academy. In 343 he was invited by the king of Macedonia to raise his son. In 335 he returned to Athens and created his own school there (Lyceum, or Peripatetic school). He died in Chalkis on Euboea, where he fled from persecution on charges of a crime against religion.

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Aristotle became one of the founders of science, for the first time summarizing the biological knowledge accumulated by humanity before him. He developed a taxonomy of animals, defining a place in it for man, whom he called a social animal endowed with reason. Many of Aristotle's works were devoted to the origin of life. He formulated the theory of continuous and gradual development of living and nonliving matter.

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Works of the scientist The works of Aristotle that have reached us are divided according to their content into 7 groups: Logical treatises; Biological treatises: “History of Animals”, “On the Parts of Animals”, “On the Origin of Animals”, “On the Movement of Animals”; Treatise “On the Soul”; Essay on “first philosophy”; considering existence as such and which later received the name “Metaphysics”; Ethical works - the so-called “Nicomachean Ethics” (dedicated to Nicomacheus, the son of Aristotle) ​​and “Eudemus Ethics” (dedicated to Eudemus, a student of Aristotle); Socio-political and historical works: “Politics”, “The Athenian Polity”.

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Aristotle's Biology In the field of biology, one of Aristotle's merits is his doctrine of biological expediency, based on observations of the expedient structure of living organisms. Aristotle saw examples of purposefulness in nature in such facts as the development of organic structures from seeds, various manifestations of the purposefully acting instinct of animals, the mutual adaptability of their organs, etc. In Aristotle’s biological works, which served for a long time as the main source of information on zoology, a classification and description of numerous animal species. The matter of life is the body, the form is the soul, which Aristotle called “entelechy.” According to the three kinds of living beings (plants, animals, humans), Aristotle distinguished three souls, or three parts of the soul: plant, animal (sensing) and rational.

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Animal taxonomy The animal system was first developed in the 4th century. BC e. Aristotle, who described more than 450 forms, dividing them into 2 large groups: - animals supplied with blood (vertebrates, according to modern ideas); -bloodless (invertebrates, in the modern sense). Animals with blood, in turn, were divided by him into groups roughly corresponding to modern classes. With regard to invertebrates, Aristotle's system was less perfect. Thus, among modern types, he more or less correctly identified only arthropods.

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The theory of spontaneous generation of living beings In his writings, Aristotle cites countless “facts” of spontaneous generation of living beings - plants, insects, worms, frogs, mice, some sea animals - indicating the conditions necessary for this - the presence of decomposing organic remains, manure, spoiled meat, various garbage, dirt. Aristotle even provided a certain theoretical basis for these “facts” - he argued that the sudden birth of living beings was caused by nothing more than the influence of some spiritual principle on previously lifeless matter.

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But at the same time, Aristotle also expresses quite sound thoughts, close in essence to evolutionary theory: “In addition, it is possible that some bodies from time to time transform into others, and those, in turn, decaying, undergo new transformations, and thus In this way, development and decay balance each other.”

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Aristotle's Ladder It is also certainly worth noting that Aristotle was the first scientist to express the idea of ​​a “ladder of creatures” (from the less developed and more primitive to the most developed, and in a broader sense, from inanimate to living nature). This is what Aristotle's “ladder” looked like: 1) Man; 2) Animals; 3) Zoophytes; 4) Plants; 5) Inorganic matter.

The name of the greatest ancient Greek thinker Aristotle (384-322 BC) is associated with experiments to create a taxonomy of living nature, attempts to move from specific knowledge to generalizations.

For many centuries, the works of Aristotle served as a source of information about living beings. His works “De animalibus”, “De partibus animalium”, “De generatione animalium” and others reveal the depth of philosophical thought.

For Aristotle, man is a material, corporeal being, but only the master has a soul. The world around us is an objective reality. Materiality and thingness of objects are not the same thing: thingness is associated with form, the substrate of form is matter as an eternal quality, devoid of any certainty. The separation of matter and form does not seem absurd to Aristotle. So he oscillates between materialism and idealism, with the latter more often gaining the upper hand. But in his worldview there was clearly a “naive faith in the power of reason, in the strength, power, objective truth of knowledge.”

