Aristotle
Teacher” (Arabic: ‫)المعلم الأول‬.
For other uses, see Aristotle (disambiguation).
His ethics, though always influential, gained renewed interest with the modern advent of virtue ethics. All aspects
of Aristotle’s philosophy continue to be the object of active academic study today. Though Aristotle wrote many
elegant treatises and dialogues – Cicero described his literary style as “a river of gold”[7] – it is thought that only
around a third of his original output has survived.[8]
Aristotle (/ˈærɪˌstɒtəl/;[1] Greek:
Ἀριστοτέλης
[aristotélɛːs], Aristotélēs; 384 – 322 BC)[2] was a
Greek philosopher and scientist born in the Macedonian
city of Stagira, Chalkidice, on the northern periphery
of Classical Greece. His father, Nicomachus, died
when Aristotle was a child, whereafter Proxenus of
Atarneus became his guardian.[3] At eighteen, he joined
Plato’s Academy in Athens and remained there until
the age of thirty-seven (c. 347 BC). His writings cover
many subjects – including physics, biology, zoology,
metaphysics, logic, ethics, aesthetics, poetry, theater,
music, rhetoric, linguistics, politics and government –
and constitute the first comprehensive system of Western
philosophy. Shortly after Plato died, Aristotle left
Athens and, at the request of Philip of Macedon, tutored
Alexander the Great starting from 343 BC.[4] According
to the Encyclopædia Britannica, “Aristotle was the first
genuine scientist in history ... [and] every scientist is in
his debt.”[5]
1 Life
Teaching Alexander the Great gave Aristotle many opportunities and an abundance of supplies. He established
a library in the Lyceum which aided in the production
of many of his hundreds of books. The fact that Aristotle was a pupil of Plato contributed to his former views
of Platonism, but, following Plato’s death, Aristotle immersed himself in empirical studies and shifted from Platonism to empiricism.[6] He believed all peoples’ concepts and all of their knowledge was ultimately based on
perception. Aristotle’s views on natural sciences represent the groundwork underlying many of his works.
School of Aristotle in Mieza, Macedonia, Greece
Aristotle, whose name means “the best purpose”,[9] was
born in 384 BC in Stagira, Chalcidice, about 55 km (34
miles) east of modern-day Thessaloniki.[10] His father
Nicomachus was the personal physician to King Amyntas
of Macedon. Although there is little information on Aristotle’s childhood, he probably spent some time within the
Macedonian palace, making his first connections with the
Macedonian monarchy.[11]
Aristotle’s views on physical science profoundly shaped
medieval scholarship. Their influence extended into the
Renaissance and were not replaced systematically until
the Enlightenment and theories such as classical mechanics. Some of Aristotle’s zoological observations, such
as on the hectocotyl (reproductive) arm of the octopus,
were not confirmed or refuted until the 19th century. His
works contain the earliest known formal study of logic,
which was incorporated in the late 19th century into modern formal logic.
At about the age of eighteen, Aristotle moved to Athens
to continue his education at Plato’s Academy. He
remained there for nearly twenty years before leaving Athens in 348/47 BC. The traditional story about
his departure records that he was disappointed with
the Academy’s direction after control passed to Plato’s
In metaphysics, Aristotelianism profoundly influenced
nephew Speusippus, although it is possible that he
Judeo-Islamic philosophical and theological thought durfeared anti-Macedonian sentiments and left before Plato
ing the Middle Ages and continues to influence Christian
died.[12]
theology, especially the scholastic tradition of the
Catholic Church. Aristotle was well known among me- Aristotle then accompanied Xenocrates to the court of
dieval Muslim intellectuals and revered as “The First his friend Hermias of Atarneus in Asia Minor. There,
he traveled with Theophrastus to the island of Lesbos,
1
2
2 THOUGHT
tises include Physics, Metaphysics, Nicomachean Ethics,
Politics, De Anima (On the Soul) and Poetics.
Aristotle not only studied almost every subject possible
at the time, but made significant contributions to most of
them. In physical science, Aristotle studied anatomy, astronomy, embryology, geography, geology, meteorology,
physics and zoology. In philosophy, he wrote on aesthetics, ethics, government, metaphysics, politics, economics,
psychology, rhetoric and theology. He also studied education, foreign customs, literature and poetry. His combined works constitute a virtual encyclopedia of Greek
knowledge.
Near the end of his life, Alexander and Aristotle became
estranged over Alexander’s relationship with Persia and
Persians. A widespread tradition in antiquity suspected
Aristotle of playing a role in Alexander’s death, but there
is little evidence.[15]
Following Alexander’s death, anti-Macedonian sentiment
in Athens was rekindled. In 322 BC, Eurymedon the Hierophant denounced Aristotle for not holding the gods in
honor, prompting him to flee to his mother’s family estate in Chalcis, explaining: “I will not allow the Athenians to sin twice against philosophy”[16][17] – a reference
“Aristotle” by Francesco Hayez (1791–1882)
to Athens’s prior trial and execution of Socrates. He died
in Euboea of natural causes later that same year, havwhere together they researched the botany and zoology ing named his student Antipater as his chief executor and
of the island. Aristotle married Pythias, either Hermias’s leaving a will in which he asked to be buried next to his
adoptive daughter or niece. She bore him a daughter, wife.[18]
whom they also named Pythias. Soon after Hermias’ Charles Walston argues that the tomb of Aristotle is lodeath, Aristotle was invited by Philip II of Macedon to cated on the sacred way between Chalcis and Eretria and
become the tutor to his son Alexander in 343 BC.[4]
to have contained two styluses, a pen, a signet-ring and
Aristotle was appointed as the head of the royal academy
of Macedon. During that time he gave lessons not only to
Alexander, but also to two other future kings: Ptolemy
and Cassander.[13] Aristotle encouraged Alexander toward eastern conquest and his attitude towards Persia was
unabashedly ethnocentric. In one famous example, he
counsels Alexander to be “a leader to the Greeks and a
despot to the barbarians, to look after the former as after
friends and relatives, and to deal with the latter as with
beasts or plants”.[13]
some terra-cottas as well as what is supposed to be the
earthly remains of Aristotle in the form of some skull
fragments.[19]
In general, the details of the life of Aristotle are not wellestablished. The biographies of Aristotle written in ancient times are often speculative and historians only agree
on a few salient points.[20]
By 335 BC, Artistotle had returned to Athens, establishing his own school there known as the Lyceum. 2 Thought
Aristotle conducted courses at the school for the next
twelve years. While in Athens, his wife Pythias died
and Aristotle became involved with Herpyllis of Stagira, 2.1 Logic
who bore him a son whom he named after his father,
Nicomachus. According to the Suda, he also had an Main article: Term logic
eromenos, Palaephatus of Abydus.[14]
For more details on this topic, see Non-Aristotelian logic.
This period in Athens, between 335 and 323 BC, is
when Aristotle is believed to have composed many of his
works.[4] He wrote many dialogues of which only fragments have survived. Those works that have survived are
in treatise form and were not, for the most part, intended
for widespread publication; they are generally thought to
be lecture aids for his students. His most important trea-
With the Prior Analytics, Aristotle is credited with the
earliest study of formal logic,[21] and his conception of it
was the dominant form of Western logic until 19th century advances in mathematical logic.[22] Kant stated in the
Critique of Pure Reason that Aristotle’s theory of logic
completely accounted for the core of deductive inference.
2.2
Aristotle’s epistemology
3
served to mean dialectics. Most of Aristotle’s work is
probably not in its original form, because it was most
likely edited by students and later lecturers. The logical
works of Aristotle were compiled into six books in about
the early 1st century CE:
1. Categories
2. On Interpretation
3. Prior Analytics
4. Posterior Analytics
5. Topics
6. On Sophistical Refutations
Aristotle portrayed in the 1493 Nuremberg Chronicle as a
scholar of the 15th century AD.
2.1.1
History
Aristotle “says that 'on the subject of reasoning' he 'had
nothing else on an earlier date to speak of'".[23] However, Plato reports that syntax was devised before him, by
Prodicus of Ceos, who was concerned by the correct use
of words. Logic seems to have emerged from dialectics;
the earlier philosophers made frequent use of concepts
like reductio ad absurdum in their discussions, but never
truly understood the logical implications. Even Plato had
difficulties with logic; although he had a reasonable conception of a deductive system, he could never actually
construct one, thus he relied instead on his dialectic.[24]
Plato believed that deduction would simply follow from
premises, hence he focused on maintaining solid premises
so that the conclusion would logically follow. Consequently, Plato realized that a method for obtaining conclusions would be most beneficial. He never succeeded
in devising such a method, but his best attempt was published in his book Sophist, where he introduced his division method.[25]
The order of the books (or the teachings from which they
are composed) is not certain, but this list was derived
from analysis of Aristotle’s writings. It goes from the basics, the analysis of simple terms in the Categories, the
analysis of propositions and their elementary relations in
On Interpretation, to the study of more complex forms,
namely, syllogisms (in the Analytics) and dialectics (in the
Topics and Sophistical Refutations). The first three treatises form the core of the logical theory stricto sensu: the
grammar of the language of logic and the correct rules of
reasoning. There is one volume of Aristotle’s concerning
logic not found in the Organon, namely the fourth book
of Metaphysics.[24]
2.2 Aristotle’s epistemology
Like his teacher Plato, Aristotle’s philosophy aims at the
universal. Aristotle’s ontology, however, finds the universal in particular things, which he calls the essence
of things, while in Plato’s ontology, the universal exists
apart from particular things, and is related to them as
their prototype or exemplar. For Aristotle, therefore,
epistemology is based on the study of particular phenomena and rises to the knowledge of essences, while for
Plato epistemology begins with knowledge of universal
Forms (or ideas) and descends to knowledge of particular imitations of these. For Aristotle, “form” still refers
to the unconditional basis of phenomena but is “instantiated” in a particular substance (see Universals and particulars, below). In a certain sense, Aristotle’s method is
both inductive and deductive, while Plato’s is essentially
deductive from a priori principles.[26]
In Aristotle’s terminology, “natural philosophy” is a
branch of philosophy examining the phenomena of the
2.1.2 Analytics and the Organon
natural world, and includes fields that would be regarded
today as physics, biology and other natural sciences. In
Main article: Organon
modern times, the scope of philosophy has become limited to more generic or abstract inquiries, such as ethics
What we today call Aristotelian logic, Aristotle himself and metaphysics, in which logic plays a major role. Towould have labeled “analytics”. The term “logic” he re- day’s philosophy tends to exclude empirical study of the
4
2 THOUGHT
original research in the natural sciences, e.g., botany, zoology, physics, astronomy, chemistry, meteorology, and
several other sciences.
