Revisiting Aristotle’s Fragments : New Essays on the Fragments of Aristotle’s Lost Works

The philosophical and philological study of Aristotle fragments and lost works has fallen somewhat into the background since the 1960's. This is regrettable considering the different and innovative directions the study of Aristotle has taken in the last decades. This collection of new peer-reviewed essays applies the latest developments and trends of analysis, criticism, and methodology to the study of Aristotle's fragments. The individual essays use the fragments as tools of interpretation, shed new light on different areas of Aristotle philosophy, and lay bridges between Aristotle's lost and extant works. The first part shows how Aristotle frames parts of his own understanding of Philosophy in his published, 'popular' work. The second part deals with issues of philosophical interpretation in Aristotle's extant works which can be illuminated by fragments of his lost works. The philosophical issues treated in this section range from Theology to Natural Science, Psychology, Politics, and Poetics. As a whole, the book articulates a new approach to Aristotle's lost works, by providing a reassessment and new methodological explorations of the fragments. Table of Contents 5 Introduction 7 I. Philosophy and Philosophical Perspectives in Aristotle’s Fragments 17 What is Philosophy in the Protrepticus? 17 Aristotle’s Philosophêmata 55 On the Role of the Platonic Interlocutor in Aristotle’s Dialogue On Philosophy 73 Aristotle on Wine and Intoxication 89 II. Philosophical Problems in Light of Aristotle’s Fragments 99 The Lost On Philosophy and Aristotle’s Natural Philosophy 99 Athenaeus’ Deipnosophistae 7 and Aristotle’s Lost Zoïka or On Fish 115 In Dialogue about Harmony 147 The Spurious Fragments of a Supposed Aristotelian Argument from Design 169 Aristotle’s Lost Dialogue On Good Birth and Kingship as the Best Regime 207 Did Homer Nod Off? Aristotle and Homeric Problem-Solving 227 Bibliography 269 Index of Passages 283 Index of Names 303 The volumes published in the series Beiträge zur Altertumskunde comprise monographs, collective volumes, editions, translations and commentaries on various topics from the fields of Greek and Latin Philology, Ancient History, Archeology, Ancient Philosophy as well as Classical Reception Studies. The series thus offers indispensable research tools for a wide range of disciplines related to Ancient Studies