Aristotle's work is characterized by the mastery of vast empirical material and the accumulation of his own data on anatomy and zoology. Rich erudition helped him become the creator of the first system of knowledge, still natural-philosophical in its essence.

His classification, in which the entire animal world is divided into animals with blood and animals without blood, was preserved with minor changes until Linnaeus (white-blooded and red-blooded animals).

Aristotle was not only a practical biologist and classifier, but also a biologist-thinker who tried to find objective laws. He was not an evolutionist, but he had already written about the ladder of living beings (scala naturae), stretching from plants through the lowest animals known to him (sea sponges) to the higher animals.

Aristotle proposed the name “organ” - literally an instrument, the definition of which reflected the dualistic essence of his worldview. Living beings are “somata fisica organika”, or translated into Latin - corpora organisata. This is how organisms were designated throughout the Middle Ages until modern times.

In each organ, Aristotle distinguishes mass (materia), form (morphe), activity (kinesis) and purpose (telos). With this division, Aristotle proves his commitment to the ideas of Plato, his teacher. According to Aristotle, all living beings are fundamentally different from inanimate objects. The power of self-improvement - entelechia - is fundamental for the development of living beings. The guiding factor that moves the body is the “soul”. It can have different stages: in plants it is nutritious, in animals the soul is also sensitive, and in humans it is thinking. This concept of Aristotle was shared by all medieval authors, and in a slightly changed form it appears later, for example, in Descartes, who placed the soul, supposedly localized in the pineal gland, above the brain, above the nervous system, which, according to the author, performs the functions of an instrument of the soul.

Aristotle is a spiritual seeker who collected new facts. Nature in his generalizations appears to be in motion, which began, however, at the behest of magic (God) as a result of a push. Aristotle's major works, The History of Animals and On the Parts of Animals, contain descriptions of about 500 species of animals, grouped according to their structure. The author depicts the organization of the body of animals and humans teleologically: each organ is created for a specific purpose. The connection of organs into a harmonious complex unity is produced by a higher power - “entelechy”.

Aristotle the philosopher was largely inferior to Aristotle the biologist, who left a legacy of 4 major and 11 minor works on various problems of biology. Thanks to his works, the natural sciences, in particular zoology and anatomy, received a reliable foundation. He studied many animals himself using the dissection method. The birth of the comparative method in anatomy is the indisputable merit of Aristotle.

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Biology

Of all the sciences, biology has perhaps felt the greatest influence of Aristotle. He can well be considered the founder of many branches of biology. In addition, Aristotle and his students were responsible for a number of important biological discoveries. If Aristotle did not become the first scientist to study biological objects, then we can say with confidence that it was he who was the first to organize and carry out the systematic study of living nature. Aristotle is often called the “father” of biology as a science. That is why we pay the greatest attention to this area of ​​scientific activity of our hero.

Aristotle described about 500 species of animals and created the first zoological taxonomy in the history of science. Therefore, he is considered the founder of zoology. While studying animals, Aristotle divided them into two groups: animals with blood (with red blood) and animals without blood (without red blood). The first group roughly corresponds to the modern concept of “vertebrates”, and the second - “invertebrates”. As for animals with blood, Aristotle divided them into oviparous and viviparous (mammals), and within the oviparous he identified groups roughly corresponding to modern classes. It is also important that Aristotle classified humans as animals, placing him at the head of animals with blood. He also owns the definition according to which man is a “social animal.”

The scientist paid special attention to comparing humans with animals, in particular with the notorious monkeys. Considering the above, Aristotle can safely be called the founder of another biological science - systematics.

It is interesting that the scientist was not baffled by such “abnormal” organisms as whales and dolphins. While studying the respiratory organs of dolphins, Aristotle came to the conclusion that they were not fish. He, however, did not classify dolphins as mammals, but identified them as a separate group of animals. Another interesting example: bats, since they have teeth, were unmistakably classified by Aristotle as mammals.