Aristotle’s writings on science are largely qualitative, as
opposed to quantitative. Beginning in the 16th century,
scientists began applying mathematics to the physical sciences, and Aristotle’s work in this area was deemed hopelessly inadequate. His failings were largely due to the absence of concepts like mass, velocity, force and temperature. He had a conception of speed and temperature, but
no quantitative understanding of them, which was partly
due to the absence of basic experimental devices, like
clocks and thermometers.
His writings provide an account of many scientific observations, a mixture of precocious accuracy and curious
errors. For example, in his History of Animals he claimed
that human males have more teeth than females.[27] In a
similar vein, John Philoponus, and later Galileo, showed
by simple experiments that Aristotle’s theory that a heavier object falls faster than a lighter object is incorrect.[28]
On the other hand, Aristotle refuted Democritus's claim
that the Milky Way was made up of “those stars which
are shaded by the earth from the sun’s rays,” pointing out
Plato (left) and Aristotle (right), a detail of The School of (correctly, even if such reasoning was bound to be disAthens, a fresco by Raphael. Aristotle gestures to the earth, rep- missed for a long time) that, given “current astronomical
resenting his belief in knowledge through empirical observation demonstrations” that “the size of the sun is greater than
and experience, while holding a copy of his Nicomachean Ethics that of the earth and the distance of the stars from the
in his hand, whilst Plato gestures to the heavens, representing his earth many times greater than that of the sun, then ... the
belief in The Forms, while holding a copy of Timaeus
sun shines on all the stars and the earth screens none of
them.”[29]
natural world by means of the scientific method. In con- In places, Aristotle goes too far in deriving 'laws of
trast, Aristotle’s philosophical endeavors encompassed the universe' from simple observation and over-stretched
reason. Today’s scientific method assumes that such
virtually all facets of intellectual inquiry.
thinking without sufficient facts is ineffective, and that
In the larger sense of the word, Aristotle makes philosodiscerning the validity of one’s hypothesis requires far
phy coextensive with reasoning, which he also would demore rigorous experimentation than that which Aristotle
scribe as “science”. Note, however, that his use of the
used to support his laws.
term science carries a different meaning than that covered by the term “scientific method”. For Aristotle, “all Aristotle also had some scientific blind spots. He posited
science (dianoia) is either practical, poetical or theoret- a geocentric cosmology that we may discern in selections
ical” (Metaphysics 1025b25). By practical science, he of the Metaphysics, which was widely accepted up until
means ethics and politics; by poetical science, he means the 16th century. From the 3rd century to the 16th centhe study of poetry and the other fine arts; by theoretical tury, the dominant view held that the Earth was the rotascience, he means physics, mathematics and metaphysics. tional center of the universe.
If logic (or “analytics”) is regarded as a study preliminary to philosophy, the divisions of Aristotelian philosophy would consist of: (1) Logic; (2) Theoretical Philosophy, including Metaphysics, Physics and Mathematics;
(3) Practical Philosophy and (4) Poetical Philosophy.
In the period between his two stays in Athens, between
his times at the Academy and the Lyceum, Aristotle conducted most of the scientific thinking and research for
which he is renowned today. In fact, most of Aristotle’s life was devoted to the study of the objects of natural science. Aristotle’s metaphysics contains observations on the nature of numbers but he made no original
contributions to mathematics. He did, however, perform
Because he was perhaps the philosopher most respected
by European thinkers during and after the Renaissance,
these thinkers often took Aristotle’s erroneous positions
as given, which held back science in this epoch.[30] However, Aristotle’s scientific shortcomings should not mislead one into forgetting his great advances in the many
scientific fields. For instance, he founded logic as a formal
science and created foundations to biology that were not
superseded for two millennia. Moreover, he introduced
the fundamental notion that nature is composed of things
that change and that studying such changes can provide
useful knowledge of underlying constants.
2.4
2.3
Physics
Geology
As quoted from Charles Lyell’s Principles of Geology:
He [Aristotle] refers to many examples of
changes now constantly going on, and insists
emphatically on the great results which they
must produce in the lapse of ages. He instances
particular cases of lakes that had dried up, and
deserts that had at length become watered by
rivers and fertilized. He points to the growth
of the Nilotic delta since the time of Homer,
to the shallowing of the Palus Maeotis within
sixty years from his own time ... He alludes ...
to the upheaving of one of the Eolian islands,
previous to a volcanic eruption. The changes
of the earth, he says, are so slow in comparison to the duration of our lives, that they are
overlooked; and the migrations of people after
great catastrophes, and their removal to other
regions, cause the event to be forgotten.
He says [12th chapter of his Meteorics] 'the
distribution of land and sea in particular regions does not endure throughout all time, but
it becomes sea in those parts where it was land,
and again it becomes land where it was sea, and
there is reason for thinking that these changes
take place according to a certain system, and
within a certain period.' The concluding observation is as follows: 'As time never fails, and
the universe is eternal, neither the Tanais, nor
the Nile, can have flowed for ever. The places
where they rise were once dry, and there is a
limit to their operations, but there is none to
time. So also of all other rivers; they spring
up and they perish; and the sea also continually deserts some lands and invades others
The same tracts, therefore, of the earth are
not some always sea, and others always continents, but every thing changes in the course
of time.'[31]
5
• Water, which is cold and wet; this corresponds to the
modern idea of a liquid.
• Air, which is hot and wet; this corresponds to the
modern idea of a gas.
• Fire, which is hot and dry; this corresponds to the
modern ideas of plasma and heat.
• Aether, which is the divine substance that makes up
the heavenly spheres and heavenly bodies (stars and
planets).
Each of the four earthly elements has its natural place. All
that is earthly tends toward the center of the universe, i.e.,
the center of the Earth. Water tends toward a sphere surrounding the center. Air tends toward a sphere surrounding the water sphere. Fire tends toward the lunar sphere
(in which the Moon orbits). When elements are moved
out of their natural place, they naturally move back towards it. This is “natural motion”—motion requiring no
extrinsic cause. So, for example, in water, earthy bodies
sink while air bubbles rise up; in air, rain falls and flame
rises. Outside all the other spheres, the heavenly, fifth element, manifested in the stars and planets, moves in the
perfection of circles.
2.4.2 Motion
Main article: potentiality and actuality
Aristotle defined motion as the actuality of a potentiality
as such.[32] Aquinas suggested that the passage be understood literally; that motion can indeed be understood as
the active fulfillment of a potential, as a transition toward
a potentially possible state. Because actuality and potentiality are normally opposites in Aristotle, other commentators either suggest that the wording which has come
down to us is erroneous, or that the addition of the “as
such” to the definition is critical to understanding it.[33]
2.4.3 Causality, the four causes
2.4
Physics
Main article: Four causes
Main article: Aristotelian physics
2.4.1
Five elements
Main article: Classical element
Aristotle proposed a fifth element, aether, in addition to
the four proposed earlier by Empedocles.
• Earth, which is cold and dry; this corresponds to the
modern idea of a solid.
Aristotle suggested that the reason for anything coming
about can be attributed to four different types of simultaneously active causal factors:
• Material cause describes the material out of which
something is composed. Thus the material cause of
a table is wood, and the material cause of a car is
rubber and steel. It is not about action. It does not
mean one domino knocks over another domino.
• The formal cause is its form, i.e., the arrangement
of that matter. It tells us what a thing is, that any
6
2 THOUGHT
thing is determined by the definition, form, pattern,
essence, whole, synthesis or archetype. It embraces
the account of causes in terms of fundamental principles or general laws, as the whole (i.e., macrostructure) is the cause of its parts, a relationship known
as the whole-part causation. Plainly put, the formal
cause is the idea existing in the first place as exemplar in the mind of the sculptor, and in the second
place as intrinsic, determining cause, embodied in
the matter. Formal cause could only refer to the essential quality of causation. A simple example of the
formal cause is the mental image or idea that allows
an artist, architect, or engineer to create his drawings.
2.4.4 Optics
Aristotle held more accurate theories on some optical
concepts than other philosophers of his day. The second
oldest written evidence of a camera obscura (after Mozi
c. 400 BC) can be found in Aristotle’s documentation of
such a device in 350 BC in Problemata. Aristotle’s apparatus contained a dark chamber that had a single small
hole, or aperture, to allow for sunlight to enter. Aristotle
used the device to make observations of the sun and noted
that no matter what shape the hole was, the sun would still
be correctly displayed as a round object. In modern cameras, this is analogous to the diaphragm. Aristotle also
made the observation that when the distance between the
aperture and the surface with the image increased, the
• The efficient cause is “the primary source”, or that image was magnified.[34]
from which the change under consideration proceeds. It identifies 'what makes of what is made and
what causes change of what is changed' and so sug- 2.4.5 Chance and spontaneity
gests all sorts of agents, nonliving or living, acting as
the sources of change or movement or rest. Repre- According to Aristotle, spontaneity and chance are causes
senting the current understanding of causality as the of some things, distinguishable from other types of
relation of cause and effect, this covers the modern cause. Chance as an incidental cause lies in the realm
definitions of “cause” as either the agent or agency of accidental things. It is “from what is spontaneous”
or particular events or states of affairs. So, take the (but note that what is spontaneous does not come from
two dominoes, this time of equal weighting, the first chance). For a better understanding of Aristotle’s conis knocked over causing the second also to fall over. ception of “chance” it might be better to think of “coincidence": Something takes place by chance if a person
• The final cause is its purpose, or that for the sake of sets out with the intent of having one thing take place,
which a thing exists or is done, including both pur- but with the result of another thing (not intended) taking
poseful and instrumental actions and activities. The place.
final cause or teleos is the purpose or function that
something is supposed to serve. This covers modern For example: A person seeks donations. That person may
ideas of motivating causes, such as volition, need, find another person willing to donate a substantial sum.
