Aristotle
was an ancient Greek philosopher, who studied with Plato and taught
Alexander the Great. He wrote books on many subjects, including
physics, poetry, zoology, logic, rhetoric, government, and biology.
Aristotle, along with Plato and Socrates, is generally considered
one of the most influential of ancient Greek philosophers. They
transformed Presocratic Greek philosophy into the foundations of
Western philosophy as we know it. The writings of Plato and Aristotle
founded two of the most important schools of Ancient philosophy.
Aristotle
valued knowledge gained from the senses and in modern terms would
be classed among the modern empiricists (see materialism and empiricism).
He also achieved a "grounding" of dialectic in the Topics
by allowing interlocutors to begin from commonly held beliefs
(Endoxa); his goal being non-contradiction rather than Truth.
He set the stage for what would eventually develop into the empiricist
version of scientific method centuries later.
Although
he wrote dialogues early in his career, no more than fragments
of these have survived. The works of Aristotle that still exist
today are in treatise form and were, for the most part, unpublished
texts. These were probably lecture notes or texts used by his
students, and were almost certainly revised repeatedly over the
course of years. As a result, these works tend to be eclectic,
dense and difficult to read. Among the most important ones are
Physics, Metaphysics (or Ontology), Nicomachean Ethics, Politics,
De Anima (On the Soul) and Poetics. These works, although connected
in many fundamental ways, are very different in both style and
substance.
Aristotle
is known for being one of the few figures in history who studied
almost every subject possible at the time, probably being one
of the first polymaths. In science, Aristotle studied anatomy,
astronomy, economics, embryology, geography, geology, meteorology,
physics, and zoology. In philosophy, Aristotle wrote on aesthetics,
ethics, government, metaphysics, politics, psychology, rhetoric
and theology. He also dealt with education, foreign customs, literature
and poetry. His combined works practically constitute an encyclopedia
of Greek knowledge.
Early
life and studies at the Academy
Aristotle was born at Stageira, a colony of Andros on the Macedonian
peninsula of Chalcidice in 384 BC. His father, Nicomachus, was
court physician to King Amyntas III of Macedon. It is believed
that Aristotle's ancestors held this position under various kings
of the Macedons. As such, Aristotle's early education would probably
have consisted of instruction in medicine and biology from his
father. Little is known about his mother, Phaestis. It is known
that she died early in Aristotle's life. When Nicomachus also
died, in Aristotle's tenth year, he was left an orphan and placed
under the guardianship of his uncle, Proxenus of Atarneus. He
taught Aristotle Greek, rhetoric, and poetry (O'Connor et al.,
2004). Aristotle was probably influenced by his father's medical
knowledge; when he went to Athens at the age of 18, he was likely
already trained in the investigation of natural phenomena.
From
the age of 18 to 37 Aristotle remained in Athens as a pupil of
Plato and distinguished himself at the Academy. The relations
between Plato and Aristotle have formed the subject of various
legends, many of which depict Aristotle unfavourably. No doubt
there were divergences of opinion between Plato, who took his
stand on sublime, idealistic principles, and Aristotle, who even
at that time showed a preference for the investigation of the
facts and laws of the physical world. It is also probable that
Plato suggested that Aristotle needed restraining rather than
encouragement, but not that there was an open breach of friendship.
In
fact, Aristotle's conduct after the death of Plato, his continued
association with Xenocrates and other Platonists, and his allusions
in his writings to Plato's doctrines prove that while there were
conflicts of opinion between Plato and Aristotle, there was no
lack of cordial appreciation or mutual forbearance. Besides this,
the legends that reflect Aristotle unfavourably are traceable
to the Epicureans, who were known as slanderers. If such legends
were circulated widely by patristic writers such as Justin Martyr
and Gregory Nazianzen, the reason lies in the exaggerated esteem
Aristotle was held in by the early Christian heretics, not in
any well-grounded historical tradition.
Aristotle
as philosopher and tutor
After the death of Plato (347 BC), Aristotle was considered as
the next head of the Academy, a position that was eventually awarded
to Plato's nephew. Aristotle then went with Xenocrates to the
court of Hermias, ruler of Atarneus in Asia Minor, and married
his niece, Pythias and adopted daughter, Pythia, named after her
mother. In 344 BC, Hermias was murdered in a rebellion, and Aristotle
went with his family to Mytilene. It is also reported that he
stopped on Lesbos and briefly conducted biological research. Then,
one or two years later, he was summoned to Pella, the Macedonian
capital, by King Philip II of Macedon to become the tutor of Alexander
the Great, who was then 13.
