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Aristotle

Aristotle was born in 384 BCE in Stagira, a Greek city on the Chalcidic peninsula of Macedonia. His father, Nicomachus, was a physician to King Amyntas III of Macedon, providing Aristotle with early exposure to medicine and natural philosophy. After his father’s death, Aristotle moved to Athens at age seventeen, where he became a student at Plato’s Academy. He remained there for two decades, deeply engaging with Plat

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Aristotle

Aristotle valued constitutional order, arguing that freedom survives only where law rules rather than men. By defending mixed government, the rule of law, and civic virtue, he offers a durable lesson for free societies: liberty is preserved not by passion or will, but by institutions that discipline power through reasoned law.

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Averroes

Averroes, also known as Ibn Rushd, was a prominent Muslim philosopher and jurist in the medieval period. Born in Cordoba, Spain, in 1126, Averroes came from a distinguished family of jurists—both his grandfather and father served as a qadi (chief judge) in Seville and Cordoba. He was known for his expertise in various fields such as law, philosophy, theology, astronomy, mathematics, medicine, and theology. Averroes i

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Avicenna

Avicenna (c. 980 – 1037 CE), known in the Islamic world as Ibn Sina, was a Persian thinker whose influence spanned philosophy, medicine, science, and theology. Born near Bukhara in the village of Afshana (modern Uzbekistan), he displayed remarkable intellect early on—memorizing the Quran and mastering diverse sciences by age 16.

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Boethius

Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius (c. 480 – 524/525 CE) was a Roman philosopher, government official, and Christian thinker who helped bridge the classical and medieval worlds. Born into the distinguished aristocratic family of the Anicii, Boethius received a classical education and became fluent in both Latin and Greek. He held high political office under Theodoric the Great, ruler of the Ostrogothic Kingdom in Ita

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Burke

Edmund Burke (1729–1797) was an Irish-born thinker, writer, and politician who made his mark in British politics and became a leading voice in shaping modern conservative thought. Born in Dublin and educated at Trinity College, he moved to London and eventually became a long-serving Member of Parliament and public intellectual. Burke stood up for tradition, slow and steady reform, and the value of inherited wisdom. H

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Cicero

Cicero, full name Marcus Tullius Cicero, was a Roman statesman, orator, lawyer, writer, and philosopher who lived during the late Roman Republic. He is considered one of Rome’s greatest writers and speakers. He was born on January 3, 106 BCE, in Arpinum, Italy, and was executed on December 7, 43 BCE, in Formiae, Italy, by order of Mark Antony during the proscriptions following the assassination of Julius Caesar. Cice

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Copernicus

A 16th-century portrait of Nicolaus Copernicus, the Polish astronomer, depicted in profile with fur collar and cap, holding a compass and armillary sphere, symbolizing his heliocentric theory in De revolutionibus orbium coelestium that revolutionized cosmology.

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Galen

Aelius Galen or Claudius Galen, also known as Galen of Pergamon, was a prominent Greek physician, surgeon, and philosopher in the 2nd century CE. He was born in Pergamon, a city in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), in 129 AD during the Roman Empire. Galen’s father, Aelius Nicon, was a wealthy architect, providing Galen with the means to pursue his education in medicine. Galen traveled extensively throughout the Mediter

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Homer

Born/Died: He is believed to have lived during the 8th or 7th century BCE, possibly in Ionia (modern-day western Turkey). The details of Homer’s birth and life are unclear, both by contemporary and scholastic sources.

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Luther

Martin Luther (1483–1546 CE) was a German monk, theologian, professor, and reformer whose 95 Theses (1517) ignited the Protestant Reformation, fracturing Western Christendom. Born in Eisleben (Saxony), he studied law at Erfurt before a 1505 thunderstorm vow led him to join the Augustinian friars. Ordained in 1507, he earned a doctorate in theology (1512) and taught at Wittenberg University. Tormented by guilt and Anf

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Maimonides

Maimonides, also known as Moses Ben Maimon, was a famous Jewish philosopher, theologian, physician, and influential Torah scholar in the Middle Ages. He was born in Cordoba, Spain, around 1135 AD, and died in Cairo, Egypt, in 1204. Maimonides is considered one of the greatest Jewish scholars of all time, known for his vast contributions to philosophy, medicine, and Jewish law. In his time, he served as a personal phy

