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Socrates is one of the most renowned and well-known figures in history he was one of the most remarkable thinkers of all time and his philosophical Legacy continues to be researched studied and debated all over the world despite becoming an extremely well-known figure Socrates did not found a school nor did he write anything with his own hand what we know about his life and philosophy has come down to us through other authors three of whom are considered the main ones Plato Aristophanes and
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xenophon the first is certainly the best known as he was Socrates pupil and also became a very important philosopher whose philosophical Legacy is also of enormous value these three authors portrayed Socrates in diverse ways Plato who lived between 428 and 348 BC and xenophon who lived between 430 and 355 BC proved to be great admirers of Socrates the Greek playright Aristophanes on the other hand had a less favorable view of the Athenian philosopher Aristophanes deals with
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Socrates in a comedy from 423 BC entitled the clouds where the Greek thinker is ridiculed and considered a false Sage as well as being seen as a corruptor of Youth and disrespectful to the Gods in his philosophy Aristophanes also presents Socrates as a sophist but we should not forget that this playright wrote some of the most famous comedies of ancient times hence the caricatured style he used to portray the philosopher although we don't know his exact intentions Aristophanes writings are
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especially important for learning about the life of the great Greek philosopher despite Socrates being negatively characterized by Aristophanes he wrote things that are remarkably similar to those of xenophon and Plato for example he mentions dialectics as a communicative tool used by Socrates he also mentions the well-known Socratic method through which the philosopher questioned his counterparts the play the clouds contains some interesting and significant biographical characteristics
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of Socrates who is described as a simple poor man who walked Barefoot and lived in a very modest house in fact Socrates humility was one of the main Hallmarks of his life also cited in other sources in the memorable thoughts of Socrates Xena F wrote that he has no slaves his food and drink are not Exquisite his clothing is only a coarse cloak in summer and winter and he has no shoes or tunic in addition to these three authors other particularly important ones have
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mentioned Socrates such as diogenes lartius or Cicero as well as Aristotle another brilliant Greek philosopher by combining the descriptions of these writers and researchers it has been possible to construct the trajectory of Socrates life and philosophy Socrates was born in Athens in 469 BC his father was the sculptor sisc his mother was the Midwife ferate some paintings frascos and sculptures help us to better understand what the philosopher looked like physically and it seems he was not
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particularly beautiful but this detail is insignificant when compared to the Mastery of his thought and the greatness of his philosophical Legacy he was attractive enough for his zthy whom he married and had a son called lamle according to some sources he had two children with another wife he was averse to luxury dressing simply and shabbily leading a modest life without attaching importance to material possessions these traits became his trademark at times his behavior was odd attracting the
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attention of some of his contemporaries on some occasions he would stand still and meditate remaining in this state for a long time it was as if the philosopher noticed and felt nothing else around him contemplating only his thoughts in the dialogue of the Symposium Plato recounted some of these traits of the philosopher for example he wrote that Socrates was resilient to low temperatures and on some occasions While others were protecting themselves from frost the philosopher could face them
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Outdoors wearing only a blanket what's more he walked Barefoot on the ice and didn't seem to feel cold underfoot once in Po in 432 BC he reportedly spent 24 hours paralyzed looking at the Horizon and reflecting on some idea something that impressed the soldiers camped with the philosopher there also in the Symposium Plato tells us that the master drank alcohol like no other man and yet was never seen drunk for a period of his life Socrates tried to follow the same
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career path as his father but was unsuccessful as a sculptor during his youth he served in the military and took part in the pelian war a conflict between the cities of Athens and Sparta that began in 431 and ended in 404 BC he received a great deal of recognition for his heroism but as we know today his Destiny was different philosophy one of the great landmarks of Socratic philosophy is the exceedingly popular phrase I know that I know nothing in a platonic dialogue Socrates
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recounted the origin of this famous quote on one occasion caraon a childhood friend of his consulted the Oracle of delvi a place considered sacred to the Greeks where people consulted their Destinies with the pythes who were prophetesses entering an altered state of consciousness and through the god Apollo to whom the place was dedicated they answered those who sought them out when caraon went to this place he asked if there was a wiser man in the world than Socrates the answer was negative