Plutarch
wrote that Aristotle not only imparted to Alexander a knowledge
of ethics and politics, but also of the most profound secrets
of philosophy. We have much proof that Alexander profited by contact
with the philosopher, and that Aristotle made prudent and beneficial
use of his influence over the young prince (although Bertrand
Russell disputes this). Due to this influence, Alexander provided
Aristotle with ample means for the acquisition of books and the
pursuit of his scientific investigation.
It
is possible that Aristotle also participated in the education
of Alexander's boyhood friends, which may have included for example
Hephaestion and Harpalus. Aristotle maintained a long correspondence
with Hephaestion, eventually collected into a book, unfortunately
now lost. According to sources such as Plutarch and Diogenes,
Philip had Aristotle's hometown of Stageira burned during the
340s BC, and Aristotle successfully requested that Alexander rebuild
it. During his tutorship of Alexander, Aristotle was reportedly
considered a second time for leadership of the Academy; his companion
Xenocrates was selected instead.
Founder
and master of the Lyceum
In about 335 BC, Alexander departed for his Asiatic campaign,
and Aristotle, who had served as an informal adviser (more or
less) since Alexander ascended the Macedonian throne, returned
to Athens and opened his own school of philosophy. He may, as
Aulus Gellius says, have conducted a school of rhetoric during
his former residence in Athens; but now, following Plato's example,
he gave regular instruction in philosophy in a gymnasium dedicated
to Apollo Lyceios, from which his school has come to be known
as the Lyceum. (It was also called the Peripatetic School because
Aristotle preferred to discuss problems of philosophy with his
pupils while walking up and down -- peripateo -- the shaded walks
-- peripatoi -- around the gymnasium).
During
the thirteen years (335 BC–322 BC) which he spent as teacher
of the Lyceum, Aristotle composed most of his writings. Imitating
Plato, he wrote Dialogues in which his doctrines were expounded
in somewhat popular language. He also composed the several treatises
(which will be mentioned below) on physics, metaphysics, and so
forth, in which the exposition is more didactic and the language
more technical than in the Dialogues. These writings succeeded
in bringing together the works of his predecessors in Greek philosophy,
and how he pursued, either personally or through others, his investigations
in the realm of natural phenomena. Pliny claimed that Alexander
placed under Aristotle's orders all the hunters, fishermen, and
fowlers of the royal kingdom and all the overseers of the royal
forests, lakes, ponds and cattle-ranges, and Aristotle's works
on zoology make this statement more believable. Aristotle was
fully informed about the doctrines of his predecessors, and Strabo
asserted that he was the first to accumulate a great library.
During
the last years of Aristotle's life the relations between him and
Alexander became very strained, owing to the disgrace and punishment
of Callisthenes, whom Aristotle had recommended to Alexander.
Nevertheless, Aristotle continued to be regarded at Athens as
a friend of Alexander and a representative of Macedonia. Consequently,
when Alexander's death became known in Athens, and the outbreak
occurred which led to the Lamian war, Aristotle shared in the
general unpopularity of the Macedonians.
The
charge of impiety, which had been brought against Anaxagoras and
Socrates, was now brought against Aristotle. He left the city,
saying (according to many ancient authorities[citation needed])
that he would not give the Athenians a chance to sin a third time
against philosophy. He took up residence at his country house
at Chalcis, in Euboea, and there he died the following year, 322
BC. His death was due to a disease, reportedly 'of the stomach',
from which he had long suffered. The story that his death was
due to hemlock poisoning, as well as the legend that he threw
himself into the sea "because he could not explain the tides,"
is without historical foundation.
Aristotle's
legacy also had a profound influence on Islamic thought and philosophy
during the middle ages. Muslim thinkers such as Avicenna, Farabi,
and Yaqub ibn Ishaq al-Kindi1 were a few of the major proponents
of the Aristotelian school of thought during the Golden Age of
Islam.
Methodology
Aristotle defines philosophy in terms of essence, saying that
philosophy is "the science of the universal essence of that
which is actual". Plato had defined it as the "science
of the idea", meaning by idea what we should call the unconditional
basis of phenomena. Both pupil and master regard philosophy as
concerned with the universal; Aristotle, however, finds the universal
in particular things, and called it the essence of things, while
Plato finds that the universal exists apart from particular things,
and is related to them as their prototype or exemplar. For Aristotle,
therefore, philosophic method implies the ascent from the study
of particular phenomena to the knowledge of essences, while for
Plato philosophic method means the descent from a knowledge of
universal ideas to a contemplation of particular imitations of
those ideas. In a certain sense, Aristotle's method is both inductive
and deductive, while Plato's is essentially deductive.
