He was a pupil of Plato but disagreed with most of his ideas and tutored Alexander the Great for years. Until the 17th century, most of the science in the Western world was based on his ideas. Aristotle, with his scientific approach to philosophy was able to conclude, "Since human reason is the most godlike part of human nature, a life guided by human reason is superior to any other.For man, this is the life of reason, since the faculty of reason is the distinguishing characteristic of human beings. "This suggests that human beings are the superior animals on earth due to our ability to reason (Doc.2, Aristotle). Aristotle was a classifier and rational thinker who used reason as logic in his studies. He developed syllogism, which is the reasoning from general to specific. Both of these philosophers have made incredible contributions to the Western civilization.
One important contributor to the field of government was Pericles (495? -429? BC). Pericles was an Athenian leader who led Athens in the Peloponnesian War until his death of plague during the war. He was a dominant politician and is responsible for the building of the Parthenon and for the start of democracy. His lifetime is known as the Age of Pericles due to his wonderful contributions. Also, he was a supporter of responsible citizenship, the poor, and civil servitude. Pericles' views can best be demonstrated by his Funeral Oration to the Athenians in 430 BC. It shows that he thinks a democracy will benefit everyone (Doc.3, Pericles). This contribution of democracy has affected us greatly due to the fact that our country as well as many other countries in the Western world has adopted this form of government. Another distinguished Greek of those times was Hippocrates (460-377 BC). He was a physician who founded a clinical approach to medicine. He promoted cleanliness as an aid against disease. Also, he was one of the first physicians to believe that diseases are a result of environmental factors rather that supernatural ones.