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Socrates was the wisest of them all when caraon told his friend about this the philosopher was extremely puzzled as he was fully aware that he knew nothing according to Plato he asked himself what does the god mean and what hidden meaning does the answer have I am not aware of being wise or unwise what does he mean by declaring me the wisest curious and Keen to unravel the oracle's words he decided to seek out an acquaintance of his who was a politician and whom he considered to be wise after
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talking to him the Athenian philosopher realized that the politician was not so wise because he did not recognize the limits of his own ignorance Socrates concluded I am wiser than this man it is probable that neither of us knows anything important but he believes he knows something and Hees not I if I do not know it do not suppose I know either Socrates later consulted other politicians as well as talking to poets and craftsmen who were considered wise but contact with these people led him to
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the same conclusion he had reached with the first man he had talked to that they knew nothing although they thought the opposite Socrates became well known in Athens and one of the main reasons for this was the Socratic method which consisted of an inquiry process through which the philosopher approached certain individuals rich or poor young or old in places such as gymnasiums public squares and banquets questioning them on subjects that were often apparently simple and straightforward for the
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interlocutors but which soon became uncertain when the people he approached answered a question Socrates deconstructed these answers with new questions pointing out mistakes and inconsistencies often the interlocutor would learn that they did not know what they initially believed they understood amid so many unanswered questions this self-reflection allowed people to learn more about the issues and take a new perspective on the subject discussed with Socrates the philosopher wisely
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used dialectics which is the art of discourse as a linguistic tool in the search for truth often this helped people to realize that some Concepts accepted a priori as true after being examed critically and deeply were false and these would finally recognize their ignorance Socrates compared this method to the profession of Midwife which as we said at the beginning of the video was that of his mother he understood that this philosophical approach helped to Foster innovative ideas since these
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already existed within people and he only helped to give birth to them as if he were a kind of obstetrician this labor performed by The Thinker initially questioning his fellow citizens and showing contradictions and misunderstandings in their reasoning then making them change their perspectives on what they thought they knew was called mudic it's important to stress that as xenophon says Socrates never received any payment for his teaching unlike the sophists another
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interesting point in his philosophy is the question of virtue the most valuable of all Goods Socrates believed that the man who possessed knowledge was both virtuous and in Inc capable of evil since evil was brought about by the ignorant who did not know what was good for this reason there was a relationship between morality and knowledge in other words if we know what good is there is no reason to do evil at 60 socres was accused and condemned in Athens in apology Plato recounted the Master's
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allegations before the three accusers anius malus and lyson as well as other people present during the conviction according to Plato Socrates was accused of corrupting Youth and not believing in the gods that the people believe in but in new deities xenophon who also described the process of Socrates sentencing and death emphasizes how the Athenian philosopher felt wronged xenophon and Plato mention Socrates admirable peace before death during the trial Socrates told those
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present that he had a Divine Mission which began in childhood when he used to hear a voice inside him this voice would be that of his demon historically the word demon has been given multiple meanings in Socrates case it was a kind of Genius or personal guide who spoke to the philosopher and gave him suggestions on what to do Socrates was eventually sentenced to death and forced to ingest Hemlock a strong poison in Pho Plato underlines the Master's admirable and
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inspiring composure and courage when faced with death the man appeared to me to be happy in his Manner and speech he faced death with fearlessness and nobility and at the end of this work he described Socrates as the best wisest and most just of men Socrates was one of the greatest philosophers of all time most writers Who quote him consider him extremely wise his philosophical Legacy is hugely significant and has influenced other subsequent thinkers s es among other things teaches us to better
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analyze our thoughts and to have a more critical perspective on the surrounding reality through the study we realized how important it is to always maintain a critical stance towards the world and how important humility is in our quest for knowledge Plato was an illustrious Greek philosopher whose writings which have survived to this day have rendered his ideas Immortal Plato was born in Athens around 427 or 428 BC and came from a noble family his father was Ariston and
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his mother was pericon the philosopher had two brothers adanus and Glon and a sister called poon his father died when the thinker was still young and after his death pericon remarried and from this Union anapon was born few people know that Plato was a nickname the famous philosopher's name was aristocles the same as his grandfather Plato comes from the Greek platon and means great or broad this nickname was given to him by his wrestling coach because of his physical size Plato lived during a