However, if the person seeking the donations met the perdesire, ethics, or spiritual beliefs.
son donating, not for the purpose of collecting donations,
but for some other purpose, Aristotle would call the colAdditionally, things can be causes of one another, caus- lecting of the donation by that particular donator a result
ing each other reciprocally, as hard work causes fitness of chance. It must be unusual that something happens by
and vice versa, although not in the same way or function, chance. In other words, if something happens all or most
the one is as the beginning of change, the other as the of the time, we cannot say that it is by chance.
goal. (Thus Aristotle first suggested a reciprocal or circular causality as a relation of mutual dependence or influ- There is also more specific kind of chance, which Arisence of cause upon effect). Moreover, Aristotle indicated totle names “luck”, that can only apply to human beings,
that the same thing can be the cause of contrary effects; because it is in the sphere of moral actions. According
its presence and absence may result in different outcomes. to Aristotle, luck must involve choice (and thus deliberSimply it is the goal or purpose that brings about an event. ation), and only humans are capable of deliberation and
Our two dominoes require someone or something to in- choice. “What is not capable of action cannot do anything
[35]
tentionally knock over the first domino, because it cannot by chance”.
fall of its own accord.
Aristotle marked two modes of causation: proper (prior)
causation and accidental (chance) causation. All causes,
proper and incidental, can be spoken as potential or as
actual, particular or generic. The same language refers
to the effects of causes, so that generic effects assigned
to generic causes, particular effects to particular causes,
operating causes to actual effects. Essentially, causality
does not suggest a temporal relation between the cause
and the effect.
2.5 Metaphysics
Main article: Metaphysics (Aristotle)
Aristotle defines metaphysics as “the knowledge of
immaterial being,” or of “being in the highest degree of
abstraction.” He refers to metaphysics as “first philosophy”, as well as “the theologic science.”
2.6
2.5.1
Biology and medicine
7
Substance, potentiality and actuality
In summary, the matter used to make a house has potentiality to be a house and both the activity of building and
See also: Potentiality and actuality (Aristotle)
the form of the final house are actualities, which is also a
final cause or end. Then Aristotle proceeds and concludes
Aristotle examines the concepts of substance and essence that the actuality is prior to potentiality in formula, in time
(ousia) in his Metaphysics (Book VII), and he concludes and in substantiality.
that a particular substance is a combination of both matter With this definition of the particular substance (i.e., matand form. In book VIII, he distinguishes the matter of ter and form), Aristotle tries to solve the problem of the
the substance as the substratum, or the stuff of which it unity of the beings, for example, “what is it that makes a
is composed. For example, the matter of a house is the man one"? Since, according to Plato there are two Ideas:
bricks, stones, timbers etc., or whatever constitutes the animal and biped, how then is man a unity? However, acpotential house, while the form of the substance is the cording to Aristotle, the potential being (matter) and the
actual house, namely 'covering for bodies and chattels’ actual one (form) are one and the same thing.[38]
or any other differentia (see also predicables) that let us
define something as a house. The formula that gives the
components is the account of the matter, and the formula 2.5.2 Universals and particulars
that gives the differentia is the account of the form.[36]
Main article: Aristotle’s theory of universals
With regard to the change (kinesis) and its causes now, as
he defines in his Physics and On Generation and Corruption 319b–320a, he distinguishes the coming to be from: Aristotle’s predecessor, Plato, argued that all things have
a universal form, which could be either a property, or a
relation to other things. When we look at an apple, for
1. growth and diminution, which is change in quantity;
example, we see an apple, and we can also analyze a form
of an apple. In this distinction, there is a particular apple
2. locomotion, which is change in space; and
and a universal form of an apple. Moreover, we can place
3. alteration, which is change in quality.
an apple next to a book, so that we can speak of both the
book and apple as being next to each other.
The coming to be is a change where nothing persists of Plato argued that there are some universal forms that are
which the resultant is a property. In that particular change not a part of particular things. For example, it is possible
he introduces the concept of potentiality (dynamis) and that there is no particular good in existence, but “good” is
actuality (entelecheia) in association with the matter and still a proper universal form. Bertrand Russell is a 20ththe form.
century philosopher who agreed with Plato on the exisReferring to potentiality, this is what a thing is capable
of doing, or being acted upon, if the conditions are right
and it is not prevented by something else. For example,
the seed of a plant in the soil is potentially (dynamei)
plant, and if is not prevented by something, it will become a plant. Potentially beings can either 'act' (poiein)
or 'be acted upon' (paschein), which can be either innate
or learned. For example, the eyes possess the potentiality
of sight (innate – being acted upon), while the capability
of playing the flute can be possessed by learning (exercise
– acting).
tence of “uninstantiated universals”.
Actuality is the fulfillment of the end of the potentiality.
Because the end (telos) is the principle of every change,
and for the sake of the end exists potentiality, therefore
actuality is the end. Referring then to our previous example, we could say that an actuality is when a plant does
one of the activities that plants do.
In addition, Aristotle disagreed with Plato about the location of universals. As Plato spoke of the world of the
forms, a location where all universal forms subsist, Aristotle maintained that universals exist within each thing on
which each universal is predicated. So, according to Aristotle, the form of apple exists within each apple, rather
than in the world of the forms.
“For that for the sake of which a thing is, is
its principle, and the becoming is for the sake
of the end; and the actuality is the end, and it
is for the sake of this that the potentiality is acquired. For animals do not see in order that
they may have sight, but they have sight that
they may see.”[37]
Aristotle disagreed with Plato on this point, arguing that
all universals are instantiated. Aristotle argued that there
are no universals that are unattached to existing things.
According to Aristotle, if a universal exists, either as a
particular or a relation, then there must have been, must
be currently, or must be in the future, something on which
the universal can be predicated. Consequently, according
to Aristotle, if it is not the case that some universal can
be predicated to an object that exists at some period of
time, then it does not exist.
2.6 Biology and medicine
In Aristotelian science, especially in biology, things he
saw himself have stood the test of time better than his
retelling of the reports of others, which contain error and
8
2 THOUGHT
superstition. He dissected animals but not humans; his visible from observation on Lesbos and available from the
ideas on how the human body works have been almost catches of fishermen. His observations on catfish, electric
entirely superseded.
fish (Torpedo) and angler-fish are detailed, as is his writing on cephalopods, namely, Octopus, Sepia (cuttlefish)
and the paper nautilus (Argonauta argo). His description
2.6.1 Empirical research program
of the hectocotyl arm, used in sexual reproduction, was
widely disbelieved until its rediscovery in the 19th century. He separated the aquatic mammals from fish, and
knew that sharks and rays were part of the group he called
Selachē (selachians).[39]
Another good example of his methods comes from
the Generation of Animals in which Aristotle describes
breaking open fertilized chicken eggs at intervals to observe when visible organs were generated.
He gave accurate descriptions of ruminants' fourchambered fore-stomachs, and of the ovoviviparous embryological development of the hound shark Mustelus
mustelus.[40]
2.6.2 Classification of living things
Octopus swimming
Torpedo fuscomaculata
Leopard shark
Aristotle is the earliest natural historian whose work has
survived in some detail. Aristotle certainly did research
on the natural history of Lesbos, and the surrounding seas
and neighbouring areas. The works that reflect this research, such as History of Animals, Generation of Animals, and Parts of Animals, contain some observations
and interpretations, along with sundry myths and mistakes. The most striking passages are about the sea-life
Aristotle distinguished about 500 species of birds, mammals and fishes.[41][42] His classification of living things
contains some elements which still existed in the 19th
century. What the modern zoologist would call vertebrates and invertebrates, Aristotle called 'animals with
blood' and 'animals without blood' (he did not know that
complex invertebrates do make use of hemoglobin, but of
a different kind from vertebrates). Animals with blood
were divided into live-bearing (mammals), and eggbearing (birds and fish). Invertebrates ('animals without
blood') are insects, crustacea (divided into non-shelled –
cephalopods – and shelled) and testacea (molluscs). In
some respects, this incomplete classification is better than
that of Linnaeus, who crowded the invertebrata together
into two groups, Insecta and Vermes (worms).
For Charles Singer, “Nothing is more remarkable than
[Aristotle’s] efforts to [exhibit] the relationships of living things as a scala naturae"[39] Aristotle’s History of
Animals classified organisms in relation to a hierarchical
"Ladder of Life" (scala naturae or Great Chain of Being), placing them according to complexity of structure
and function so that higher organisms showed greater vitality and ability to move.[43]
Aristotle believed that intellectual purposes, i.e., final
causes, guided all natural processes. Such a teleological
view gave Aristotle cause to justify his observed data
as an expression of formal design. Noting that “no animal has, at the same time, both tusks and horns,” and “a
single-hooved animal with two horns I have never seen,”
Aristotle suggested that Nature, giving no animal both
horns and tusks, was staving off vanity, and giving creatures faculties only to such a degree as they are necessary.
Noting that ruminants had multiple stomachs and weak
teeth, he supposed the first was to compensate for the latter, with Nature trying to preserve a type of balance.[44]
2.7
Psychology
9
In a similar fashion, Aristotle believed that creatures were
arranged in a graded scale of perfection rising from plants
on up to man, the scala naturae.[45] His system had eleven
grades, arranged according “to the degree to which they
are infected with potentiality”, expressed in their form at
birth. The highest animals laid warm and wet creatures
alive, the lowest bore theirs cold, dry, and in thick eggs.
Aristotle also held that the level of a creature’s perfection
was reflected in its form, but not preordained by that form.
Ideas like this, and his ideas about souls, are not regarded
as science at all in modern times.
He placed emphasis on the type(s) of soul an organism
possessed, asserting that plants possess a vegetative soul,
responsible for reproduction and growth, animals a vegetative and a sensitive soul, responsible for mobility and
sensation, and humans a vegetative, a sensitive, and a rational soul, capable of thought and reflection.[46]
Aristotle, in contrast to earlier philosophers, but in accordance with the Egyptians, placed the rational soul in
the heart, rather than the brain.[47] Notable is Aristotle’s division of sensation and thought, which generally
went against previous philosophers, with the exception of
Alcmaeon.[48]
2.6.3
Successor: Theophrastus
Main articles: Theophrastus and Historia Plantarum
(Theophrastus)
Aristotle’s successor at the Lyceum, Theophrastus, wrote
a series of books on botany—the History of Plants—
which survived as the most important contribution of antiquity to botany, even into the Middle Ages. Many of
Theophrastus’ names survive into modern times, such as
carpos for fruit, and pericarpion for seed vessel.
