The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers · Character

Aristotle

The Stagirite who studied under Plato, tutored Alexander, and turned philosophy into a systematic science of everything.

major

Also known as the Stagirite, Aristotle the Stagirite

First appearance: Aristotle

As a major figure in The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, Aristotle is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

Student of Plato, founder of the Lyceum, and prolific writer on diverse subjects.

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Aristotle appears in Diogenes Laërtius as the great classifier, the pupil of Plato who founded the Lyceum and whose writings span logic, ethics, politics, and natural science. His relationship to Plato is the book's central intellectual drama — the student who revered the master yet built a rival school — and his connection to Alexander the Great gives philosophy a political reach no other thinker in the Lives can claim. He is the bridge between the Athenian schools and the Hellenistic world, the figure through whom Greek thought becomes encyclopedic.

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Plato
professional · ambivalent
Aristotle was Plato's most brilliant student, later founding his own rival school. How this plays out →

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In the story

Aristotle appears across 18 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers
Student of Plato, founder of the Lyceum, and prolific writer on diverse subjects.
Book I: The Origins and Divisions of Philosophy
Aristotle is listed among the philosophers who wrote many works and is noted as the founder of the Peripatetic school.
Periander
Cited as a source on Periander's tyranny and the debate over whether the wise Periander was the Corinthian tyrant.
Xenophon
Mentioned as noting that many writers composed panegyrics on Xenophon's son Gryllus.
Book III: The Life, Will, and Legacy of Plato
Listed as a disciple; cited regarding the origin of dialogue form.
Plato
Listed as a disciple of Plato.
Speusippus
Purchased Speusippus's books for three talents, according to Phavorinus.
Xenocrates
Compared unfavorably to Xenocrates by Plato; described as needing the bridle.
Clitomachus
Mentioned as the founder of the Peripatetic school, which derived its doctrines from Plato.
Aristotle
The central figure of the chapter; his life, works, and doctrines are detailed, including his birth, education under Plato, career, death, and philosophical system.
Theophrastus
Theophrastus's teacher who renamed him from Tyrtamus and entrusted him with the school.
Heraclides
Last teacher of Heraclides, as per Sotion's Successions.
Pythagoras
Cited as an authority on Pythagoras's prohibitions regarding food.
Empedocles
Aristotle is cited multiple times regarding Empedocles' rhetoric, poetry, and character.
Eudoxus
Mentioned as the father of Nicomachus, who reported that Eudoxus said pleasure was the good.
Heraclitus
Referenced as a source for Heraclitus's doctrines on evaporation and natural phenomena.
Zeno, the Eleatic
Aristotle, in his Sophist, is cited as saying Zeno invented dialectics.
Protagoras
Cited as the source for Protagoras inventing the porter's pad and for naming his accuser Evathlus.

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