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politically turbulent period in Athens When The pelian War took place a conflict between Athens and Sparta he also witnessed the period when Athens was defeated by Sicily and witnessed an important political change when democracy lost ground to oligarchy this hectic time was certainly an influence on his musings on ethics and politics Plato received a good education in his childhood and youth he studied a variety of subjects such as music history geometry and arithmetic among
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others throughout his youth he excelled athletically in his early philosophical studies through contact with the Contemporary cratus he gained an interest in the presocratic heraclitus of Ephesus and later also Al studied the philosophers of the ilic school including Parmenides who was of particular interest to Plato at around 20 years old Plato became a pupil of the remarkable philosopher Socrates the master Had A peculiar demeanor to his contemporaries dressing shab and
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frequenting public places where he questioned the most diverse individuals Plato became Socrates pupil and although his master wrote nothing down his faithful Apprentice noted much information about him today a great deal of what we know about Socrates life and work comes from the works of his pupil Plato Plato was interested in pursuing a political career but when his master Socrates was sentenced and executed he became deeply disillusioned with the local government and began to chart
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another course for his life after socrates's death Plato left his hometown and moved to Meera a city west of Athens in 388 BC when he was about 40 years old he spent a period in Italy where he tried to establish contact with the pythagoreans followers of the philosophy founded by the presocratic Pythagoras of Samos around the same time he also went to sirene now Libya and to Egypt a particularly important country where Plato came into contact with and gained knowledge from local Sorcerers and
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Prophets but the documents about the Philosopher's visit to these two places are uncertain on one occasion while in Italy Plato met the Tyrant dionisius I who invited the philosopher to visit Syracuse in Sicily hoping that the Athenian thinker would become his personal adviser Plato hoped to present his thoughts and influence the ruler with his political philosophy but the relationship between the two quickly became troubled with uncomfortable disagreements between them dianus the
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became so angry with the Greek thinker that he sold him as a slave to a Spartan from Aina an island near Athens but Plato escaped with the help of arit of syene and returned to Athens during this troubled time in Italy Plato became friends with the Greek philosopher Dion a relative of dionisius I Plato's return from this first trip to Sicily was important at around 40 years old he founded the philosophical school called The Academy near Athens the name Academy comes from akademos an important
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Athenian hero the place was associated with the muses entities bound to the god Apollo one of the main and most woried deities in ancient Greece Plato is said to have charged nothing to those who frequented the place another interesting fact is that at least two women are believed to have taken part in the meetings of this philosophical School in his written documents Plato explored different areas of philosophical research such as epist emology politics metaphysics ethics and Aesthetics among
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the many aspects of his philosophy the most important and wellknown are the theory of forms and the myth of the Cave the theory of forms is one of the cornerstones of platonic philosophy this topic not only appears in one book but in several of his texts Plato considers there to be two Realms where the plane he calls the spiritual realm is characterized by being immutable Eternal and stable but the Physical Realm the one we apprehend through our senses is defined by how mutable things are this
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is the world of appearances of imperfect copies of what exists in the spiritual realm where Essences truths in themselves are to be found in other words in the spiritual realm things are absolute but on the second plane in the Physical Realm they only exist in appearance because their primary roots are in the spiritual Realm that which exists in the sensory sphere is a copy of that which pertains to the spiritual realm the true cause of things in the Physical Realm is super sensible
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in other words everything that exists in the world in which we live is a shadow of what occurs in the spiritual realm to illustrate this thought Plato wrote the famous myth or allegory of the cave we may imagine a cave with several prisoners who since birth have been chained there facing only in One Direction seeing shadows cast by objects behind them lit by a bonfire these prisoners believe that the Shadows are reality when a prisoner frees himself and leaves the cave he is initially
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dazzled by the sunlight and true reality but he understands and accepts this New Perspective he learns that the Shadows he saw before were not things in themselves the man returns to the cave to share what he has discovered but the other prisoners ridicule him and and refuse to believe his words they remain inside diluted believing that the Shadows were the truth itself without knowing that the things themselves were not in that place in this metaphor the Physical
