The Works of Aristotle, vol. 9

by Aristotle

Publisher:

Clarendon Press

, 1925

Overview

It is impossible to overstate Aristotle’s importance in the development of Western thought. A student of Plato, Aristotle quickly distinguished himself from his teacher by rejecting the theory of forms—the belief that the characteristics of any physical thing (roundness, redness) exist apart from it in an abstract realm of forms. Aristotle taught that forms could not be properly understood apart from the physical objects. After a five-year period tutoring the young Alexander the Great, Aristotle set up his own school, the Lyceum, as a rival to Plato’s Academy.

Aristotle is known as the father of logic. He was the first thinker to establish a system of reasoning. One of his best-known rules of logic is the syllogism: for example, “All men are mortal; Socrates is a man; therefore, Socrates is mortal.” Aristotle was also the first thinker to create classifications for knowledge (e.g. mathematics, poetry, etc.).

Aristotle’s works had a profound influence on Thomas Aquinas. Aquinas held Aristotle in such high regard that he refers to him simply as “the Philosopher” throughout his work.

The digital edition of this volume gives you the kind of intertextual connections that philosophers and theologians have dreamed of for centuries. This book is completely indexed and linked across all the other works in your digital library. Jump back and forth between Aristotle and Aquinas with a click. Examine Plato and Aristotle’s similarities and differences with side-by-side textual comparison. The digital edition of this volume will save you time and energy while giving you better access to some of the most important thought in history.

Key Features

• Presents ancient philosophical thought from Aristotle
• Explores concepts of logic and classification of knowledge
• Provides a look at ancient perspectives on philosophical topics

Contents

• Ethica Nicomachea (English: Nicomachean Ethics) trans. W.D. Ross
• Magna Moralia (English: Great Ethics) trans. St. George Stock
• Ethica Eudemia (English: Eudemian Ethics) trans. J. Solomon

Top Highlights

“If, then, the virtues are neither passions nor faculties, all that remains is that they should be states of character.” (source)

“Virtue, then, is a state of character concerned with choice, [1107^a] [1] lying in a mean, i.e. the mean relative to us, this being determined by a rational principle, and by that principle by which the man of practical wisdom would determine it.” (source)

“Therefore, if there is an end for all that we do, this will be the good achievable by action, and if there are more than one, these will be the goods achievable by action.” (source)

“The good, therefore, is not some common element answering to one Idea.” (source)

“Hence also it is no easy task to be good. For in everything it is no easy task [25] to find the middle, e.g. to find the middle of a circle is not for every one but for him who knows; so, too, any one can get angry—that is easy—or give or spend money; but to do this to the right person, to the right extent, at the right time, with the right motive, and in the right way, that is not for every one, nor is it easy; wherefore goodness is both rare and laudable and noble.” (source)

Product Details

• Title: The Works of Aristotle, Volume IX
• Author: Aristotle
• Series: The Works of Aristotle
• Publisher: Clarendon Press
• Print Publication Date: 1925
• Logos Release Date: 2013
• Pages: 546
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subject: Philosophy, Ancient › Aristotle
• Resource ID: LLS:WRKSARISTOTLE09
• Resource Type: text.monograph.ancient-manuscript.translation
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-03-25T21:09:56Z

About Aristotle

Aristotle (384–322 BC) was born in the Greek colony of Stagirus, on the coast of Thrace. When he was 17, Aristotle went to Athens, where he studied under Plato at the Academy for 20 years. Following the death of Plato, and due to Aristotle’s divergence from platonic ideas, Aristotle left the Academy. He was later hired by Philip of Macedonia as a tutor for his son, Alexander (who would grow up to become Alexander the Great). After tutoring Alexander for five years, Aristotle returned to Athens and founded the Lyceum as a rival to Plato’s Academy. Because he was in the practice of walking while he taught, his followers became known as peripatetics, a Greek word meaning “to walk about.”

Known as the father of logic, Aristotle was the first philosopher to develop a system of reasoning. He was also the first to classify human knowledge into specific disciplines (e.g. mathematics, biology, etc.). He is most famous known for rejecting the platonic theory of forms, setting up a dichotomy that has dominated philosophy to this day.