As for his classification of “bloodless” animals, it is much more different from the modern one. Aristotle divided all “bloodless” into 4 groups: soft-bodied, soft-shelled, insects and skull-skinned. He included cephalopods in the first group, crustaceans in the second; spiders and worms were also included in the insects; and, finally, craniopods included gastropods and bivalves and sea urchins. Somewhat apart, between skullcaps and plants, Aristotle placed sponges, tunicates, holothurians, and coelenterates. What is important here is that the scientist did not classify immobile animals as plants.

Aristotle presented his system of living nature in the form of a ladder, at the base of which there was inanimate matter, then followed by plants, sedentary and motionless animals, bloodless and, finally, animals with blood. There was a man on the top step.

The taxonomy developed by Aristotle was relevant and actively used for two millennia!

While studying animals, the scientist compiled descriptions of about 60 insects and, one might say, founded entomology. He did not limit himself to describing the external signs of animals, but tried to study in detail their structure and features of life. So he discovered that drones hatch from unfertilized eggs of bees, described cases of symbiosis, discovered the rudiments of eyes in moles, and discovered the so-called Aristotelian lantern - a special jaw apparatus of sea urchins.

The scientist also paid a lot of attention to embryology, of which he is also considered one of the founders. In his book On the Origin of Animals, Aristotle describes the interesting research he conducted. By opening chicken eggs at different stages of incubation, he studied the development process of the bird embryo. Aristotle also studied the embryonic development of cold-blooded animals, mammals and, possibly, humans. He suggested that the embryos of viviparous animals at the beginning of their development also represent an egg, but without a hard shell. As we can see, Aristotle based the taxonomy of “animals with blood” on differences in reproduction. Modern taxonomy relies heavily on this principle. Moreover, the scientist came close to formulating the reproductive criterion of biological species. He wrote:

“Mating, in accordance with nature, occurs between homogeneous animals; however, it also occurs in animals that are similar in nature, but not identical in appearance, if they are similar in size and the gestation time is the same.”

According to the modern formulation of this criterion, one species includes organisms that can produce fertile offspring.

Aristotle also introduced the comparative method into embryology. While studying the development of various organisms, he discovered similarities between the embryos of different animals. He established that sex is determined in the early stages of embryonic development. Explained the purpose of the placenta and umbilical cord. He discovered similarities between the processes of embryonic development and regeneration (restoration of lost organs). I traced the moment of formation and the beginning of the functioning of the circulatory system in birds - I discovered the heartbeat of a chicken embryo. Aristotle established that some species of sharks reproduce using true viviparity: “they lay eggs in their own body, where they are attached to a special placenta.” This discovery caused laughter among scientists for a long time and was confirmed only in the 19th century. The scientist also discovered viviparity in some snakes.

In his book On the Parts of Animals, Aristotle develops the idea that from inanimate bodies to plants, from plants to animals and humans, there is a continuous series of increasingly complex forms. You don't need to be an expert in biology to understand that this idea is only one step away from evolutionary views.

The doctrine of homologous and analogous organs also goes back to Aristotle. He wrote: “In animals of various genera, most of the organs have different shapes. Some are similar in position and function, but have different origins. Others are of the same nature, but different in form."

Here is another important idea: “Nature cannot send the same material to different places at the same time. Having been generous in one direction, she saves in others. A change in one organ causes changes in another."

In this quote, researchers find similarities with the law of organ correlation, the discovery of which belongs to the founder of paleontology, Georges Cuvier (1769–1832). Based on this principle, Cuvier, using several fragments of the skeleton, reconstructed a complete image of extinct animals.

In general, we can judge the scope of Aristotle’s anatomical research only indirectly. It is known that the “History of Animals” was accompanied by a book “Anatomy”, which has not reached us. But based on references from Aristotle himself and later authors, it can be assumed that “Anatomy” consisted of 7 books and contained a large number of drawings depicting animals and their individual organs.