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Realm is the cave and the spiritual realm that is reality itself the source of everything related to the physical sphere lies outside the cave this allegory may also be interpreted in unusual ways and is even associated with other aspects of platonic philosophy such as nosology ethics and politics although important the theory of forms and the myth of the cave are only part of Plato's extensive and complex work which covers studies on Aesthetics morality Reflections on Love and Other
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subjects in 367 BC Plato returned to Sicily he tried to develop contacts with dianus II who had succeeded his father this was because the Tyrant dianus the II had developed a taste for philosophy and wanted to study with him but as had happened years before Plato's time in Sicily was frustrating and the meeting with the stubborn dianus II was not fruitful and disagreements arose between the two but that wasn't the end of Plato's time in Sicily in 361 BC the Greek thinker returned to the city now
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accompanied by his students xenocrates and spus there were further disagreements the philosopher almost died trying to deal with the authoritarian dionisius II whose barbaric Behavior remained unaltered his friend Dion eventually won power but was assassinated in 353 BC in 360 BC Plato returned to Athens where he remained busy until his death Plato died in approximately 347 BC aged around 80 and was supposedly buried in or near the grounds of his philosoph opical School
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Plato's Academy was destroyed in 86 BC by Lucius Cornelius suah a Roman officer who conquered the Greek city that year Not only was the academy destroyed but other parts of the city as well such as the Lum the philosophical School founded by Aristotle even after the academy was destroyed the platonic School continued to be taught until it was closed down in 529 ad by order of the Roman Emperor Justinian in the 20th century the location of the academy was found and is
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now an archaeological site that can be visited free of charge by tourists Plato's vast philosophical Legacy influenced other renowned names in the history of philosophy Aristotle was one of the Academy students for almost 20 years and was hugely influenced by his teacher Plato in 250 ad the Greek platinus launched the neoplatonic school where he studied and reinterpreted Plato's philosophy which then resurfaced along with plotus many other thinkers such as St Augustine porfy bergon or
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Arthur schopenhauer were influenced by the famous works of Plato one of Humanity's leading Geniuses whose books continue to be translated into multiple languages drawing readers and researchers from all over the world some of his most famous Works include the Republic Symposium Pho Theus and and fadis Plato's name is widely recognized even by those unfamiliar with philosophy and his teachings continue to influence new generations of thinkers Aristotle is one of the most
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important names in the history of philosophy along with Socrates and Plato he became one of the leading personalities of all time his thought has survived the test of time reaching the present day and displaying all its Splendor his Works continue to be studied debated and influential Aristotle like his predecessors Socrates and Plato is a major thinker in the history of philosophy however unlike the other two he was not an Athenian he was born around 384 BC in Stiga in thce now
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a city in the cidian region his father was nikam makus a talented and renowned physician who worked for the Macedonian royal family the famous historian diogenes lartius described Aristotle as someone with a whispered speech his legs were very thin and his eyes small but he dressed extravagantly and combed his hair carefully Aristotle grew up in a privileged financial situation during his childhood and youth the philosopher from stagira received a good education
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and when he was between 16 and 17 years old he was sent to Athens to study at the Academy with Plato who was already around 70 years old he stayed there and studied for almost 20 years leaving the City only after his master's death following Plato's passing the academy was inherited by his nephew spu cipus who placed great emphasis on the teaching of mathematics much to Aristotle's Chagrin Aristotle despite being Plato's disciple developed a philosophical thought that differed in
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many ways from that of his master he was even overly critical of various aspects of platonic philosophy these disagreements can be seen in aristotlean metaphysics which differed from that of the master of the academy Acy based on a sensible world and a super sensible World another particularity in Aristotle's special interest and attention to the empirical Sciences something we cannot see in Plato's works but Aristotle's Legacy is distinguished by Major inquiries into nature the
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philosopher moved to atorus a Greek colony in Asia Minor this time was particularly important in Aristotle's life as he met pus niece of king hermas of atus whom he married and had a prosperous relationship with the philosopher once wrote that after dying he would have liked to be buried with his beloved in 348 BC he lived for a period in Asos and then in melene the capital of the Island of Lesbos Aristotle's time there was particularly notable for his intense studies into
