Aristotle: A Guide for the Perplexed

177 Pages·2008·8.61 MB·English

by  John A. Vella

ARISTOTLE:
A GUIDE FOR THE PERPLEXED
Guides for the Perplexed
Continuum's Guides for the Perplexed are clear, concise and accessi-
ble introductions to thinkers, writers and subjects that students and
readers can find especially challenging. Concentrating specifically
on what it is that makes the subject difficult to grasp, these books
explain and explore key themes and ideas, guiding the reader
towards a thorough understanding of demanding material.
Guides for the Perplexed available from Continuum:
Adorno: A Guide for the Perplexed, Alex Thomson
Deleuze: A Guide for the Perplexed, Claire Colebrook
Derrida: A Guide for the Perplexed, Julian Wolfreys
Descartes: A Guide for the Perplexed, Justin Skirry
Existentialism: A Guide for the Perplexed, Stephen Earnshaw
Freud: A Guide for the Perplexed, Celine Surprenant
Gadamer: A Guide for the Perplexed, Chris Lawn
Habermas: A Guide for the Perplexed, Eduardo Mendieta
Hegel: A Guide for the Perplexed, David James
Hobbes: A Guide for the Perplexed, Stephen J. Finn
Hume: A Guide for the Perplexed, Angela Coventry
Husserl: A Guide for the Perplexed, Matheson Russell
Kant: A Guide for the Perplexed, TK Seung
Kierkegaard: A Guide for the Perplexed, Clare Carlisle
Levinas: A Guide for the Perplexed, B.C. Hutchens
Leibniz: A Guide for the Perplexed, Franklin Perkins
Merleau-Ponty: A Guide for the Perplexed, Eric Matthews
Nietzsche: A Guide for the Perplexed, R. Kevin Hill
Plato: A Guide for the Perplexed, Gerald A. Press
Quine: A Guide for the Perplexed, Gary Kemp
Ricoeur: A Guide for the Perplexed, David Pellauer
Rousseau: A Guide for the Perplexed, Matthew Simpson
Sartre: A Guide for the Perplexed, Gary Cox
Spinoza: A Guide for the Perplexed, Charles Jarrett
Wittgenstein: A Guide for the Perplexed, Mark Addis
ARISTOTLE: A GUIDE FOR THE
PERPLEXED
JOHN A. VELLA
continuum
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© John A. Vella 2008
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First published 2008
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
EISBN 9780826497086
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
Typeset by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Manchester
For my wife Amelia with all my love

CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ix
Chronology x
Introduction 1
Chapter 1. Science (episteme) 11
Division of the Sciences According to Aims and Objects 11
Demonstration (apodeixis) 16
The Axioms of the Sciences 20
Chapter 2. Being or Substance (ousia) 26
Being Before Aristotle 28
Being in the Categories 33
The Science of Being: First Philosophy 46
Being in Metaphysics Zeta (7) 54
Chapter 3. Nature iphusis) 63
Principles of Change 69
The Four Causes or Explanations {aitiai) 75
Defence of Teleology 80
Chapter 4. Soul ipsuche) 87
Soul as Substance, Form and Actuality 90
What the Student of Soul Investigates 96
Perception 99
Thought 105
Chapter 5. Success (eudaimonia) 116
The Practical Science of Ethics 119
The Chief and Final Good for Human Beings 126
vii
CONTENTS
Virtues of Character 133
Virtues of Intellect 149
Conclusion 158
Notes 159
Bibliography 163
Index 165
viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My greatest debt is to those teachers from whom I have learned so
much about Aristotle. Professor Grace Ledbetter at Swarthmore
College and Professor Georgios Anagnostopoulos at the University
of California at San Diego have both been invaluable as teachers of
Ancient Philosophy generally and Aristotle in particular. I am also
indebted to Greg Shirley and Matt Egan for reading earlier drafts
and making helpful suggestions. Any errors that remain are of course
my own. I would also like to thank the editorial staff at Continuum
Publishing; Sarah Douglas, Tom Crick and Adam Green have all
provided assistance from the earliest to the final stages of this project.
I am also grateful to Princeton University Press for permission to
quote from the Revised Oxford Translation of the following texts:
Metaphysics, Physics, On the Soul and Nicomachean Ethics, all
found in J. Barnes, The Complete Works of Aristotle. 6 (1984, The
Jowett Copyright Trustees). Reprinted by permission of Princeton
University Press.