The scientist was also interested in animal behavior (ethology). He studied the migration of birds, the migration of fish and mammals, and the hibernation of various animals. He described the care of the offspring of catfish, the males of which guard the eggs. The last message was considered unreliable until the 19th century, when it was completely confirmed.

Aristotle also studied anatomy. For example, he discovered the cochlea, a cavity in the temporal bone that contains the inner ear. There is also reason to believe that the scientist paid attention to botany, but his works have not survived to this day. But Theophrastus complemented the work of his teacher in this area.

Of course, with so many diverse studies, it was impossible to avoid erroneous data and theories. Thus, Aristotle wrote that the number of teeth in men and women is different, that air moves through the arteries, that the brain is always cold and its task is to cool the blood. He believed that spontaneous generation of life was possible. For example, the scientist believed that fish could spontaneously arise from sea mud. The hypothesis about the possibility of spontaneous origin of life was completely refuted only by Louis Pasteur in the 2nd half of the 19th century.

We can safely say that even if Aristotle had limited his interests only to biology, his contribution to the development of science would still be difficult to overestimate. At the same time, we must take into account that not all of Aristotle’s works have reached our time, and he may simply not have had time to describe some finds. Biologists to this day admire the scale of research carried out by the scientist. Such famous scientists as Cuvier, Buffon, Darwin sang praises to their ancient colleague. The latter wrote: “I have rarely read anything that interested me more. Linnaeus and Cuvier were my two deities, although in very different respects, and yet they are simple schoolchildren compared to old Aristotle.

It is especially important that this review belongs specifically to Charles Darwin, a natural scientist who is also distinguished by his extraordinary breadth of scientific interests.

Comparing Aristotle's biological research with his work in other fields, we can safely say that it was in biology that the scientist best implemented the empirical approach to science.

The king, whose son subsequently invited the future philosopher to mentor the young Alexander the Great. Aristotle studied with Plato, and after parting with his pupil, he founded his own school, the Lyceum, which is about thirteen years old. During this time, the philosopher wrote several major works: “Metaphysics”, “Physics”, “On the Soul”, “Ethics”, “Poetics”, “Organon”, “History of Animals” and others.

Most of his treatises are devoted to philosophy, despite the different titles. Philosophy in Ancient Greece was the science of existence and studied all phenomena in life. Aristotle distinguished three of its directions - poetic, theoretical and practical. He argued that all things consist of two principles: matter and form. Matter is the substance of which something is composed, and form is the idea, the active principle that organizes matter. At first, his reasoning was characterized by dualism, but later Aristotle became a follower of idealism and believed that form dominates matter.

Aristotle believed that in any science, research should begin with the study of individual things using sensory perception. He was a supporter of induction - movement from the particular to the general, but warned against making hasty conclusions. Aristotle delved into metaphysics for four reasons: material, formal, goal and motive.

Aristotle's influence on the development of science

Aristotle's views and teachings were valued not only during his lifetime, but also for centuries after. He was respected by Arab philosophers of subsequent centuries, scholastics of the Christian Middle Ages treated him with reverence, and humanists who rejected scholastic teaching valued his works even more.

Aristotle is considered the godfather of physics; his treatise “Physics” laid the foundation for the history of this science, although most of its content relates to philosophy. However, he correctly defined the tasks of physics - to study the causes, principles and elements of nature (that is, the fundamental laws, principles and fundamental particles).

Aristotle laid the foundations for the development of chemistry; with his teachings about the four principles - earth, air, water and fire - the pre-alchemical period in the history of this science began. The ancient Greek philosopher suggested that each beginning represents a state of primary matter, but has a certain set of qualities. This idea began to subsequently develop in the Middle Ages.

Aristotle had a huge influence on logic: he studied deductive conclusions, described the logical laws of contradiction, identity and excluded middle. This scientist made a particularly great contribution to philosophical science, defining the views of the Middle Ages and modern times. He also influenced the development of psychology, economics, politics, rhetoric, aesthetics and other areas of scientific knowledge. His works have been translated into Latin, Arabic, French, Hebrew, English and other languages.