Rather than focus on formal causes, as Aristotle did,
Theophrastus suggested a mechanistic scheme, drawing analogies between natural and artificial processes,
and relying on Aristotle’s concept of the efficient cause.
Theophrastus also recognized the role of sex in the reproduction of some higher plants, though this last discovery
was lost in later ages.[49]
2.6.4
Influence on Hellenistic medicine
The frontispiece to a 1644 version of the expanded and illustrated
edition of Historia Plantarum (ca. 1200), which was originally
written around 300 BC.
the brain, and connected the nervous system to motion
and sensation. Herophilus also distinguished between
veins and arteries, noting that the latter pulse while the
former do not.[51] Though a few ancient atomists such as
Lucretius challenged the teleological viewpoint of Aristotelian ideas about life, teleology (and after the rise of
Christianity, natural theology) would remain central to biological thought essentially until the 18th and 19th centuries. Ernst Mayr claimed that there was “nothing of
any real consequence in biology after Lucretius and Galen
until the Renaissance.”[52] Aristotle’s ideas of natural history and medicine survived, but they were generally taken
unquestioningly.[53]
2.7 Psychology
For more details on this topic, see Medicine in ancient
Aristotle’s psychology, given in his treatise On the Soul
Greece.
(peri psyche, often known by its Latin title De Anima),
posits three kinds of soul (“psyches”): the vegetative soul,
After Theophrastus, the Lyceum failed to produce any the sensitive soul, and the rational soul. Humans have a
original work. Though interest in Aristotle’s ideas sur- rational soul. This kind of soul is capable of the same
vived, they were generally taken unquestioningly.[50] It is powers as the other kinds: Like the vegetative soul it can
not until the age of Alexandria under the Ptolemies that grow and nourish itself; like the sensitive soul it can exadvances in biology can be again found.
perience sensations and move locally. The unique part of
The first medical teacher at Alexandria, Herophilus of the human, rational soul is its ability to receive forms of
Chalcedon, corrected Aristotle, placing intelligence in other things and compare them.
10
2 THOUGHT
For Aristotle, the soul (psyche) was a simpler concept
than it is for us today. By soul he simply meant the
form of a living being. Because all beings are composites of form and matter, the form of living beings is that
which endows them with what is specific to living beings,
e.g. the ability to initiate movement (or in the case of
plants, growth and chemical transformations, which Aristotle considers types of movement).[54]
Recollection Because Aristotle believes people receive
all kinds of sense perceptions and people perceive them as
images or “imprints”, people are continually weaving together new “imprints” of things they experience. In order
to search for these “imprints”, people search the memory itself.[59] Within the memory, if one experience is
offered instead of a specific memory, that person will reject this experience until they find what they are looking
for. Recollection occurs when one experience naturally
follows another. If the chain of “images” is needed, one
2.7.1 Memory
memory will stimulate the other. If the chain of “images”
is not needed, but expected, then it will only stimulate
According to Aristotle, memory is the ability to hold a the other memory in most instances. When people recall
perceived experience in your mind and to have the ability experiences, they stimulate certain previous experiences
to distinguish between the internal “appearance” and an until they have stimulated the one that was needed.[60]
occurrence in the past.[55] In other words, a memory is
a mental picture (phantasm) in which Aristotle defines Recollection is the self-directed activity of retrieving the
in De Anima, as an appearance which is imprinted on information stored in a memory “imprint” after some
the part of the body that forms a memory. Aristotle be- time has passed. Retrieval of stored information is delieved an “imprint” becomes impressed on a semi-fluid pendent on the scope of mnemonic capabilities of a being
animal) and the abilities the human or animal
bodily organ that undergoes several changes in order to (human or [61]
possesses
.
Only humans will remember “imprints” of
make a memory. A memory occurs when a stimuli is
intellectual
activity,
such as numbers and words. Anitoo complex that the nervous system (semi-fluid bodily
mals
that
have
perception
of time will be able to retrieve
organ) cannot receive all the impressions at once. These
memories
of
their
past
observations.
Remembering inchanges are the same as those involved in the operations
[56]
volves
only
perception
of
the
things
remembered
and of
of sensation, common sense, and thinking . The menthe
time
passed.
Recollection
of
an
“imprint”
is
when
the
tal picture imprinted on the bodily organ is the final prodpresent
experiences
a
person
remembers
are
similar
with
uct of the entire process of sense perception. It does not
matter if the experience was seen or heard, every experi- elements corresponding in character and arrangement of
past sensory experiences. When an “imprint” is recalled,
ence ends up as a mental image in memory [57]
it may bring forth a large group of related “imprints”.[62]
Aristotle uses the word “memory” for two basic abilities. First, the actual retaining of the experience in the Aristotle believed the chain of thought, which ends in recmnemonic “imprint” that can develop from sensation. ollection of certain “imprints”, was connected systematSecond, the intellectual anxiety that comes with the “im- ically in three sorts of relationships: similarity, contrast,
print” due to being impressed at a particular time and pro- and contiguity. These three laws make up his Laws of
cessing specific contents. These abilities can be explained Association. Aristotle believed that past experiences are
as memory is neither sensation nor thinking because is hidden within our mind. A force operates to awaken the
arises only after a lapse of time. Therefore, memory is hidden material to bring up the actual experience. Acof the past, [58] prediction is of the future, and sensation cording to Aristotle, association is the power innate in
is of the present. The retrieval of our “imprints” cannot a mental state, which operates upon the unexpressed reexperiences, allowing them to rise and
be performed suddenly. A transitional channel is needed mains of former
[63]
be
recalled.
and located in our past experiences, both for our previous
experience and present experience.
Aristotle proposed that slow-witted people have good
memory because the fluids in their brain do not wash away
their memory organ used to imprint experiences and so
the “imprint” can easily continue. However, they cannot
be too slow or the hardened surface of the organ will not
receive new “imprints”. He believed the young and the
old do not properly develop an “imprint”. Young people undergo rapid changes as they develop, while the elderly’s organs are beginning to decay, thus stunting new
“imprints”. Likewise, people who are too quick-witted
are similar to the young and the image cannot be fixed
because of the rapid changes of their organ. Because intellectual functions are not involved in memory, memories belong to some animals too, but only those in which
have perception of time.
2.7.2 Dreams
Sleep Before understanding Aristotle’s take on dreams,
first his idea of sleep must be examined. Aristotle gives
an account of his explanation of sleep in On Sleep and
Wakefulness.[64] Sleep takes place as a result of overuse
of the senses[65] or of digestion,[64] so it is vital to the
body, including the senses, so it can be revitalized.[65]
While a person is asleep, the critical activities, which include thinking, sensing, recalling and remembering, do
not function as they do during wakefulness.[65] Since a
person cannot sense during sleep they can also not have a
desire, which is the result of a sensation.[65] However, the
senses are able to work during sleep,[65] albeit differently
than when a person is awake because during sleep a per-
2.8
Practical philosophy
11
son can still have sensory experiences.[64] Also, all of the Aristotle also includes in his theory of dreams what consenses are not inactive during sleep, only the ones that are stitutes a dream and what does not. He claimed that a
weary.[65]
dream is first established by the fact that the person is
asleep when they experience it.[66] If a person had an image appear for a moment after waking up or if they see
a dream beTheory of dreams Dreams do not involve actually something in the dark it is not considered[66]
cause
they
were
awake
when
it
occurred.
Secondly,
sensing a stimulus because, as discussed, the senses do
[65]
any
sensory
experience
that
actually
occurs
while
a pernot work as they normally do during sleep. In dreams,
son
is
asleep
and
is
perceived
by
the
person
while
asleep
sensation is still involved, but in an altered manner than
[66]
For example, if,
when awake.[65] Aristotle explains the phenomenon that does not qualify as part of a dream.
while
a
person
is
sleeping,
a
door
shuts
and
in their dream
occurs when a person stares at a moving stimulus such as
[64]
they
hear
a
door
is
shut,
Aristotle
argues
that
this sensory
the waves in a body of water.
When they look away
[66]
experience
is
not
part
of
the
dream.
The
actual senfrom that stimulus, the next thing they look at appears to
sory
experience
is
perceived
by
the
senses,
the
fact that
be moving in a wave like motion. When a person perit
occurred
while
the
person
was
asleep
does
not
make it
ceives a stimulus and the stimulus is no longer the focus
[66]
[64]
Lastly,
the
images
of
dreams
must
part
of
the
dream.
of their attention, it leaves an impression.
When the
be
a
result
of
lasting
impressions
of
sensory
experiences
body is awake and the senses are functioning properly,
[66]
a person constantly encounters new stimuli to sense and had when awake.
so the impressions left from previously perceived stimuli
become irrelevant.[65] However, during sleep the impressions stimuli made throughout the day become noticed
because there are not new sensory experiences to distract
from these impressions that were made.[64] So, dreams 2.8 Practical philosophy
result from these lasting impressions. Since impressions
are all that are left and not the exact stimuli, dreams will
2.8.1 Ethics
not resemble the actual experience that occurred when
awake.[66]
During sleep, a person is in an altered state of mind.[64] Main article: Aristotelian ethics
Aristotle compares a sleeping person to a person who is
overtaken by strong feelings toward a stimulus.[64] For example, a person who has a strong infatuation with someone may begin to think they see that person everywhere
because they are so overtaken by their feelings.[64] When
a person is asleep, their senses are not acting as they do
when they are awake and this results in them thinking like
a person who is influenced by strong feelings.[64] Since a
person sleeping is in this suggestible state, they become
easily deceived by what appears in their dreams.[64]
Aristotle considered ethics to be a practical rather than
theoretical study, i.e., one aimed at becoming good and
doing good rather than knowing for its own sake. He
wrote several treatises on ethics, including most notably,
the Nicomachean Ethics.
When asleep, a person is unable to make judgments as
they do when they are awake[64] Due to the senses not
functioning normally during sleep, they are unable to help
a person judge what is happening in their dream.[64] This
in turn leads the person to believe the dream is real.[64]
Dreams may be absurd in nature but the senses are not
able to discern whether they are real or not.[64] So, the
dreamer is left to accept the dream because they lack the
choice to judge it.
