Planning To Read Aristotle.

[Innocent]

I am planning to read Aristotle's works systematically. Till now I have only read a few stray chapters here and there from his Metaphysics and Ethics. I now feel a deep urge to understand his writings better and more fully.

I'd be very grateful if those of you who have some level of familiarity with Aristotle give me your recommendations. Which work do I start with, for example? I'm prepared to spend half-an-hour each day.

Thanks.

[Laudate_Dominum]

That's awesome! I'm sure you'll hear different opinions from different people but in my opinion the Organon is the best place to start. Here are the works that comprise the Organon:

[i]Categories
Prior Analytics,
De Interpretatione,
Posterior Analytics
Sophistical Refutations
Topics[/i]

I think a lot of people will say to start with the [i]Nicomachean Ethics[/i] but in my opinion this should come after the [i]Organon[/i], [i]Physics[/i], [i]De Anima[/i] and [i]Metaphysics[/i]. I also believe in following up on [i]Nicomachean Ethics[/i] with the [i]Politics[/i]. I've known people who read the former (and possibly even [i]Eudemian Ethics[/i]) for a class or something and were never even encouraged to read the [i]Politics[/i]! I consider the [i]Politics[/i] to be an integral part of Aristotle's ethical project (perhaps the [i]telos[/i] ) which is why I think this is weird.

I must say that I'm not particularly opinionated about this order of readings. I certainly didn't read Aristotle in this order and I like to think that I turned out alright. hehe. This order just seems to make sense to me but take it with a grain of salt.

Cheers!

[missionseeker]

[quote name='Laudate_Dominum' post='1501470' date='Apr 16 2008, 09:40 PM']That's awesome! I'm sure you'll hear different opinions from different people but in my opinion the Organon is the best place to start. Here are the works that comprise the Organon:

[i]Categories
Prior Analytics,
De Interpretatione,
Posterior Analytics
Sophistical Refutations
Topics[/i]

I think a lot of people will say to start with the [i]Nicomachean Ethics[/i] but in my opinion this should come after the [i]Organon[/i], [i]Physics[/i], [i]De Anima[/i] and [i]Metaphysics[/i]. I also believe in following up on [i]Nicomachean Ethics[/i] with the [i]Politics[/i]. I've known people who read the former (and possibly even [i]Eudemian Ethics[/i]) for a class or something and were never even encouraged to read the [i]Politics[/i]! I consider the [i]Politics[/i] to be an integral part of Aristotle's ethical project (perhaps the [i]telos[/i] ) which is why I think this is weird.

I must say that I'm not particularly opinionated about this order of readings. I certainly didn't read Aristotle in this order and I like to think that I turned out alright. hehe. This order just seems to make sense to me but take it with a grain of salt.

Cheers![/quote]

what he said. (Though I have only read N Ethics, some physics, even less metaphysics and am reading Politics (which is great)

I love Aristotle.

[Innocent]

Thanks for the replies. I'll start with [i]Categories[/i], then.

[Innocent]

I've started with the [i]Categories.[/i] Thanks for the encouragement, LD and MissionSeeker.

I have another doubt: How can I be sure I've understood him properly? Are there any good commentaries online (for free, I'm not high on cash right now) that I can consult after I've read the text to be sure that I've understood him right?

Edited April 17, 2008 by Innocent

[Laudate_Dominum]

[quote name='Innocent' post='1501810' date='Apr 17 2008, 11:56 AM']I've started with the [i]Categories.[/i] Thanks for the encouragement, LD and MissionSeeker.

I have another doubt: How can I be sure I've understood him properly? Are there any good commentaries online (for free, I'm not high on cash right now) that I can consult after I've read the text to be sure that I've understood him right?[/quote]
Honestly, if someone were to ask me where to start in studying Aristotle I would probably recommend a good secondary source first and a thematic reading of the major works second. I think it is good to have something of the big picture beforehand anyway. I could recommend some sweet books but since you're interested in internet resources I must confess that I don't know of very many things.

1. Here are a couple sites that provide decent overviews of Aristotle's philosophy.
[url="http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/a/aristotl.htm"]http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/a/aristotl.htm[/url]
[url="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01713a.htm"]http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01713a.htm[/url]
[url="http://faculty.washington.edu/smcohen/433/arintro.htm"]http://faculty.washington.edu/smcohen/433/arintro.htm[/url]
[url="http://radicalacademy.com/philaristotle2.htm"]http://radicalacademy.com/philaristotle2.htm[/url]
[url="http://ocw.nd.edu/philosophy/introduction-to-philosophy-1/Lecture%2008%20Notes.html"]http://ocw.nd.edu/philosophy/introduction-...08%20Notes.html[/url]

2. Here is a general site dedicated to Aristotle and his works.
[url="http://www.non-contradiction.com/"]http://www.non-contradiction.com/[/url]

