2. Read the text again. Structure the information in the form of a mind map. Use your mind map to summarise the text.

* Appendix 1 p. 145

Part IV. Key thinkers Biographical sketches: a selected who's who

The people mentioned below have been important figures who have played a large part in the development of the disciplines. Most are no longer living; but a few contemporary scientists, whose names will be encountered by most readers of academic works in the subject, have been included. In addition, a few theorists of past centuries, whose work is often cited in the above entries, are given a place.

1. Read the biographical sketches about the great thinkers in the fields of social sciences, political science, philosophy, religious studies, conflict studies and cultural studies.

2. Complete the following chart with the proper information from every text.

Thinker’s name
Country
Historical period
Discipline
Great works
Theory
Opponents
Contribution to science
Historical significance
Teachers and followers

3. Using extra sources (books, magazines, the Internet) find information about the thinkers' contribution to the scientific fields and their successors. Aristotle (384-322 вс)

Aristotle was born in 384 BC, in the Macedonian city of Stagira, now part of northern Greece. In his lifetime the kingdom of Macedon, first under Philip and then under Philip's son Alexander (‘the Great’), conquered both the Greek cities of Europe and Asia and the Persian Empire. Although Aristotle spent much of his adult life in Athens, he was not an Athenian citizen. He was closely linked to the kings of Macedon, whom many Greeks regarded as foreign invaders; hence, he was affected by the volatile relations between Macedon and the Greek cities, especially Athens.

In 367 вс Aristotle came to Athens. He belonged to Plato’s Academy until the death of Plato in 347; during these years Plato wrote his important later dialogues (including the Sophist, Timaeus, Philebus, Statesman, and Laws), which reconsider many of the doctrines of his earlier dialogues and pursue new lines of thought. Since there was no dogmatic system of ‘Platonism’, Aristotle was neither a disciple of such a system nor a rebel against it. Aristotle’s moral and political philosophy shows the strong influence of Plato, and he provides powerful, detailed answers to important questions that Plato raised. But Aristotle clearly broke with Plato in important respects. The exploratory and critical outlook of the Academy probably encouraged Aristotle’s own philosophical growth.

In Politics, Aristotle explores the polis in its entirety, includ­ing different kinds of poleis and their distinctive features, factors that lead to the stability and instability of different forms.

His studies of different instances - primarily of democracies, oligarchies, and tyrannies - compared and contrasted across numerous dimensions, provide a wealth of empirical analysis perhaps unmatched until relatively recent times.

In 347 BC Aristotle left Athens, for Assos in Asia Minor. Later he moved to Lesbos, in the eastern Aegean, and then to Macedon, where he was a tutor of Alexander the Great. In 334 he returned to Athens and founded his own school, the Lyceum. The return to Athens marks the mature period of Aristotle’s intellectual life, during which he composed most of his famous works. The Lyceum was a center of teaching, learning, and investigation. Aristotle gathered around him fellow students of nature, and coordinated a systematic investigation covering almost all areas of human knowledge, which continued after his death. Aristotle also collected hundreds of manuscripts, maps, and natural specimens, and the Lyceum became one of the first libraries and museums.

Although he was a prolific writer, only fragments of his published writings remain. However, his unpublished writings have survived in the form of lecture notes or texts used by his students. He produced groundbreaking texts not just in metaphysics and logic, but on virtually every subject: physics, astronomy, meteorology, taxonomy, psychology, biology, ethics, politics, and aesthetics. Given his incredible powers of observation, classification, and deduction, it is not surprising that later generations thought of him as a superman. When Alexander died in 323 BC, Athens became a center of anti-Macedonian feelings, and Aristotle decided to leave the city. A year later, he died. He was 62.