Which ancient Greek thinker is the most important to the development of western philosophy and science?

Its tough because a lot depnds on the time frame you are looking at, and whether you are talkign about science on the one hand, or philosophy on the other — and if philosophy, whether political philosophy or other more epistological philosophy.

I think my answer would be Aristotle — because he was central to the development of scientific thought through the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and his political thought was at least as influential as Plato’s. Much of the Western philosophy under the Church in the Middle Ages relied on Aristotle. In addition, his liiterary and rhetoric theory was absolutley central to later developments.

Plato’s philosophy on other matters has been foundational for Western non-political philosophy, esp. once the Middle Ages were over. (And since what we know of Socrates is through Plato, Plato gets credit for Socrates’ thought as well.) But even so, I’d say Aristotle was more important for the subsequent DEVELOPMENT of subsequent Western thought and esp. science.

ANCIENT GREEK INNOVATIONS

Plato: Republic $7.50 Since its publication in 1974, scholars throughout the humanities have adopted G M A Grube’s masterful translation of the Republic as the edition of choice for their study and teaching of Plato’s most influential work. In this revision, C D C Reeve furthers Grube’s success both in preserving the subtlety of Plato’s philosophical argument and in rendering the dialogue in lively, fluent English tha…

The Republic Of Plato: Second Edition $13.02 Long regarded as the most accurate rendering of Plato’s Republic that has yet been published, this widely acclaimed work is the first strictly literal translation of a timeless classic. This second edition includes a new introduction by Professor Bloom, whose careful translation and interpretation of The Republic was first published in 1968. In addition to the corrected text itself there is also…

Archimedes and the Door of Science (Living History Library) $6.86 Summary:This is a book about the life and work of Archimedes, the Greek mathemetician, a book designed particularly for students in home school situations but interesting for any young reader.About the Author:•0Author: Jeanne BendickIllustrator:0Publisher:Bethlehem BooksPublished Date:10/01/1995Format:PaperbackISBN:1883937124#of pages:#N/A…