3. Finally, I must mention the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy which has good articles on a great many Aristotelian subjects. This is a good place for getting a quick low-down on a given topic.
[url="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-categories/"]http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-categories/[/url]
[url="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-causality/"]http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-causality/[/url]
[url="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-noncontradiction/"]http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotl...ncontradiction/[/url]
[url="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-logic/"]http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-logic/[/url]
[url="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-metaphysics/"]http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-metaphysics/[/url]
[url="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-psychology/"]http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-psychology/[/url]
[url="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-ethics/"]http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-ethics/[/url]
[url="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-natphil/"]http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-natphil/[/url]
[url="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-politics/"]http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-politics/[/url]
[url="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-rhetoric/"]http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-rhetoric/[/url]

Aquinas' commentary on Aristotle's Metaphysics is available online but I'm not so sure that this would make an introductory reading of the text any easier. Aquinas assumes a good bit of familiarity with the work.
[url="http://www.diafrica.org/kenny/CDtexts/Metaphysics.htm"]http://www.diafrica.org/kenny/CDtexts/Metaphysics.htm[/url]

[Apotheoun]

I prefer reading the Church Fathers.

[i]The Life of Moses[/i], by St. Gregory of Nyssa is a particularly good treatise.

[Pio Nono]

JMJ
4/19 - Fourth Saturday of Easter

It's good to read Aristotle. He's been a tremendous influence on Western theology since Thomas Aquinas, and perhaps Stephen Cardinal Langton before him.

The [i]Organon[/i] is a great place to start - even though it's probably the most boring stuff, it's definitely the most important.

Read the [i]Physics [/i]before the [i]Metaphysics[/i]. That way, you'll really appreciate the beauty of his argument for the existence of a Deity, which kind of comes out of nowhere.

[Apotheoun]

I like what St. Gregory of Nyssa had to say about Greek philosophy in his treatise, [i]The Life of Moses[/i]:

"Since the daughter of the king, being childless and barren (I think she is rightly perceived as profane philosophy), arranged to be called his mother by adopting the youngster, Scripture concedes that his relationship with her who was falsely called his mother should not be rejected until he had recognized his own immaturity. But he who has already attained maturity, as we have learned about Moses, will be ashamed to be called the son of one who is barren by nature.

For truly barren is profane education, which is always in labor but never gives birth. For what fruit worthy of such pangs does philosophy show for being so long in labor? Do not all who are full of wind and never come to term miscarry before they come to the light of the knowledge of God, although they could as well become men if they were not altogether hidden in the womb of barren wisdom?

Now after living with the princess of the Egyptians for such a long time that he seemed to share in their honors, he must return to his natural mother. Indeed he was not separated from her while he was being brought up by the princess but was nursed by his mother's milk, as the history states. This teaches, it seems to me, that if we should be involved with profane teachings during our education, we should not separate ourselves from the nourishment of the Church's milk, which would be her laws and customs. By these the soul is nourished and matured, thus being given the means of ascending the height.

It is true that he who looks to both the profane doctrines and to the doctrines of the fathers will find himself between two antagonists. For the foreigner in worship is opposed to the Hebrew teaching, and contentiously strives to appear stronger than the Israelite. And so he seems to be to many of the more superficial who abandon the faith of their fathers and fight on the side of the enemy, becoming transgressors of the fathers teaching. On the other hand, he who is great and noble in soul like Moses slays with his own hand the one who rises in opposition to true religion."

[St. Gregory of Nyssa, [i]The Life of Moses[/i], Book II, nos. 10-13]

Edited April 20, 2008 by Apotheoun

[Innocent]

[quote name='Apotheoun' post='1503633' date='Apr 20 2008, 07:07 AM'][i]The Life of Moses[/i], by St. Gregory of Nyssa is a particularly good treatise.[/quote]
Thank you for the suggestion.

It must be in the public domain now, surely. Have you noticed it on-line anywhere?

I did some searching, but couldn't find it anywhere except on Questia, and I don't have a Questia account.

[Innocent]

[quote name='Laudate_Dominum' post='1503552' date='Apr 20 2008, 04:55 AM']Honestly, if someone were to ask me where to start in studying Aristotle I would probably recommend a good secondary source first and a thematic reading of the major works second. I think it is good to have something of the big picture beforehand anyway. I could recommend some sweet books but since you're interested in internet resources I must confess that I don't know of very many things.