In
Aristotle's terminology, the term natural philosophy corresponds
to the phenomena of the natural world, which include: motion,
light, and the laws of physics. Many centuries later these subjects
would become the basis of modern science, as studied through the
scientific method. In modern times the term philosophy has come
to be more narrowly understood as metaphysics, distinct from empirical
study of the natural world via the physical sciences. In contrast,
in Aristotle's time and use philosophy was taken to encompass
all facets of intellectual inquiry.
In
the larger sense of the word, he makes philosophy coextensive
with reasoning, which he also called "science". Note,
however, that his use of the term science carries a different
meaning than that which is covered by the scientific method. "All
science (dianoia) is either practical, poetical or theoretical."
By practical science he understands ethics and politics; by poetical,
he means the study of poetry and the other fine arts; while by
theoretical philosophy he means physics, mathematics, and metaphysics.
The
last, philosophy in the stricter sense, he defines as "the
knowledge of immaterial being," and calls it "first
philosophy", "the theologic science" or of "being
in the highest degree of abstraction." If logic, or, as Aristotle
calls it, Analytic, be regarded as a study preliminary to philosophy,
we have as divisions of Aristotelian philosophy (1) Logic; (2)
Theoretical Philosophy, including Metaphysics, Physics, Mathematics,
(3) Practical Philosophy; and (4) Poetical Philosophy.
Aristotle's epistemology
History
Aristotle "says that 'on the subject of reasoning' he 'had
nothing else on an earlier date to speak about'" (Bochenski,
1951). However, Plato reports that syntax was thought of before
him, by Prodikos of Keos, who was concerned by the right use of
words. Logic seems to have emerged from dialectics; the earlier
philosophers used concepts like reductio ad absurdum as a rule
when discussing, but never understood its logical implications.
Even Plato had difficulties with logic. Although he had the idea
of constructing a system for deduction, he was never able to construct
one. Instead, he relied on his dialectic, which was a confusion
between different sciences and methods (Bochenski, 1951). Plato
thought that deduction would simply follow from premises, so he
focused on having good premises so that the conclusion would follow.
Later on, Plato realised that a method for obtaining the conclusion
would be beneficial. Plato never obtained such a method, but his
best attempt was published in his book Sophist, where he introduced
his division method (Rose, 1968).
Analytics
and the Organon
What we call today Aristotelian logic, Aristotle himself would
have labelled analytics. The term logic he reserved to mean dialectics.
Most of Aristotle's work is probably not in its original form,
since it was most likely edited by students and later lecturers.
The logical works of Aristotle were compiled into six books at
about the time of Christ:
----
Categories
---- On Interpretation
---- Prior Analytics
---- Posterior Analytics
---- Topics
---- On Sophistical Refutations
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. There is one volume of Aristotle's concerning logic
not found in the Organon, namely the fourth book of
Metaphysics
Modal
logic
Aristotle is also the creator of syllogisms with modalities (modal
logic). The word modal refers to the word 'modes', explaining
the fact that modal logic deals with the modes of truth. Aristotle
introduced the qualification of 'necessary' and 'possible' premises.
He constructed a logic which helped in the evaluation of truth
but which was very difficult to interpret.
Science
Aristotelian discussions about science had only been qualitative,
not quantitative. By the modern definition of the term, Aristotelian
philosophy was not science, as this worldview did not attempt
to probe how the world actually worked through experiment. For
example, in his book The history of animals he claimed that human
males have more teeth than females. Had he only made some observations,
he would have discovered that this claim is false.
Rather,
based on what one's senses told one, Aristotelian philosophy then
depended upon the assumption that man's mind could elucidate all
the laws of the universe, based on simple observation (without
experimentation) through reason alone.
One
of the reasons for this was that Aristotle held that physics was
about changing objects with a reality of their own, whereas mathematics
was about unchanging objects without a reality of their own. In
this philosophy, he could not imagine that there was a relationship
between them. In contrast, today's science assumes that thinking
alone often leads people astray, and therefore one must compare
one's ideas to the actual world through experimentation; only
then can one discern if one's hypothesis corresponds to reality.
This is known as the scientific method.