Aristotle taught that virtue has to do with the proper function (ergon) of a thing. An eye is only a good eye in so
much as it can see, because the proper function of an eye
is sight. Aristotle reasoned that humans must have a function specific to humans, and that this function must be an
activity of the psuchē (normally translated as soul) in accordance with reason (logos). Aristotle identified such an
optimum activity of the soul as the aim of all human deliberate action, eudaimonia, generally translated as “happiness” or sometimes “well being”. To have the potential of ever being happy in this way necessarily requires
a good character (ēthikē aretē), often translated as moral
(or ethical) virtue (or excellence).[68]
One component of Aristotle’s theory of dreams introduces ideas that are contradictory to previously held
beliefs.[67] He claimed that dreams are not foretelling and
that they are not sent by a divine being.[67] Aristotle reasoned that instances in which dreams do resemble future events are happenstances not divinations.[67] These
ideas were contradictory to what had been believed about
dreams, but at the time in which he introduced these ideas
more thinkers were beginning to give naturalistic as opposed to supernatural explanations to phenomena.[67]
Aristotle taught that to achieve a virtuous and potentially
happy character requires a first stage of having the fortune
to be habituated not deliberately, but by teachers, and experience, leading to a later stage in which one consciously
chooses to do the best things. When the best people come
to live life this way their practical wisdom (phronesis) and
their intellect (nous) can develop with each other towards
the highest possible human virtue, the wisdom of an accomplished theoretical or speculative thinker, or in other
words, a philosopher.[69]
12
2.8.2
2 THOUGHT
Politics
for economic stability, but rather to allow at least some
citizens the possibility to live a good life, and to perMain article: Politics (Aristotle)
form beautiful acts: “The political partnership must be
In addition to his works on ethics, which address the regarded, therefore, as being for the sake of noble actions, not for the sake of living together.” This is distinguished from modern approaches, beginning with social
contract theory, according to which individuals leave the
state of nature because of “fear of violent death” or its
“inconveniences.”[73]
Excerpt from a speech by the character 'Aristotle' in
the book Protrepticus (Hutchinson and Johnson, 2015 p.
22)[74]
For we all agree that the most excellent man
should rule, i.e., the supreme by nature, and
that the law rules and alone is authoritative;
but the law is a kind of intelligence, i.e. a discourse based on intelligence. And again, what
standard do we have, what criterion of good
things, that is more precise than the intelligent
man? For all that this man will choose, if
the choice is based on his knowledge, are good
things and their contraries are bad. And since
everybody chooses most of all what conforms to
their own proper dispositions (a just man choosing to live justly, a man with bravery to live
bravely, likewise a self-controlled man to live
with self-control), it is clear that the intelligent
man will choose most of all to be intelligent; for
this is the function of that capacity. Hence it’s
evident that, according to the most authoritative
judgment, intelligence is supreme among goods.
Aristotle’s classification of constitutions
individual, Aristotle addressed the city in his work titled Politics. Aristotle considered the city to be a natural community. Moreover, he considered the city to be
prior in importance to the family which in turn is prior to
the individual, “for the whole must of necessity be prior
to the part”.[70] He also famously stated that “man is by
nature a political animal” and also arguing that humanity’s defining factor among others in the animal kingdom
is its rationality.[71] Aristotle conceived of politics as being like an organism rather than like a machine, and as
a collection of parts none of which can exist without the
others. Aristotle’s conception of the city is organic, and
he is considered one of the first to conceive of the city in
this manner.[72]
2.8.3 Rhetoric and poetics
Main articles: Rhetoric (Aristotle) and Poetics (Aristotle)
Aristotle considered epic poetry, tragedy, comedy,
dithyrambic poetry and music to be imitative, each varying in imitation by medium, object, and manner.[75] For
example, music imitates with the media of rhythm and
harmony, whereas dance imitates with rhythm alone, and
poetry with language. The forms also differ in their object of imitation. Comedy, for instance, is a dramatic imitation of men worse than average; whereas tragedy imitates men slightly better than average. Lastly, the forms
differ in their manner of imitation – through narrative
or character, through change or no change, and through
drama or no drama.[76] Aristotle believed that imitation
constitutes one of mankind’s
The common modern understanding of a political com- is natural to mankind and
[77]
advantages
over
animals.
munity as a modern state is quite different from Aristotle’s understanding. Although he was aware of the exis- While it is believed that Aristotle’s Poetics comprised two
tence and potential of larger empires, the natural commu- books – one on comedy and one on tragedy – only the pornity according to Aristotle was the city (polis) which func- tion that focuses on tragedy has survived. Aristotle taught
tions as a political “community” or “partnership” (koinō- that tragedy is composed of six elements: plot-structure,
nia). The aim of the city is not just to avoid injustice or character, style, thought, spectacle, and lyric poetry.[78]
13
The characters in a tragedy are merely a means of driving the story; and the plot, not the characters, is the chief
focus of tragedy. Tragedy is the imitation of action arousing pity and fear, and is meant to effect the catharsis of
those same emotions. Aristotle concludes Poetics with a
discussion on which, if either, is superior: epic or tragic
mimesis. He suggests that because tragedy possesses all
the attributes of an epic, possibly possesses additional attributes such as spectacle and music, is more unified, and
achieves the aim of its mimesis in shorter scope, it can be
considered superior to epic.[79]
Aristotle was a keen systematic collector of riddles, folklore, and proverbs; he and his school had a special interest
in the riddles of the Delphic Oracle and studied the fables
of Aesop.[80]
2.9
Views on women
Main article: Aristotle’s views on women
Aristotle’s analysis of procreation describes an active,
ensouling masculine element bringing life to an inert, passive female element. On this ground, feminist
metaphysics have accused Aristotle of misogyny[81] and
sexism.[82] However, Aristotle gave equal weight to First page of a 1566 edition of the Nicomachean Ethics in Greek
and Latin
women’s happiness as he did to men’s, and commented
in his Rhetoric that the things that lead to happiness need
to be in women as well as men.[83]
Nicolaus of Damascus. Other works in the corpus include medieval palmistries and astrological and magical
whose connections to Aristotle are purely fanciful
3 Loss and preservation of his texts
and self-promotional.[85]
works
See also: Corpus Aristotelicum and Recovery of Aristotle
Modern scholarship reveals that Aristotle’s “lost” works
stray considerably in characterization[84] from the surviving Aristotelian corpus. Whereas the lost works appear
to have been originally written with an intent for subsequent publication, the surviving works do not appear to
have been so.[84] Rather the surviving works mostly resemble lecture notes unintended for publication.[84] The
authenticity of a portion of the surviving works as originally Aristotelian is also today held suspect, with some
books duplicating or summarizing each other, the authorship of one book questioned and another book considered
to be unlikely Aristotle’s at all.[84]
According to a distinction that originates with Aristotle
himself, his writings are divisible into two groups: the
"exoteric" and the "esoteric".[86] Most scholars have understood this as a distinction between works Aristotle intended for the public (exoteric), and the more technical
works intended for use within the Lyceum course / school
(esoteric).[87] Modern scholars commonly assume these
latter to be Aristotle’s own (unpolished) lecture notes (or
in some cases possible notes by his students).[88] However, one classic scholar offers an alternative interpretation. The 5th century neoplatonist Ammonius Hermiae writes that Aristotle’s writing style is deliberately
obscurantist so that “good people may for that reason
stretch their mind even more, whereas empty minds that
are lost through carelessness will be put to flight by the
obscurity when they encounter sentences like these.”[89]
Some of the individual works within the corpus, including the Constitution of Athens, are regarded by most scholars as products of Aristotle’s “school,” perhaps compiled
under his direction or supervision. Others, such as On
Colors, may have been produced by Aristotle’s successors at the Lyceum, e.g., Theophrastus and Straton. Still
others acquired Aristotle’s name through similarities in
doctrine or content, such as the De Plantis, possibly by
Another common assumption is that none of the exoteric works is extant – that all of Aristotle’s extant writings are of the esoteric kind. Current knowledge of
what exactly the exoteric writings were like is scant and
dubious, though many of them may have been in dialogue form. (Fragments of some of Aristotle’s dialogues
have survived.) Perhaps it is to these that Cicero refers
when he characterized Aristotle’s writing style as “a river
14
4
LEGACY
of gold";[90] it is hard for many modern readers to accept that one could seriously so admire the style of those
works currently available to us.[88] However, some modern scholars have warned that we cannot know for certain that Cicero’s praise was reserved specifically for the
exoteric works; a few modern scholars have actually admired the concise writing style found in Aristotle’s extant
works.[91]
time. The consensus is that Andronicus of Rhodes collected the esoteric works of Aristotle’s school which existed in the form of smaller, separate works, distinguished
them from those of Theophrastus and other Peripatetics,
edited them, and finally compiled them into the more cohesive, larger works as they are known today.[97]
One major question in the history of Aristotle’s works,
then, is how were the exoteric writings all lost, and how
did the ones we now possess come to us[92] The story of
the original manuscripts of the esoteric treatises is described by Strabo in his Geography and Plutarch in his
Parallel Lives.[93] The manuscripts were left from Aristotle to his successor Theophrastus, who in turn willed them
to Neleus of Scepsis. Neleus supposedly took the writings
from Athens to Scepsis, where his heirs let them languish
in a cellar until the 1st century BC, when Apellicon of
Teos discovered and purchased the manuscripts, bringing
them back to Athens. According to the story, Apellicon
tried to repair some of the damage that was done during
the manuscripts’ stay in the basement, introducing a number of errors into the text. When Lucius Cornelius Sulla
occupied Athens in 86 BC, he carried off the library of
Apellicon to Rome, where they were first published in 60
BC by the grammarian Tyrannion of Amisus and then by
the philosopher Andronicus of Rhodes.[94][95]
4 Legacy
Carnes Lord attributes the popular belief in this story
to the fact that it provides “the most plausible explanation for the rapid eclipse of the Peripatetic school after the middle of the third century, and for the absence
of widespread knowledge of the specialized treatises of
Aristotle throughout the Hellenistic period, as well as for
the sudden reappearance of a flourishing Aristotelianism
during the first century B.C.”[96] Lord voices a number “Aristotle” by Jusepe de Ribera
of reservations concerning this story, however. First, the
condition of the texts is far too good for them to have suffered considerable damage followed by Apellicon’s inexpert attempt at repair.
