In the first chapter of Aristotle: A Very Short Introduction, titled "The Man and his Work," author Jonathan Barnes introduces Aristotle, his philosophy and his body of works. Aristotle died in the year 322 BC at the age of 62. He was a scholar and philosopher with a broad set of accomplishments. He was an inspirational teacher who taught the brightest students in Greece and is renown as one of the greatest scholars of all time.
Not much is known of his personal life other that he came from a wealthy family and had a neat appearance. He suffered from poor digestion, and Barnes described him as spindle-shanked or one having long skinny legs. Not surprising he was an excellent speaker with a clear understanding and persuasive in his speech. He had numerous enemy of which many accused him of arrogance. His writings which are impersonal make him out to be independent and one that valued friendship. He had an overwhelming desire for knowledge and was dedicated to discover the truth and increase the understanding of humanity.
He felt this desire was one that all men owned and that a fully human life was one that he called ‘the activity of the mind.' He believed philosophy was not just for scholars. In his writing Exhortation to Philosophy, he claimed ‘the acquisition of wisdom is pleasant; all men feel at home in philosophy and wish to spend time on it, leaving all other things aside.' Happiness he argued, is attained by intellectual activity. He tells us this is not a godlike activity that mortals cannot achieve, but one in which we can go as far as possible to immortalize ourselves.
Barnes continues the chapter by describing Aristotle’s works as vast and remarkable for its scope and variety. Among the topics are logic, language, arts, ethics, politics, law; on constitutional and intellectual history, zoology, biology, botany; on chemistry, astronomy, mechanics, and mathematics; on the philosophy of science, nature of motion in space; on metaphysics and theory of knowledge. Only about a fifth of his works survive, but from these, a rounded idea of his activities can still be formed.
Most of Aristotle's works were from lecture notes and not in the form of the formal treatise, and his style is labeled as rugged in comparison to Plato's dialogues. Barnes describes these writings as short and concise with abrupt transitions, inelegant transitions, and obscure allusions, but this style was appropriate for scientific writing as it favored simplicity that student could understand.
The author concludes the chapter by telling us Aristotle is a tough read and an excellent way to approach it is to think of the writing as lecture notes, and we have to lecture from those notes. From those notes create and expand an argument while making the transitions clear and we have to footnote specific paragraphs and move some others to another lecture. This sound like a challenging and stressful task to me. Barnes reassures us by saying Aristotle can be a challenge, but once this challenge is taken and conquered, we wouldn't want to have a treatise in any other form. The invitation is accepted as I look forward to completing this book outside the time constraints of this class.
Questions:
What should I keep in mind as I read this book on Aristotle?
Accept the challenge and read it with an open mind. don't rush through it, read it like a box of chocolate. You dont know what your going to get out of it until you bite into it. Read small portions at a time and work out what he is saying in your own mind.The object of course, is to think about it.
ReplyDeleteGlad you're getting to Aristotle, who recently came in a close second to David Hume in a popularity poll among contemporary philosophers. I'm biased in his favor, in the Plato-Aristotle debate, but I'd say the thing to keep in mind about him is his prescience... literally, his PRE-scientific anticipation of the way we've gone about inquiring into empirical reality ever since the Copernican Revolution. He had almost-inexhaustible patience for collecting data, assembling facts, compiling genus/species taxonomies, NOT rushing to transcendentally-speculative judgment. He was still a product of his own time, of course, with attendant limitations: defending slavery was the big one. But, I defy anyone philosophizing today to hold up as well over the next two millennia as Aristotle has.
ReplyDeleteFun fact: Jonathan Barnes is brother of the novelist Julian Barnes, who also wrote a good book about human mortality called "Nothing to Be Frightened Of"...