Although
Aristotle should be credited for an important step in the history
of scientific method by founding logic as a formal science, he
posited a flawed cosmology that we may discern in selections of
the Metaphysics. His cosmology would gain much acceptance up until
the 1500s. From the 3rd century to the 1500s, the dominant view
held that the Earth was the centre of the universe: at this late
date it is uncontroversial that the Earth is not even the centre
of our own solar system.
Aristotle's metaphysics
Causality
Aristotle is the first who saw that "All causes of things
are beginnings; that we have scientific knowledge when we know
the cause; that to know a thing's existence is to know the reason
for its existence."[citation needed] Setting the guidelines
for all the subsequent causal theories, by specifying the number,
nature, principles, elements, varieties, order, and modes of causation,
Aristotle's account of the causes of things is the most comprehensive
theory up to now. According to Aristotle's theory, all the causes
fall into several senses, the total number of which amounts to
the ways the question 'why' may be answered; namely, by reference
to the matter or the substratum; the essence, the pattern, the
form, or the structure; to the primary moving change or the agent
and its action; and to the goal, the plan, the end, or the good.
Consequently, the major kinds of causes come under the following
divisions:
The
Material Cause is that from which a thing comes into existence
as from its parts, constituents, substratum or materials. This
reduces the explanation of causes to the parts (factors, elements,
constituents, ingredients) forming the whole (system, structure,
compound, complex, composite, or combination) (the part-whole
causation).
The
Formal Cause tells us what a thing is, that any 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 (macrostructure) is the
cause of its parts (the whole-part causation).
The
Efficient Cause is that from which the change or the ending of
the change first starts. It identifies 'what makes of what is
made and what causes change of what is changed' and so suggests
all sorts of agents, nonliving or living, acting as the sources
of change or movement or rest. Representing the current understanding
of causality as the relation of cause and effect, this covers
the modern definitions of "cause" as either the agent
or agency or particular events or states of affairs.
The
Final Cause is that for the sake of which a thing exists or is
done, including both purposeful and instrumental actions and activities.
The final cause or telos is the purpose or end that something
is supposed to serve, or it is that from which and that to which
the change is. This also covers modern ideas of mental causation
involving such psychological causes as volition, need, motivation,
or motives, rational, irrational, ethical, all that gives purpose
to behavior.
Additionally,
things can be causes of one another, causing each other reciprocally,
as hard work causes fitness and vice versa, although not in the
same way or function, the one is as the beginning of change, the
other as the goal. [Thus Aristotle first suggested a reciprocal
or circular causality as a relation of mutual dependence or action
or influence of cause and effect.] Also, Aristotle indicated that
the same thing can be the cause of contrary effects, its presence
and absence may result in different outcomes.
Besides,
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. Essentiallly, causality
does not suggest a temporal relation between the cause and the
effect
All
further investigations of causality will be consisting in imposing
the favorite hierarchies on the order causes, like as final >
efficient> material > formal (Aquinas), or in restricting
all causality to the material and efficient causes or to the efficient
causality (deterministic or chance) or just to regular sequences
and correlations of natural phenomena (the natural sciences describing
how things happen instead of explaining the whys and wherefores).
Chance
and spontaneity
Spontaneity and chance are causes of effects. Chance as an incidental
cause lies in the realm of accidental things. It is "from
what is spontaneous" (but note that what is spontaneous does
not come from chance). For a better understanding of Aristotle's
conception of "chance" it might be better to think of
"coincidence": Something takes place by chance if a
person sets out with the intent of having one thing take place,
but with the result of another thing (not intended) taking place.
For example: A person seeks donations. That person may find another
person willing to donate a substantial sum. However, if the person
seeking the donations met the person donating, not for the purpose
of collecting donations, but for some other purpose, Aristotle
would call the collecting of the donation by that particular donator
a result of chance. It must be unusual that something happens
by chance. In other words, if something happens all or most of
the time, we cannot say that it is by chance.
However,
chance can only apply to human beings, it is in the sphere of
moral actions. According to Aristotle, chance must involve choice
(and thus deliberation), and only humans are capable of deliberation
and choice. "What is not capable of action cannot do anything
by chance"
The
five elements
---- Fire, which is hot and dry.
----
Earth, which is cold and dry.
----
Air, which is hot and wet.
----
Water, which is cold and wet.
----
Aether, which
is the divine substance that makes up the heavens
The
first four elements interchange (i.e. Fire - Air - Water - Earth
etc.), while aether is on its own. The Sun keeps this cycle going.