Second, there is “incontrovertible evidence,” Lord says,
that the treatises were in circulation during the time in
which Strabo and Plutarch suggest they were confined
within the cellar in Scepsis. Third, the definitive edition
of Aristotle’s texts seems to have been made in Athens
some fifty years before Andronicus supposedly compiled
his. And fourth, ancient library catalogues predating Andronicus’ intervention list an Aristotelian corpus quite
similar to the one we currently possess. Lord sees a
number of post-Aristotelian interpolations in the Politics,
for example, but is generally confident that the work has
come down to us relatively intact.
On the one hand, the surviving texts of Aristotle do not
derive from finished literary texts, but rather from working drafts used within Aristotle’s school, as opposed, on
the other hand, to the dialogues and other “exoteric” texts
which Aristotle published more widely during his life- “Aristotle with a bust of Homer" by Rembrandt.
4.2
Influence on Byzantine scholars
An thirteenth-century Islamic portrayal of Aristotle (right).
More than 2300 years after his death, Aristotle remains
one of the most influential people who ever lived. He contributed to almost every field of human knowledge then in
existence, and he was the founder of many new fields. According to the philosopher Bryan Magee, “it is doubtful
whether any human being has ever known as much as he
did”.[98] Among countless other achievements, Aristotle
was the founder of formal logic,[99] pioneered the study
of zoology, and left every future scientist and philosopher in his debt through his contributions to the scientific
method.[100][101]
15
Statue by Cipri Adolf Bermann (1915) at the University of
Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau
Hephaestion, Meno, Mnason of Phocis, Nicomachus, and
Theophrastus. Aristotle’s influence over Alexander the
Great is seen in the latter’s bringing with him on his expedition a host of zoologists, botanists, and researchers. He
had also learned a great deal about Persian customs and
traditions from his teacher. 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 acroaDespite these achievements, the influence of Aristotle’s matic doctrines; for in what shall I surpass other men if
errors is considered by some to have held back science those doctrines wherein I have been trained are to be all
considerably. Bertrand Russell notes that “almost every men’s common property?"[102]
serious intellectual advance has had to begin with an attack on some Aristotelian doctrine”. Russell also refers
to Aristotle’s ethics as “repulsive”, and calls his logic “as 4.2 Influence on Byzantine scholars
definitely antiquated as Ptolemaic astronomy”. Russell
notes that these errors make it difficult to do historical Greek Christian scribes played a crucial role in the preserjustice to Aristotle, until one remembers how large of an vation of Aristotle by copying all the extant Greek language manuscripts of the corpus. The first Greek Chrisadvance he made upon all of his predecessors.[4]
tians to comment extensively on Aristotle were John
Philoponus, Elias, and David in the sixth century, and
Stephen of Alexandria in the early seventh century.[103]
4.1 Later Greek philosophers
John Philoponus stands out for having attempted a funThe immediate influence of Aristotle’s work was felt as damental critique of Aristotle’s views on the eternity of
the Lyceum grew into the Peripatetic school. Aristo- the world, movement, and other elements of Aristotelian
tle’s notable students included Aristoxenus, Dicaearchus, thought.[104] After a hiatus of several centuries, formal
Demetrius of Phalerum, Eudemos of Rhodes, Harpalus, commentary by Eustratius and Michael of Ephesus reap-
16
6 EPONYMS
pears in the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries, apparently sponsored by Anna Comnena.[105]
at his beddes heed
Twenty bookes, clad in blak or reed,
Of aristotle and his philosophie,[113]
4.3
Influence on Islamic theologians
Aristotle was one of the most revered Western thinkers in
early Islamic theology. Most of the still extant works of
Aristotle,[106] as well as a number of the original Greek
commentaries, were translated into Arabic and studied by
Muslim philosophers, scientists and scholars. Averroes,
Avicenna and Alpharabius, who wrote on Aristotle in
great depth, also influenced Thomas Aquinas and other
Western Christian scholastic philosophers. Alkindus
considered Aristotle as the outstanding and unique representative of philosophy[107] and Averroes spoke of Aristotle as the “exemplar” for all future philosophers.[108] Medieval Muslim scholars regularly described Aristotle as
the “First Teacher”.[109] The title “teacher” was first given
to Aristotle by Muslim scholars, and was later used by
Western philosophers (as in the famous poem of Dante)
who were influenced by the tradition of Islamic philosophy.[110]
In accordance with the Greek theorists, the Muslims considered Aristotle to be a dogmatic philosopher, the author
of a closed system, and believed that Aristotle shared with
Plato essential tenets of thought. Some went so far as to
credit Aristotle himself with neo-Platonic metaphysical
ideas.[106]
4.4
Influence on Western Christian theologians
The Italian poet Dante says of Aristotle in the first circles
of hell,
I saw the Master there of those who know,
Amid the philosophic family,
By all admired, and by all reverenced;
There Plato too I saw, and Socrates,
Who stood beside him closer than the rest.[114]
4.5 Post-Enlightenment thinkers
The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche has been
said to have taken nearly all of his political philosophy
from Aristotle.[115] However debatable this is, Aristotle
rigid separated action from production, and argued for the
deserved subservience of some people (“natural slaves"),
and the natural superiority (virtue, arete) of others. It is
Martin Heidegger, not Nietzsche, who elaborated a new
interpretation of Aristotle, intended to warrant his deconstruction of scholastic and philosophical tradition. Ayn
Rand accredited Aristotle as “the greatest philosopher in
history” and cited him as a major influence on her thinking. More recently, Alasdair MacIntyre has attempted to
reform what he calls the Aristotelian tradition in a way
that is anti-elitist and capable of disputing the claims of
both liberals and Nietzscheans.[116]
With the loss of the study of ancient Greek in the early
medieval Latin West, Aristotle was practically unknown
there from c. AD 600 to c. 1100 except through the 5 List of works
Latin translation of the Organon made by Boethius. In
the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, interest in Aristotle Main article: Corpus Aristotelicum
revived and Latin Christians had translations made, both
from Arabic translations, such as those by Gerard of Cremona,[111] and from the original Greek, such as those by The works of Aristotle that have survived from antiquity through medieval manuscript transmission are colJames of Venice and William of Moerbeke.
lected in the Corpus Aristotelicum. These texts, as opAfter Thomas Aquinas wrote his theology, working from posed to Aristotle’s lost works, are technical philosophiMoerbeke’s translations, the demand for Aristotle’s writ- cal treatises from within Aristotle’s school. Reference to
ings grew and the Greek manuscripts returned to the them is made according to the organization of Immanuel
West, stimulating a revival of Aristotelianism in Europe Bekker's Royal Prussian Academy edition (Aristotelis
that continued into the Renaissance.[112] Aristotle is re- Opera edidit Academia Regia Borussica, Berlin, 1831–
ferred to as “The Philosopher” by Scholastic thinkers 1870), which in turn is based on ancient classifications
such as Thomas Aquinas. See Summa Theologica, Part of these works.
I, Question 3, etc. These thinkers blended Aristotelian
philosophy with Christianity, bringing the thought of Ancient Greece into the Middle Ages. It required a repudiation of some Aristotelian principles for the sciences and 6 Eponyms
the arts to free themselves for the discovery of modern
scientific laws and empirical methods. The medieval En- The Aristotle Mountains along the Oscar II Coast of
glish poet Chaucer describes his student as being happy Graham Land, Antarctica, are named after Aristotle. He
by having
was the first person known to conjecture, in his book
17
[5] Encyclopædia Britannica (2008). The Britannica Guide to
the 100 Most Influential Scientists. Running Press. p. 12.
ISBN 978-0-7624-3421-3.
[6] Barnes 2007, p. 6.
[7] Cicero, Marcus Tullius (106–43 BC). “Academica Priora”. Book II, chapter XXXVIII, §119. Retrieved 25 January 2007. veniet flumen orationis aureum fundens Aristoteles Check date values in: |date= (help)
[8] Jonathan Barnes, “Life and Work” in The Cambridge
Companion to Aristotle (1995), p. 9.
“ARISTOTLE” near the ceiling of the Great Hall in the Library
of Congress.
Meteorology, the existence of a landmass in the southern
high-latitude region and call it “Antarctica”.[117]
[9] Campbell, Michael. “Behind the Name: Meaning, Origin and History of the Name “Aristotle"". Behind the
Name: The Etymology and History of First Names. www.
behindthename.com. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
[10] McLeisch, Kenneth Cole (1999). Aristotle: The Great
Philosophers. Routledge. p. 5. ISBN 0-415-92392-1.
[11] Anagnostopoulos, G., “Aristotle’s Life” in A Companion
to Aristotle (Blackwell Publishing, 2009), p. 4.
Aristoteles (crater) is a crater on the Moon bearing the
[12] Carnes Lord, introduction to The Politics by Aristotle
classical form of Aristotle’s name.
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984).
7
See also
• Aristotelian physics
• Aristotelian society
• Aristotelian theology
• Conimbricenses
• List of writers influenced by Aristotle
• Otium
• Philia
• Pseudo-Aristotle
8
Notes and references
[1] “Aristotle” entry in Collins English Dictionary, HarperCollins Publishers, 1998.
[2] That these undisputed dates (the first half of the Olympiad
year 384/383 BC, and in 322 shortly before the death of
Demosthenes) are correct was shown already by August
Boeckh (Kleine Schriften VI 195); for further discussion,
see Felix Jacoby on FGrHist 244 F 38. Ingemar Düring,
Aristotle in the Ancient Biographical Tradition, Göteborg,
1957, p. 253.
[13] Peter Green, Alexander of Macedon, University of California Press Ltd. (Oxford, England) 1991, pp. 58–59
[14] William George Smith,Dictionary of Greek and Roman
Biography and Mythology, vol. 3, p. 88
[15] Peter Green, Alexander of Macedon, University of California Press Ltd. (Oxford, England), 1991, p. 379 and
459.
[16] Jones, W. T. (1980). The Classical Mind: A History of
Western Philosophy. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. p. 216.
ISBN 0-15-538312-4.
[17] Vita Marciana 41, cf. Aelian Varia historica 3.36, Ingemar Düring, Aristotle in the Ancient Biographical Tradition, Göteborg, 1957, T44a-e.
[18] Aristotle’s Will, Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen
Welt by Hildegard Temporini, Wolfgang Haase.