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Mencius

Mencius, also known as Mengzi or Meng-tzu, was one of the influential Chinese Confucian philosophers who lived during the Warring States period. He is considered one of the most important Confucian thinkers after Confucius himself (often referred to as the Second Sage). Mencius was born in the state of Zou (now known as Shandong Province) in 371 BCE and is believed to have died around 289 BCE. Little is known about h

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Plato

Plato (c. 428/427–348/347 BCE) was a Greek philosopher, writer, and foundational figure in Western philosophy. A student of Socrates and teacher of Aristotle, Plato founded the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. His writings—mostly in the form of philosophical dialogues—explored ethics, politics, metaphysics, epistemology, art, and education. After the Trial of Socrates,

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Plotinus

Plotinus was a Greek philosopher born in Roman Egypt, most likely in Lyco (modern Asyut) or Lycopolis. He is widely recognized as the founder of Neoplatonism, a philosophy that profoundly influenced late antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance. Plotinus began studying philosophy in Alexandria at age 28, becoming a devoted student of Ammonius Saccas for eleven years. He joined Emperor Gordian III’s Persian exp

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Socrates

• Socrates’ emphasis on self-examination and the search for truth through dialogue laid the foundation for Western philosophy and influenced later thinkers such as Plato and Aristotle.

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Sophocles

Master of Greek Tragedy : Sophocles, one of the three great ancient Greek tragedians, is celebrated for his innovative contributions to drama, including the introduction of a third actor and complex character development, as seen in works like Oedipus Rex and Antigone .

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Thales

Thales was a pre-Socratic ancient Greek philosopher from Miletus (modern-day Turkey). He is one of the Seven Sages of ancient Greece and is considered to be one of the first Western philosophers and founding figures in ancient Greece. While much of his early life remains lost in history, he is believed to have lived around 624–546 BCE. Thales is considered to be one of the first to have been engaged in various fields

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Thales

Thales marks a quiet revolution in equal human dignity by insisting that the world can be understood through reason rather than myth or command. By seeking lawful order in nature itself, he helped free inquiry from authority—laying the groundwork for a tradition in which truth is discovered, debated, and revised, not decreed. Aristotle regarded Thales as the inventor of philosophy.

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Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas (around 1225–1274 CE) was a Dominican friar and one of the most influential thinkers of the Middle Ages. Born into a noble family near Aquino in Italy, he surprised everyone by choosing a simple, devoted life with the Dominicans, despite his family’s objections.

Periods

400–300 BC

← Back to All Books 400–300 BC This shelf contains every edition recorded in the original catalog cards for the period 400–300 BC. It features multiple translations of Plato’s major dialogues, key works by Aristotle, Demosthenes’ orations, and important Eastern texts that appear alongside them. The cards document a rich working collection built around the great conversation of classical antiquity — from Plato’s Acade

Books & Works

Commentary on the Metaphysics of Aristotle

Thomas Aquinas, Saint, 1225?–1274 · 1961 · Commentary on the Metaphysics of Aristotle. Translated by John P. Rowan. Chicago: H. Regnery, 1961. 2 volumes.

Books & Works

Constitution of Athens

Aristotle · 1950 (von Fritz & Kapp) · Translated with introduction and notes by Kurt von Fritz and Ernst Kapp. Hafner Library of Classics.

Books & Works

Meteorologica

Aristotle · 1952 (Lee, Loeb) · With English translation by H.D.P. Lee. Loeb Classical Library.

Books & Works

On Poetry and Style

Aristotle · 1968 (Grube trans.) · Translated with an introduction by G.M.A. Grube. Library of Liberal Arts, no. 68.

Books & Works

On the Heavens

Aristotle · 1939 (Guthrie, Loeb) · Translated by W.K.C. Guthrie. Loeb Classical Library.

Books & Works

The Athenian Constitution

Aristotle · 1935 (Rackham, Loeb) · The Athenian Constitution; Eudemian Ethics; On Virtues and Vices. Translated by H. Rackham. Loeb Classical Library.

Books & Works