God keeps the Sun going (and thus the Sun is eternal).
Aristotle's
ethics
Although
Aristotle wrote several works on ethics, the major one was the
Nicomachean Ethics, which is considered one of Aristotle's greatest
works; it discusses virtues. The ten books which comprise it are
based on notes from his lectures at the Lyceum and were either
edited by or dedicated to Aristotle's son, Nicomachus.
Aristotle
believed that ethical knowledge is not certain knowledge, like
metaphysics and epistemology, but general knowledge. Also, as
it is a practical discipline rather than a theoretical one, he
thought that in order to become "good," one could not
simply study what virtue is; one must actually do virtuous deeds.
In order to do this, Aristotle had first to establish what was
virtuous. He began by determining that everything was done with
some goal in mind and that goal is 'good.' The ultimate goal he
called the Highest Good.
Aristotle
contended that happiness could not be found only in pleasure or
only in fame and honor. He finally finds happiness "by ascertaining
the specific function of man." But what is this function
that will bring happiness? To determine this, Aristotle analyzed
the soul and found it to have three parts: the Nutritive Soul
(plants, animals and humans), the Perceptive Soul (animals and
humans) and the Rational Soul (humans only). Thus, a human's function
is to do what makes it human, to be good at what sets it apart
from everything else: the ability to reason or Nous. A person
that does this is the happiest because they are fulfilling their
purpose or nature as found in the rational soul. Depending on
how well they did this, Aristotle said people belonged to one
of four categories: the Virtuous, the Continent, the Incontinent
and the Vicious.
Aristotle
believes that every ethical virtue is an intermediate condition
between excess and deficiency. This does not mean Aristotle believed
in moral relativism, however. He set certain emotions (e.g., hate,
envy, jealousy, spite, etc.) and certain actions (e.g., adultery,
theft, murder, etc.) as always wrong, regardless of the situation
or the circumstances.
Nicomachean
ethics
In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle focuses on the importance of
continually behaving virtuously and developing virtue rather than
committing specific good actions. This can be contrasted with
Kantian ethics, in which the primary focus is on the intent of
the actor, or Utilitarianism where the consequences of the act
are given moral value. Nicomachean Ethics emphasizes the importance
of context to ethical behaviour — what might be right in
one situation might be wrong in another. Aristotle believed that
eudaimonia is the end of life and that as long as a person is
striving for goodness, good deeds will result from that struggle,
making the person virtuous and therefore happy.
Aristotle's
critics
Aristotle has been criticised on several grounds.
His
analysis of procreation is frequently criticised on the grounds
that it presupposes an active, ensouling masculine element bringing
life to an inert, passive, lumpen female element; it is on these
grounds that some feminist critics refer to Aristotle as a misogynist.
At times, the objections that Aristotle raises against the arguments
of his own teacher, Plato, appear to rely on faulty interpretations
of those arguments.
Although
Aristotle advised, against Plato, that knowledge of the world
could only be obtained through experience, he frequently failed
to take his own advice. Aristotle conducted projects of careful
empirical investigation, but often drifted into abstract logical
reasoning, with the result that his work was littered with conclusions
that were not supported by empirical evidence: for example, his
assertion that objects of different mass fall at different speeds
under gravity, which was later refuted by John Philoponus (credit
is often given to Galileo, even though Philopinus lived centuries
earlier).
In
the Middle Ages, roughly from the 12th century to the 15th century,
the philosophy of Aristotle became firmly established dogma. Although
Aristotle himself was far from dogmatic in his approach to philosophical
inquiry, two aspects of his philosophy might have assisted its
transformation into dogma. His works were wide-ranging and systematic
so that they could give the impression that no significant matter
had been left unsettled. He was also much less inclined to employ
the skeptical methods of his predecessors, Socrates and Plato.
Some academics have suggested that Aristotle was unaware of much
of the current science of his own time.
Aristotle
was called not a great philosopher, but "The Philosopher"
by Scholastic thinkers. 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 the arts to free themselves for
the discovery of modern scientific laws and empirical methods.
The
loss of his works
Though we know that Aristotle wrote many elegant treatises (Cicero
described his literary style as "a river of gold"),
the originals have been lost in time. All that we have now are
the literary notes for his pupils, which are often difficult to
read (the Nicomachean Ethics is a good example). It is now believed
that we have about one fifth of his original works.
Aristotle
underestimated the importance of his written work for humanity.
He thus never published his books, except from his dialogues.
