by Patrizio Nissirio

(ANSA) - ROME - He thought, wrote and taught 24 centuries ago, but his lesson is more up-to-date and necessary than ever: Aristotle, the Greek philosopher born in 386 BC in Stageira (today's Olympiada), in northern Greece, will be celebrated at a world congress on May 23-28 at the University of Thessaloniki, named after the great philosopher.

The congress in the 'year of Aristotle' has a strong multidisciplinary approach to stress the fundamental impact Aristotle had on human thought and science, stressed Demetra Sfendoni-Mentzou, president of the Interdisciplinary Center for Aristotle Studies in Thessaloniki, the main organizer of the event. The 300 participants from 40 countries include world-renowned Italian Aristotle scholars such as Enrico Berti, Cristina Rossitto and Ennio De Bellis. ''The influence of Aristotle goes well beyond classical philosophy - Sfendoni-Mentzou told ANSAmed - and today his legacy lives on in sectors like politics and ethics, for example, where it teaches us a lot. In Greece, as well as in Europe and the US, there are serious problems in the relationship between politics and ethics, a great problem of values. Our politicians could benefit from studying Aristotle, but unfortunately education on classics is lacking. Aristotle, in fact, set the foundation for the concept of democracy, citizenship, 'polis'. We need these ideas today, to define these categories, and for the very idea of humanity''.

Yet for Sfendoni-Mentzou, who worked with her colleagues for three years to organize the event, Aristotle is also crucial for the sciences, from biology to physics, from psychology to botany, for which it provided ''the methodology of science''.

The professor at the University of Thessaloniki has dedicated the last two decades to the study of how the philosopher ''connects the philosophy of Nature to contemporary physics.

Aristotle has laid the groundwork for all sciences'', she stressed.

Celebrations for the 2,400th anniversary of the philosopher's birth, which UNESCO is also joining, will not be limited to Thessaloniki but will include his native Stageira and the ancient Mieza (near today's Naousa), where Aristotle, according to Plutarch, taught Alexander the Great. (ANSA).