Editing Ancient Greek philosophy (section)

=== Aristotle ===
{{Main|Aristotle}}
{{See also|Aristotelianism}}
Aristotle moved to Athens from his native [[Stageira]] in 367 BC and began to study philosophy (perhaps even rhetoric, under [[Isocrates]]), eventually enrolling at [[Platonic Academy|Plato's Academy]].<ref name="Lord Intro">Carnes Lord, Introduction to ''The Politics'', by Aristotle (Chicago:  University of Chicago Press, 1984): 1–29.</ref> He left Athens approximately twenty years later to study [[botany]] and [[zoology]], became a tutor of [[Alexander the Great]], and ultimately returned to Athens a decade later to establish his own school: the [[Lyceum (classical)|Lyceum]].<ref name="Russell">[[Bertrand Russell]], ''A History of Western Philosophy'' (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1972).</ref> At least twenty-nine of his treatises have survived, known as the ''[[corpus Aristotelicum]]'', and address a variety of subjects including [[logic]], [[physics]], [[optics]], [[metaphysics]], [[ethics]], [[rhetoric]], [[politics]], [[poetry]], botany, and zoology.

Aristotle is often portrayed as disagreeing with his teacher Plato (e.g., in [[Raphael]]'s [[School of Athens]]). He criticizes the [[regime]]s described in Plato's [[Republic (Plato)|''Republic'']] and [[Laws (dialogue)|''Laws'']],<ref name=":0">Aristotle, [[Politics (Aristotle)|''Politics'']], bk. 2, ch. 1–6.</ref> and refers to the [[theory of forms]] as "empty words and poetic metaphors".<ref>Aristotle, [[Metaphysics (Aristotle)|''Metaphysics'']], 991a20–22.</ref> He is generally presented as giving greater weight to empirical observation and practical concerns.

Aristotle's fame was not great during the [[Hellenistic period]], when [[Stoicism|Stoic]] logic was in vogue, but later [[Peripatetic school|peripatetic]] commentators popularized his work, which eventually contributed heavily to Islamic, Jewish, and medieval Christian philosophy.<ref>Robin Smith, "[http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-logic/ Aristotle's Logic]," ''[[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]'' (2007).</ref> His influence was such that [[Avicenna]] referred to him simply as "the Master"; [[Maimonides]], [[Alfarabi]], [[Averroes]], and [[Aquinas]] as "the Philosopher".

Aristotle opposed the utopian style of theorizing, deciding to rely on the understood and observed behaviors of people in reality to formulate his theories. Stemming from an underlying moral assumption that life is valuable, the philosopher makes a point that scarce resources ought to be responsibly allocated to reduce poverty and death. This 'fear of goods' led Aristotle to exclusively support 'natural' trades in which personal satiation was kept at natural limit of consumption.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Kishtainy|first=Niall|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/979259190|title=A little history of economics : revised version|date=January 2017 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-20636-4|oclc=979259190}}</ref> 'Unnatural' trade, as opposed to the intended limit, was classified as the acquisition of wealth to attain more wealth instead of to purchase more goods.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Reynard|first1=H.|last2=Gray|first2=Alexander|date=December 1931|title=The Development of Economic Doctrine.|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2224006|journal=The Economic Journal|volume=41|issue=164|pages=636|doi=10.2307/2224006|jstor=2224006|issn=0013-0133}}</ref> Cutting more along the grain of reality, Aristotle did not only set his mind on how to give people direction to make the right choices but wanted each person equipped with the tools to perform this moral duty. In his own words, "Property should be in a certain sense common, but, as a general rule, private; for, when everyone has a distinct interest, men will not complain of one another, and they will make more progress because everyone will be attending to his own business... And further, there is the greatest pleasure in doing a kindness or service to friends or guests or companions, which can only be rendered when a man has private property. These advantages are lost by excessive unification of the state."<ref name=":0" />