The story of the original manuscripts of his treatises is described
by Strabo in his Geography and Plutarch in his "Parallel
Lives, Sulla": The manuscripts were left from Aristotle to
Theophrastus, from Theophrastus to Neleus of Scepsis, from Neleus
to his heirs. Their descendants sold them to Apellicon of Teos.
When Sulla occupied Athens in 86 BC, he carried off the library
of Appellicon to Rome, where they were first published in 60 BC
from the grammarian Tyrranion of Amisus and then by philosopher
Andronicus of Rhodes.
Bibliography
Note: Bekker numbers are often used to uniquely identify passages
of Aristotle. They are identified below where available.
Major
works
The extant works of Aristotle are broken down according to the
five categories in the Corpus Aristotelicum. Not all of these
works are considered genuine, but differ with respect to their
connection to Aristotle, his associates and his views. Some, such
as the Athenaion Politeia or the fragments of other politeia are
regarded by most scholars as products of Aristotle's "school"
and compiled under his direction or supervision. Other works,
such On Colours may have been products of 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 Nicolaus of Damascus. A final
category, omitted here, includes medieval palmistries, astrological
and magical texts whose connection to Aristotle is purely fanciful
and self-promotional.
Logical
writings
Organon (collected works on logic):
(1a) Categories (or Categoriae)
(16a) On Interpretation (or De Interpretatione)
(24a) Prior Analytics (or Analytica Priora)
(71a) Posterior Analytics (or Analytica Posteriora)
(100b) Topics (or Topica)
(164a) On Sophistical Refutations (or De Sophisticis Elenchis)
Physical
and scientific writings
(184a) Physics (or Physica)
(268a) On the Heavens (or De Caelo)
(314a) On Generation and Corruption (or De Generatione et Corruptione)
(338a) Meteorology (or Meteorologica)
(391a) On the Cosmos (or De Mundo, or On the Universe)
(402a) On the Soul (or De Anima)
(436a) Little Physical Treatises (or Parva Naturalia):
On Sense and the Sensible (or De Sensu et Sensibilibus)
On Memory and Reminiscence (or De Memoria et Reminiscentia)
On Sleep and Sleeplessness (or De Somno et Vigilia)
On Dreams (or De Insomniis) *
On Prophesying by Dreams (or De Divinatione per Somnum)
On Longevity and Shortness of Life (or De Longitudine et Brevitate
Vitae)
On Youth and Old Age (On Life and Death) (or De Juventute et Senectute,
De Vita et Morte)
On Breathing (or De Respiratione)
(481a) On Breath (or De Spiritu)
(486a) History of Animals (or Historia Animalium, or On the History
of Animals, or Description of Animals)
(639a) On the Parts of Animals (or De Partibus Animalium)
(698a) On the Gait of Animals (or De Motu Animalium, or On the
Movement of Animals)
(704a) On the Progression of Animals (or De Incessu Animalium)
(715a) On the Generation of Animals (or De Generatione Animalium)
(791a) On Colours (or De Coloribus)
(800a) De audibilibus
(805a) Physiognomics (or Physiognomonica)
On Plants (or De Plantis)
(830a) On Marvellous Things Heard (or Mirabilibus Auscultationibus,
or On Things Heard)
(847a) Mechanical Problems (or Mechanica)
(859a) Problems (or Problemata)
(968a) On Indivisible Lines (or De Lineis Insecabilibus)
(973a) Situations and Names of Winds (or Ventorum Situs)
(974a) On Melissus, Xenophanes and Gorgias (or MXG) The section
On Xenophanes starts at 977a13, the section On Gorgias starts
at 979a11.
Metaphysical
writings
(980a) Metaphysics (or Metaphysica)
Ethical writings
(1094a) Nicomachean Ethics (or Ethica Nicomachea, or The Ethics)
(1181a) Great Ethics (or Magna Moralia)
(1214a) Eudemian Ethics (or Ethica Eudemia)
(1249a) Virtues and Vices (or De Virtutibus et Vitiis Libellus,
Libellus de virtutibus)
(1252a) Politics (or Politica)
(1343a) Economics (or Oeconomica)
Aesthetic
writings
(1354a) Rhetoric (or Ars Rhetorica, or The Art of Rhetoric or
Treatise on Rhetoric)
Rhetoric to Alexander (or Rhetorica ad Alexandrum)
(1447a) Poetics (or Ars Poetica)
A
work outside the Corpus Aristotelicum
The Constitution of the Athenians (or Athenaion Politeia, or The
Athenian Constitution) |