totle.]

Aristotle was born at Stagira, in Thrace, B.C. 384. His father was an
eminent author of those times on subjects of Natural History; by
profession he was a physician. Dying while his son was yet quite young,
he bequeathed to him not only very ample means, but also his own tastes.
Aristotle soon found his way to Athens, and entered the school of Plato,
with whom it is said he remained for nearly twenty years. During this
period he spent most of his patrimony, and in the end was obliged to
support himself by the trade of a druggist. At length differences arose
between them, for, as we shall soon find, the great pupil was by no
means a blind follower of the great master. In a fortunate moment,
Philip, the King of Macedon, appointed him preceptor to his son
Alexander, an incident of importance in the intellectual history of
Europe. It was to the friendship arising through this relation that
Aristotle owed the assistance he received from the conqueror during his
Asiatic expedition for the composition of "the Natural History," and
also gained that prestige which gave his name such singular authority
for more than fifteen centuries. He eventually founded a school in the
Lyceum at Athens, and, as it was his habit to deliver his lectures while
walking, his disciples received the name of Peripatetics, or walking
philosophers. These lectures were of two kinds, esoteric and exoteric,
the former being delivered to the more advanced pupils only. He wrote a
very large number of works, of which about one-fourth remain.

[Sidenote: He founds the inductive philosophy.]

The philosophical method of Aristotle is the inverse of that of Plato,
whose starting-point was universals, the very existence of which was a
matter of faith, and from these he descended to particulars or details.
Aristotle, on the contrary, rose from particulars to universals,
advancing to them by inductions; and his system, thus an inductive
philosophy, was in reality the true beginning of science.

[Sidenote: His method compared with that of Plato.]

Plato therefore trusts to the Imagination, Aristotle to Reason. The
contrast between them is best seen by the attitude in which they stand
as respects the Ideal theory. Plato regards universals, types, or
exemplars as having an actual existence; Aristotle declares that they
are mere abstractions of reasoning. For the fanciful reminiscences
derived from former experience in another life by Plato, Aristotle
subs