... and philosophy. As a Greek philosopher and a student of Plato, he investigated a variety of different topics, ranging from general issues like motion, causation, place and time, to systematic explorations and explanations of natural phenomena across different kinds of natural entities, as well as the study of poetry, theater, music, politics and government. Aristotle's views on the physical sciences profoundly shaped medieval culture ... , as well as had a large influence on philosophical and theological thinking with Jewish and Islamic in the middle ages as well as Christian theology. I...

• Word Count: 1261
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... of research assistants and part of it was the result of original research and his own observations. He made important and original contributions to each of the five branches of philosophy (28). His contributions to the study of ethics, politics, aesthetics, and metaphysics are particularly significant. However, the man's work on the theory of logic that has most ... great as to be almost unfathomable. His works were translated into dozens of languages and admired by Byzantine, Islamic and medieval philosophers and scientists (38). Among those who were highly influenced by his work, incl...

• Word Count: 1732
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... Alighieri opted to write Inferno as vernacular literature in order to address and apply its message of conflicting moralities to a wider audience, of and from medieval Italy, and to the world today. In Canto IV, the poets Dante and Virgil begin to cross the first circle, Limbo. Here they ... ;Citadel of Human Reason," who is described, "the master of those who know, ringed by the great souls of philosophy (Alighieri III. 131-132)." The philosophy of Aristotle influenced Albert the Great and Thomas Aquinas, two of Dante's favorite Christian thinkers, whom, Raffa notes, "strove to ... God...

• Word Count: 1365
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... Duns Scotus? lack of acceptance was due mostly to his difficult style and contrasting clarity of Thomas Acquinas. Like Aquinas, Scotus was a realist in philosophy, but he differed from Aquinas on certain basic issues. A major point of difference concerned their views of perception. Scotus held that a direct, ... he sees it to be good; he makes it good by commanding it. Scotus was one of the most profound and subtle of the medieval theologians and philosophers known as Schoolmen. For many centuries after his death his followers, called Scotists, engaged in controversy with the adherents o...

• Word Count: 1760
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography

... friend of Dionysius the ruler of Syracuse, and his brother-in-law Dion. The following year he returned to Athens, where he devoted his time to research and instruction in philosophy and the sciences. Most of his life thereafter was spent in teaching and guiding these activities. In 347 BC Plato died, while his published writings are all still live. The ... writings consist of some twenty-six dramatic dialogues on philosophy and related themes. O"Connor states, "The philosopher Socrates was a close friend of Plato's family as well as his teacher."(3). "Plato's writings attest to great in...

• Word Count: 1255
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School