Originally trained in the Neo-Kantian tradition with Ernst Cassirer and immersed in the work of the phenomenologists Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger, Strauss later focused his research on the Greek texts of Plato and Aristotle, retracing their interpretation through medieval Islamic and Jewish philosophy, and encouraged application of their ideas to contemporary political theory.

Humanists also encouraged the study of Aristotle and other writers of antiquity in the original.

Aristotle (, Aristotélēs ) ( 384 BC – 322 BC ) was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great.

Soon after Hermias ' death, Aristotle was invited by Philip II of Macedon to become the tutor to his son Alexander in 343 BC.

Near the end of Alexander's life, Alexander began to suspect plots against himself, and threatened Aristotle in letters.

Although his respect for Aristotle was diminished as his travels made it clear that much of Aristotle's geography was clearly wrong, when the old philosopher released his works to the public, Alexander complained " Thou hast not done well to publish thy acroamatic doctrines ; for in what shall I surpass other men if those doctrines wherein I have been trained are to be all men's common property?

* 1948 – Alexander Onassis, American Greek socialite, son of Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis ( d. 1973 )

Andrea Briosco, Aristotle and Alexander of Aphrodisias, XVI century plaquette, Bode Museum | Bode-Museum

Alexander composed several commentaries on the works of Aristotle, in which he sought to escape a syncretistic tendency and to recover the pure doctrines of Aristotle.

* W. E. Dooley, 1989, Alexander of Aphrodisias: On Aristotle Metaphysics 1.

* W. E. Dooley, A. Madigan, 1992, Alexander of Aphrodisias: On Aristotle Metaphysics 2-3.

* A. Madigan, 1993, Alexander of Aphrodisias: On Aristotle Metaphysics 4.

* W. Dooley, 1993, Alexander of Aphrodisias: On Aristotle Metaphysics 5.

* E. Lewis, 1996, Alexander of Aphrodisias: On Aristotle Meteorology 4.

* E. Gannagé, 2005, Alexander of Aphrodisias: On Aristotle On Coming-to-Be and Perishing 2. 2-5.

* A. Towey, 2000, Alexander of Aphrodisias: On Aristotle On Sense Perception.

* V. Caston, 2011, Alexander of Aphrodisias: On Aristotle On the Soul.

* J. Barnes, S. Bobzien, K. Flannery, K. Ierodiakonou, 1991, Alexander of Aphrodisias: On Aristotle Prior Analytics 1. 1-7.

* I. Mueller, J. Gould, 1999, Alexander of Aphrodisias: On Aristotle Prior Analytics 1. 8-13.

* I. Mueller, J. Gould, 1999, Alexander of Aphrodisias: On Aristotle Prior Analytics 1. 14-22.

* I. Mueller, 2006, Alexander of Aphrodisias: On Aristotle Prior Analytics 1. 23-31.

* I. Mueller, 2006, Alexander of Aphrodisias: On Aristotle Prior Analytics 1. 32-46.

* J. M. Van Ophuijsen, 2000, Alexander of Aphrodisias: On Aristotle Topics 1.

During the University strike of 1229, Alexander participated in an embassy to Rome to discuss the place of Aristotle in the curriculum.

In it the narrator rides to ancient Greece on a hippogriff, meets Aristotle, and goes on a voyage with Alexander the Great before returning to the 19th century.

According to Aristotle, the four elements rise or fall toward their natural place in concentric layers surrounding the center of the earth and form the terrestrial or sublunary spheres.

Aristotle, ( 384 – 322 BCE ), believed earth was the heaviest element, and his theory of natural place suggested that any earth – laden substances, would fall quickly, straight down, toward the center of the cosmos.

According to Aristotle, these four terrestrial elements are capable of inter-transformation and move toward their natural place, so a stone falls downward toward the center of the cosmos, but flames rise upward toward the circumference.

In Aristotle he missed the provision for the immortality of the soul, and in his ethics the tendency toward the eternal.

So Aristotle suggested only one unity — that of action — but the prevalent interpretation of his Poetics during the Middle Ages already inclined toward interpreting his comment on time as another " unity ".

* Chapter 19-Fittingly, Aristotle ’ s final chapter in Book III discusses epilogues, which are the conclusion of speeches and must include four things: “ disposing the hearer favorably toward the speaker and unfavorably to the opponent, amplifying and minimizing, moving the hearer into emotional reactions, and giving reminder of the speech ’ s main points ” ( Bk.

Two aspects of this attitude deserve to be mentioned: 1 ) he did not only study science from books, as other academics did in his day, but actually observed and experimented with nature ( the rumours starting by those who did not understand this are probably at the source of Albert's supposed connections with alchemy and witchcraft ), 2 ) he took from Aristotle the view that scientific method had to be appropriate to the objects of the scientific discipline at hand ( in discussions with Roger Bacon, who, like many 20th century academics, thought that all science should be based on mathematics ).

Unlike his prescriptive attitude regarding the plot ( unity of action ), Aristotle here merely remarks on the typical duration of a tragedy's action, and does not suggest any kind of imperative that it always ought to be so.

Pierre Galland, another professor there, published Contra novam academiam Petri Rami oratio ( 1551 ), and called him a " parricide " for his attitude to Aristotle.

To be truly human, one had to be an active citizen to the community, which Aristotle famously expressed: “ To take no part in the running of the community's affairs is to be either a beast or a god !” This form of citizenship was based on obligations of citizens towards the community, rather than rights given to the citizens of the community.

On the other hand, Athenaeus also dissented towards spontaneous generation, claiming that a variety of anchovy did not generate from roe, as Aristotle stated, but rather, from sea foam.

Aristotle is quoted as deliberating between education towards arete "... or those that are theoretical ".

In practice Aristotle explains that people tend more by nature towards pleasures, and therefore see virtues as being relatively closer to the less obviously pleasant extremes.

Aquinas shifted Scholasticism away from neoplatonism and towards Aristotle.

The decided bent of his mind had always been towards the Greek and Latin classics ; and to the study of these, especially of Aristotle, he applied himself with unremitting assiduity during a period of fourteen or fifteen years.

In this spirit he wrote commentaries upon portions of Aristotle, and upon the Summa of Aquinas, and towards the end of his life, made a careful translation of the Old and New Testaments, excepting Solomon's Song, the Prophets and the Revelation of St John.

In this erroneous but insightful theory can be found the first step towards the concept of inertia in modern physics, although Philoponus ’ theory was largely ignored at the time because he was too radical in his rejection of Aristotle.