[19] See The Politics of Aristotle translated by Ernest Barker,
Oxford: Clarendom Press, 1946, p. xxiii, note 2, who
refers to Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum, vol. xii, fasc.
ix, s.v. Eretria.
[20] See Shields, C., “Aristotle’s Philosophical Life and Writings” in The Oxford Handbook of Aristotle (Oxford University Press, 2012), pp. 3–16. Düring, I., Aristotle in the
Ancient Biographical Tradition (Göteborg, 1957) is a collection of [an overview of?] ancient biographies of Aristotle.
[21] MICHAEL DEGNAN, 1994. Recent Work in Aristotle’s
Logic. Philosophical Books 35.2 (April 1994): 81–89.
[3] “Biography of Aristotle”. Biography.com. Retrieved 12
March 2014.
[22] Corcoran, John (2009).
“Aristotle’s Demonstrative
Logic”. History and Philosophy of Logic, 30: 1–20.
[4] Bertrand Russell, A History of Western Philosophy, Simon
& Schuster, 1972.
[23] Bocheński, I. M. (1951). Ancient Formal Logic. Amsterdam: North-Holland Publishing Company.
18
8
NOTES AND REFERENCES
[24] Bocheński, 1951.
[53] Annas, Classical Greek Philosophy, p 252
[25] Rose, Lynn E. (1968). Aristotle’s Syllogistic. Springfield:
Charles C Thomas Publisher.
[54] Stanford Encyclopedia
“Psychology”.
[26] Jori, Alberto (2003). Aristotele. Milano: Bruno Mondadori Editore.
[55] Bloch, David (2007). Aristotle on Memory and Recollection. p. 12. ISBN 90-04-16046-9.
[27] Aristotle, History of Animals, 2.3.
[56] Bloch 2007, p. 61.
[28] “Stanford
Encyclopedia
of
Philosophy”.
Plato.stanford.edu. Retrieved 26 April 2009.
[57] Carruthers, Mary (2007). The Book of Memory: A Study
of Memory in Medieval Culture. p. 16. ISBN 978-0-52142973-3.
[29] Aristotle, Meteorology 1.8, trans. E.W. Webster, rev. J.
Barnes.
of
Philosophy,
article
[58] Bloch 2007, p. 25.
[30] Burent, John. 1928. Platonism, Berkeley: University of
California Press, pp. 61, 103–104.
[59] Warren, Howard (1921). A History of the Association Psychology. p. 30.
[31] Charles Lyell, Principles of Geology, 1832, p.17
[60] Warren 1921, p. 25.
[32] Physics 201a10–11, 201a27–29, 201b4–5
[61] Carruthers 2007, p. 19.
[33] Sachs, Joe (2005), “Aristotle: Motion and its Place in Nature”, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
[62] Warren 1921, p. 296.
[34] Michael Lahanas. “Optics and ancient Greeks”. Mlahanas.de. Archived from the original on 11 April 2009.
Retrieved 26 April 2009.
[35] Aristotle, Physics 2.6
[36] Aristotle, Metaphysics VIII 1043a 10–30
[37] Aristotle, Metaphysics IX 1050a 5–10
[38] Aristotle, Metaphysics VIII 1045a–b
[39] Singer, Charles. A short history of biology. Oxford 1931.
[40] Emily Kearns, “Animals, knowledge about,” in Oxford
Classical Dictionary, 3rd ed., 1996, p. 92.
[63] Warren 1921, p. 259.
[64] Holowchak, Mark (1996). “Aristotle on Dreaming: What
Goes on in Sleep when the 'Big Fire' goes out”. Ancient Philosophy 16 (2): 405–423. Retrieved 7 November
2014.
[65] Shute, Clarence (1941). The Psychology of Aristotle: An
Analysis of the Living Being. Morningsdie Heights: New
York: Columbia University Press. pp. 115–118.
[66] Modrak, Deborah (2009). “Dreams and Method in Aristotle”. Skepsis: A Journal for Philosophy and Interdisciplinary Research 20: 169–181.
[41] Carl T. Bergstrom; Lee Alan Dugatkin (2012). Evolution.
Norton. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-393-92592-0.
[67] Webb, Wilse (1990). Dreamtime and dreamwork: Decoding the language of the night. New consciousness reader series. Los Angeles, CA, England: Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc.
pp. 174–184. ISBN 0-87477-594-9.
[42] Frank Harold Trevor Rhodes (1 January 1974). Evolution.
Golden Press. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-307-64360-5.
[68] Nicomachean Ethics Book I. See for example chapter 7
1098a.
[43] Aristotle, of course, is not responsible for the later use
made of this idea by clerics.
[69] Nicomachean Ethics Book VI.
[44] Mason, A History of the Sciences pp. 43–44
[45] Mayr, The Growth of Biological Thought, pp. 201–202;
see also: Lovejoy, The Great Chain of Being
[46] Aristotle, De Anima II 3
[47] Mason, A History of the Sciences pp. 45
[48] Guthrie, A History of Greek Philosophy Vol. 1 pp. 348
[49] Mayr, The Growth of Biological Thought, pp. 90–91; Mason, A History of the Sciences, p 46
[50] Annas, Classical Greek Philosophy pp. 252
[51] Mason, A History of the Sciences pp. 56
[52] Mayr, The Growth of Biological Thought, pp. 90–94; quotation from p 91
[70] Politics 1253a19–24
[71] Aristotle, translated by Ernest Barker and revised with introduction and notes by R. F. Stalley (2009). Politics (1 ed.
1995 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 320–
321. ISBN 978-0-19-953873-7.
[72] Ebenstein, Alan; William Ebenstein (2002). Introduction
to Political Thinkers. Wadsworth Group. p. 59.
[73] For a different reading of social and economic processes
in the Nicomachean Ethics and Politics see Polanyi, K.
(1957) “Aristotle Discovers the Economy” in Primitive,
Archaic and Modern Economies: Essays of Karl Polanyi
ed. G. Dalton, Boston 1971, 78–115
[74] D. S. Hutchinson and Monte Ransome Johnson (25 January 2015). “New Reconstruction, includes Greek text”.
[75] Aristotle, Poetics I 1447a
19
[76] Aristotle, Poetics III
[77] Aristotle, Poetics IV
[78] Aristotle, Poetics VI
[79] Aristotle, Poetics XXVI
[80] Temple, Olivia, and Temple, Robert (translators), The
Complete Fables By Aesop Penguin Classics, 1998. ISBN
0-14-044649-4 Cf. Introduction, pp. xi–xii.
[81] Freeland, Cynthia A. (1998). Feminist Interpretations of
Aristotle. Penn State University Press. ISBN 0-27101730-9.
[82] Morsink, Johannes (Spring 1979). “Was Aristotle’s Biology Sexist?". Journal of the History of Biology 12 (1):
83–112. doi:10.1007/bf00128136.
[94] Ancient Rome: from the early Republic to the assassination of Julius Caesar – Page 513, Matthew Dillon, Lynda
Garland
[95] The Encyclopedia Americana, Volume 22 – Page 131,
Grolier Incorporated – Juvenile Nonfiction
[96] Lord, Carnes (1984). Introduction to the Politics, by Aristotle. Chicago: Chicago University Press. p. 11.
[97] Anagnostopoulos, G., “Aristotle’s Works and Thoughts”,
A Companion to Aristotle (Blackwell Publishing, 2009),
p. 16. See also, Barnes, J., “Life and Work”, The
Cambridge Companion to Aristotle (Cambridge University
Press, 1995), pp. 10–15.
[98] Magee, Bryan (2010). The Story of Philosophy. Dorling
Kindersley. p. 34.
[99]
[83] Aristotle; Roberts, W. Rhys (translator). Honeycutt, Lee,
ed. Rhetoric. pp. Book I, Chapter 5. Where, as among
the Lacedaemonians, the state of women is bad, almost
[100]
half of human life is spoilt.
W. K. C. Guthrie (1990). "A history of Greek philosophy:
Aristotle : an encounter". Cambridge University Press.
p.156. ISBN 0-521-38760-4
“Aristotle (Greek philosopher) – Britannica Online Encyclopedia”. Britannica.com. Archived from the original on
22 April 2009. Retrieved 26 April 2009.
[84] Terence Irwin and Gail Fine, Cornell University, Aristotle: Introductory Readings. Indianapolis, Indiana: Hackett
Publishing Company, Inc. (1996), Introduction, pp. xi– [101] Durant, Will (2006) [1926]. The Story of Philosophy.
United States: Simon & Schuster, Inc. p. 92. ISBN 978xii.
0-671-73916-4.
[85] Lynn Thorndike, “Chiromancy in Medieval Latin
Manuscripts,” Speculum 40 (1965), pp.
674–706; [102] Plutarch, Life of Alexander
Roger A. Pack, “Pseudo-Arisoteles: Chiromantia,”
[103] Richard Sorabji, ed. Aristotle Transformed London, 1990,
Archives d'histoire doctrinale et littéraire du Moyen Âge
20, 28, 35–36.
39 (1972), pp. 289–320; Pack, “A Pseudo-Aristotelian
Chiromancy,” Archives d'histoire doctrinale et littéraire du [104] Richard Sorabji, ed. Aristotle Transformed (London,
Moyen Âge 36 (1969), pp. 189–241.
1990) 233–274.
[86] Jonathan Barnes, “Life and Work” in The Cambridge
Companion to Aristotle (1995), p. 12; Aristotle himself:
Nicomachean Ethics 1102a26–27. Aristotle himself never
uses the term “esoteric” or “acroamatic”. For other passages where Aristotle speaks of exōterikoi logoi, see W.
D. Ross, Aristotle’s Metaphysics (1953), vol. 2, pp. 408–
410. Ross defends an interpretation according to which
the phrase, at least in Aristotle’s own works, usually refers
generally to “discussions not peculiar to the Peripatetic
school", rather than to specific works of Aristotle’s own.
[105] Richard Sorabji, ed. Aristotle Transformed (London,
1990) 20–21; 28–29, 393–406; 407–408.
[87] Humphry House (1956). Aristotles Poetics. p. 35.
[110] Nasr, Seyyed Hossein (1996). The Islamic Intellectual
Tradition in Persia. Curzon Press. pp. 59–60. ISBN 07007-0314-4.
[88] Barnes, “Life and Work”, p. 12.