1. Here are a couple sites that provide decent overviews of Aristotle's philosophy.
[url="http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/a/aristotl.htm"]http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/a/aristotl.htm[/url]
[url="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01713a.htm"]http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01713a.htm[/url]
[url="http://faculty.washington.edu/smcohen/433/arintro.htm"]http://faculty.washington.edu/smcohen/433/arintro.htm[/url]
[url="http://radicalacademy.com/philaristotle2.htm"]http://radicalacademy.com/philaristotle2.htm[/url]
[url="http://ocw.nd.edu/philosophy/introduction-to-philosophy-1/Lecture%2008%20Notes.html"]http://ocw.nd.edu/philosophy/introduction-...08%20Notes.html[/url]

2. Here is a general site dedicated to Aristotle and his works.
[url="http://www.non-contradiction.com/"]http://www.non-contradiction.com/[/url]

3. Finally, I must mention the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy which has good articles on a great many Aristotelian subjects. This is a good place for getting a quick low-down on a given topic.
[url="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-categories/"]http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-categories/[/url]
[url="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-causality/"]http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-causality/[/url]
[url="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-noncontradiction/"]http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotl...ncontradiction/[/url]
[url="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-logic/"]http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-logic/[/url]
[url="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-metaphysics/"]http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-metaphysics/[/url]
[url="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-psychology/"]http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-psychology/[/url]
[url="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-ethics/"]http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-ethics/[/url]
[url="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-natphil/"]http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-natphil/[/url]
[url="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-politics/"]http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-politics/[/url]
[url="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-rhetoric/"]http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-rhetoric/[/url]

Aquinas' commentary on Aristotle's Metaphysics is available online but I'm not so sure that this would make an introductory reading of the text any easier. Aquinas assumes a good bit of familiarity with the work.
[url="http://www.diafrica.org/kenny/CDtexts/Metaphysics.htm"]http://www.diafrica.org/kenny/CDtexts/Metaphysics.htm[/url][/quote]

Thank you very much, L_D!

[Apotheoun]

[quote name='Innocent' post='1503821' date='Apr 19 2008, 09:22 PM']Thank you for the suggestion.

It must be in the public domain now, surely. Have you noticed it on-line anywhere?

I did some searching, but couldn't find it anywhere except on Questia, and I don't have a Questia account. [/quote]
The text I quoted, which is from the [i]Classics of Western Spirituality[/i] series, is not in the public domain, and I do not know of any websites that contain an older translation. But the book can be purchased from amazon.com at a fairly cheap price.

[url="http://www.amazon.com/Gregory-Nyssa-HarperCollins-Spiritual-Classics/dp/0060754648"][u]The Life of Moses[/u][/url]

[Laudate_Dominum]

[quote name='Apotheoun' post='1503633' date='Apr 19 2008, 07:37 PM']I prefer reading the Church Fathers.

[i]The Life of Moses[/i], by St. Gregory of Nyssa is a particularly good treatise.[/quote]
I share your preference but of course there is value in studying the great figures in the history of Western thought and civilization. My personal interest in Aristotle derives from a more general interest in the history of philosophy and science. Besides this I think it can be difficult to fully appreciate the Fathers without an understanding of classical culture et cetera.

[Laudate_Dominum]

[quote name='Apotheoun' post='1503835' date='Apr 19 2008, 10:29 PM']The text I quoted, which is from the [i]Classics of Western Spirituality[/i] series, is not in the public domain, and I do not know of any websites that contain an older translation. But the book can be purchased from amazon.com at a fairly cheap price.

[url="http://www.amazon.com/Gregory-Nyssa-HarperCollins-Spiritual-Classics/dp/0060754648"][u]The Life of Moses[/u][/url][/quote]
[i][url="http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/"]Documenta Catholica Omnia[/url][/i] has volumes of treatises from the [i]Patrologia Graeca[/i] in .pdf format. I've recently been pillaging the works of Saint Cyril of Alexandria from this site. The downside is that the patristic works are rarely available in English. The Nyssan treatise in question is available in Greek here (what better way to practice one's Greek anyway? ): [url="http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/02g/0330-0395,_Gregorius_Nyssenus,_De_vita_Mosis,f"]http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/02g/..._Mosis,_MGR.pdf[/url]

The website is designed in Latin but be assured that the works from the [i]Patrogia Graeca [/i]are in Greek.

They also have a Portuguese translation of that treatise but no English. This site actually blows my mind because it can be very difficult to find the Greek editions of many patristic writings and even if you can find it you'll be dropping some serious coin to get your hands on it.

Here is a page that has a partial listing of the Greek Fathers available on their site: [url="http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/20_30_Ecclesiae_Patres_Graeci.html"]http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/20_3...res_Graeci.html[/url]

All I can say is

P.S. Many documents include analytic indices and concordances at the end which could be useful in research.

[Laudate_Dominum]

Check out all the stuff they have for Saint Augustine! [url="http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/20_40_0354-0430-_Augustinus,_Sanctus.html"]http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/20_4...s,_Sanctus.html[/url]

Yikes! That could keep a person busy for quite a while.

Here is the stuff I downloaded a while back with the hope of reading through it for Greek practice as well as theological study and edification.
[url="http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/20_30_0370-0444-_Cirillus_Alexandrinus,_Sanctus.html"]http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/20_3...s,_Sanctus.html[/url]