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biology and careful observation of nature in lesbos he eagerly studied marine life and in oos he even opened an academy where he led Research into Biology one of the great landmarks of Aristotle's work is that it pioneered the detailed study and systematic classification of certain species the philosopher is said to have dissected some animals to study them more thoroughly he compared and observed life forms in nature in an unprecedented way his collaborations were so important
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that today it is difficult and even unfair to talk about the history of science without mentioning Aristotle in 343 BC Aristotle was called to join the court of King Philip II of Macedon becoming tutor to the 13-year-old Alexander the King's son who had one day become Alexander the Great one of the most famous figures in history Plutarch tells us that at least for a certain period the young Alexander became attached to the philosopher tutor and had a profound respect for him viewing
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him as a true father Aristotle taught the young heir to the Macedon Throne various subjects and his instructions were extremely important in Alexander's life the philosopher held this position for 3 years and then returned to his hometown of stagira where he lived from 340 to 335 BC eventually moving to Athens and lived there until 323 BC in 335 BC on the outskirts of Athens Aristotle founded the philosophical school called Lum named after the word Leos because the school was in an area
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dedicated to Apollo known as lios or lum Aristotle had many students and debated different areas of knowledge with them some notable personalities studied with him including the philosophers aristoxenus of Tarentum cryus Strat of lamsas and many others the lysium became known as the partic school and its students came to be called parapatics the word paretic comes from Greek and can be translated as strolling or walking the origin lies in the fact that Aristotle classes took place during
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Garden walks during which he and his students engaged in philosophical Reflections and debates in 323 BC Alexander the Great died this sparked an anti-macedonian reaction among the Athenians and accusations were leveled against Aristotle Alexander's former tutor for safety reasons the philosopher left the city and moved to chalus on the Greek island of uboya Aristotle said that he had left Athens to not let philosophy be wrong twice clearly referring to Socrates fate another
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notable Greek philosopher whose practice was rejected by some of his contemporaries who accused condemned and killed him the archaeological discovery of the Lum is recent having taken place in 1996 the site was accidentally found in the center of Athens just behind the Greek Parliament during excavations to build a modern art museum since 2009 the Lum has been available to the public it opens every day and charges a small fee to visitors when we study this great
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Greek philosopher we find a division in his writings made an Antiquity by some Scholars who considered that Aristotle produced texts especially to be read by the public the so-called exoteric writings and also technical texts known as esoteric writings prepared by the philosopher for use in the Lum unfortunately almost all of the contents of the first category have been lost over time although many of his vast Productions have come down to US during the Middle Ages philosophers once again
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focused on aristotelianism during the so-called Islamic philosophy or Arab philosophy one of the leading figures in Arabic philosophy who shaped the entire context of medieval philosophy was avaros a notable Muslim philosopher and physician he was a great scholar of Aristotle's philosophy his annotations on the Greek thinkers work helped to awaken interest in aristotlean thought in the Middle Ages we you can also mention Al gazali and aviena outstanding Arab philosophical personalities who
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were also inspired by Aristotle studies apart from the influence and visibility that aristotlean philosophy had at that time his work lived on after this historical period inspiring great personalities including two illustrious men the Polish Nicolas kernus and the Italian Galileo galile the latter disagreed with and challenged aristotlean physics besides these two renowned personalities Darwin wrote the following words lenaeus and kuier have been my two Gods though in very
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different ways but they were mere school boys to Old Aristotle in his writings Aristotle addresses multiple areas of study such as metaphysics ethics politics logic zoology mathematics art among others in general through his documents and their vast thematic scope the philosopher ended up contributing to many areas of knowledge Beyond philosophy in 2016 during the 2,400 years of Aristotle World Congress a group of Greek archaeologists claimed to have found Aristotle's tomb in sagira
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the place where the thinker was born although without any definitive proof the evidence was strong and the team seemed confident of their Discovery the site where the archaeologists said they had found the tomb contains descriptions similar to the information found in some official documents that mention the death and burial of Aristotle's ashes the evidence found in the excavations is powerful proof that this was the thinker's tomb but it is not yet certain whether this was the illustrious
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philosopher's final resting place or not Aristotle was one of the world's most famous thinkers and his philosophical Legacy still fascinates and attracts the attention of many he remains a highly respected personality whose work is of enormous significance to the history of philosophy
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