[106] Encyclopedia of Islam, Aristutalis
[107] Rasa'il I, 103, 17, Abu Rida
[108] Comm. Magnum in Aristotle, De Anima, III, 2, 43 Crawford
[109] al-mua'llim al-thani, Aristutalis
[89] Ammonius (1991). On Aristotle’s Categories. Ithaca, NY: [111] Influence of Arabic and Islamic Philosophy on the Latin
West entry in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-2688-X. p. 15
[90] Cicero, Marcus Tullius (106 BC – 43 BC). "flumen oratio- [112] Aristotelianism in the Renaissance entry in the Stanford
Encyclopedia of Philosophy
nis aureum fundens Aristoteles". Academica Priora. Retrieved 25 January 2007. Check date values in: |date=
[113] Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, Prologue, lines
(help)
295–295
[91] Barnes, “Roman Aristotle”, in Gregory Nagy, Greek Lit[114] vidi 'l maestro di color che sanno seder tra filosofica
erature, Routledge 2001, vol. 8, p. 174 n. 240.
famiglia.
Tutti lo miran, tutti onor li fanno:
[92] .The definitive, English study of these questions is Barnes,
quivi vid'ïo Socrate e Platone
“Roman Aristotle”.
che 'nnanzi a li altri più presso li stanno;
[93] “Sulla.”
Dante, L'Inferno (Hell), Canto IV. Lines 131–135
20
9 FURTHER READING
[115] Durant, p. 86
[116] Kelvin Knight, Aristotelian Philosophy, Polity Press, 2007,
passim.
[117] Aristotle Mountains.
Gazetteer.
9
SCAR Composite Antarctic
Further reading
The secondary literature on Aristotle is vast. The following references are only a small selection.
• Ackrill J. L. (1997). Essays on Plato and Aristotle,
Oxford University Press, USA.
• Ackrill, J. L. (1981). Aristotle the Philosopher. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.
• Adler, Mortimer J. (1978). Aristotle for Everybody.
New York: Macmillan. A popular exposition for the
general reader.
• Ammonius (1991). Cohen, S. Marc; Matthews,
Gareth B, eds. On Aristotle’s Categories. Ithaca, NY:
Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-2688-X.
• Aristotle (1908–1952). The Works of Aristotle
Translated into English Under the Editorship of W.
D. Ross, 12 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press. These
translations are available in several places online; see
External links.
• Bakalis Nikolaos. (2005). Handbook of Greek
Philosophy: From Thales to the Stoics Analysis
and Fragments, Trafford Publishing ISBN 1-41204843-5
• Barnes J. (1995). The Cambridge Companion to
Aristotle, Cambridge University Press.
• Bocheński, I. M. (1951). Ancient Formal Logic.
Amsterdam: North-Holland Publishing Company.
• Bolotin, David (1998). An Approach to Aristotle’s
Physics: With Particular Attention to the Role of His
Manner of Writing. Albany: SUNY Press. A contribution to our understanding of how to read Aristotle’s scientific works.
• Code, Alan. (1995). Potentiality in Aristotle’s Science and Metaphysics, Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 76.
• Ferguson, John (1972).
Twayne Publishers.
Aristotle.
New York:
• De Groot, Jean (2014). Aristotle’s Empiricism: Experience and Mechanics in the 4th Century BC, Parmenides Publishing, ISBN 978-1-930972-83-4
• Frede, Michael. (1987). Essays in Ancient Philosophy. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
• Fuller, B.A.G. (1923). Aristotle. History of Greek
Philosophy 3. London: Cape.
• Gendlin, Eugene T. (2012). Line by Line Commentary on Aristotle’s De Anima, Volume 1: Books I &
II; Volume 2: Book III. Spring Valley, New York:
The Focusing Institute. Available online in PDF.
• Gill, Mary Louise. (1989). Aristotle on Substance:
The Paradox of Unity. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
• Guthrie, W. K. C. (1981). A History of Greek Philosophy, Vol. 6. Cambridge University Press.
• Halper, Edward C. (2009). One and Many in Aristotle’s Metaphysics, Volume 1: Books Alpha – Delta,
Parmenides Publishing, ISBN 978-1-930972-21-6.
• Halper, Edward C. (2005). One and Many in Aristotle’s Metaphysics, Volume 2: The Central Books, Parmenides Publishing, ISBN 978-1-930972-05-6.
• Irwin, T. H. (1988). Aristotle’s First Principles. Oxford: Clarendon Press, ISBN 0-19-824290-5.
• Jaeger, Werner (1948). Robinson, Richard, ed.
Aristotle: Fundamentals of the History of His Development (2nd ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press.
• Jori, Alberto. (2003). Aristotele, Milano: Bruno
Mondadori Editore (Prize 2003 of the "International
Academy of the History of Science") ISBN 88-4249737-1.
• Kiernan, Thomas P., ed. (1962). Aristotle Dictionary. New York: Philosophical Library.
• Burnyeat, M. F. et al. (1979). Notes on Book Zeta
of Aristotle’s Metaphysics. Oxford: Sub-faculty of
Philosophy.
• Knight, Kelvin. (2007). Aristotelian Philosophy:
Ethics and Politics from Aristotle to MacIntyre, Polity
Press.
• Cantor, Norman F.; Klein, Peter L., eds. (1969).
Ancient Thought: Plato and Aristotle. Monuments
of Western Thought 1. Waltham, Mass: Blaisdell
Publishing Co.
• Lewis, Frank A. (1991). Substance and Predication in Aristotle. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
• Chappell, V. (1973). Aristotle’s Conception of Matter, Journal of Philosophy 70: 679–696.
• Lloyd, G. E. R. (1968). Aristotle: The Growth and
Structure of his Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge
Univ. Pr., ISBN 0-521-09456-9.
21
• Lord, Carnes. (1984). Introduction to The Politics,
by Aristotle. Chicago: Chicago University Press.
• Loux, Michael J. (1991). Primary Ousia: An Essay on Aristotle’s Metaphysics Ζ and Η. Ithaca, NY:
Cornell University Press.
• Maso, Stefano (Ed.), Natali, Carlo (Ed.), Seel, Gerhard (Ed.). (2012) Reading Aristotle: Physics VII.3:
What is Alteration? Proceedings of the International
ESAP-HYELE Conference, Parmenides Publishing.
ISBN 978-1-930972-73-5
• McKeon, Richard (1973). Introduction to Aristotle
(2d ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Owen, G. E. L. (1965c). “The Platonism of Aristotle”. Proceedings of the British Academy 50: 125–
150. [Reprinted in J. Barnes, M. Schofield, and R.
R. K. Sorabji, eds.(1975). Articles on Aristotle Vol
1. Science. London: Duckworth 14–34.]
• Pangle, Lorraine Smith (2003). Aristotle and the
Philosophy of Friendship. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. Aristotle’s conception of the deepest human relationship viewed in the light of the history of philosophic thought on friendship.
• Plato (1979). Allen, Harold Joseph; Wilbur, James
B, eds. The Worlds of Plato and Aristotle. Buffalo:
Prometheus Books.
• Reeve, C. D. C. (2000). Substantial Knowledge:
Aristotle’s Metaphysics. Indianapolis: Hackett.
• Rose, Lynn E. (1968). Aristotle’s Syllogistic. Springfield: Charles C Thomas Publisher.
• Ross, Sir David (1995). Aristotle (6th ed.). London: Routledge. A classic overview by one of Aristotle’s most prominent English translators, in print
since 1923.
• Scaltsas, T. (1994). Substances and Universals in
Aristotle’s Metaphysics. Ithaca: Cornell University
Press.
• Strauss, Leo (1964). “On Aristotle’s Politics", in The
City and Man, Chicago; Rand McNally.
• Swanson, Judith (1992). The Public and the Private
in Aristotle’s Political Philosophy. Ithaca: Cornell
University Press.
10 External links
• Aristotle at DMOZ
• Aristotle at PhilPapers.
• Aristotle at the Indiana Philosophy Ontology
Project.
• At the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Aristotle (general article)
Biology
Ethics
Logic
Metaphysics
Motion and its Place in Nature
Poetics
Politics
• From the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Aristotle (general article)
Aristotle in the Renaissance
Biology
Causality
Commentators on Aristotle
Ethics
Logic
Mathematics
Metaphysics
Natural philosophy
Non-contradiction
Political theory
Psychology
Rhetoric
• General article at The Catholic Encyclopedia
• Diogenes Laërtius, Life of Aristotle, translated by
Robert Drew Hicks (1925).
• Works by Aristotle at Open Library.
• Timeline of Aristotle’s life
• Aristotle at PlanetMath.org..
• Taylor, Henry Osborn (1922). “Chapter 3: ArisCollections of works
totle’s Biology”. Greek Biology and Medicine.
Archived from the original on 11 February 2006.
• At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (pri• Veatch, Henry B. (1974). Aristotle: A Contemporary
marily in English).
Appreciation. Bloomington: Indiana U. Press. For
• Works by Aristotle at Project Gutenberg
the general reader.
• Woods, M. J. (1991b). “Universals and Particular
Forms in Aristotle’s Metaphysics”. Aristotle and the
Later Tradition. Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy. Suppl. pp. 41–56.
• Works by or about Aristotle at Internet Archive
• Works by Aristotle at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
22
10
• (English) (Greek) Perseus Project at Tufts University.
• At the University of Adelaide (primarily in English).
• (Greek) (French) P. Remacle
• The 11-volume 1837 Bekker edition of Aristotle’s
Works in Greek (PDF · DJVU)
• Bekker’s Prussian Academy of Sciences edition of
the complete works of Aristotle at Archive.org:
• vol. 1
• vol. 2
• vol. 3
• vol. 4
• vol. 5
• (English) Aristotle Collection (translation).
EXTERNAL LINKS
23
11
11.1
Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses
Text
• Aristotle Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle?oldid=693429275 Contributors: Magnus Manske, Kpjas, General Wesc, Vicki
Rosenzweig, Mav, Wesley, Bryan Derksen, Berek, Tarquin, Stephen Gilbert, Koyaanis Qatsi, Malcolm Farmer, DanKeshet, RK, Andre
Engels, Eclecticology, Danny, XJaM, Deb, SimonP, Shii, Ben-Zin~enwiki, Glshadbolt, Camembert, Hirzel, Fonzy, Ezubaric, Hephaestos,
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24
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• File:161Theophrastus_161_frontespizio.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/161Theophrastus_161_
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