The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle (Cambridge Companions to Philosophy)

Aristotle is one of the very greatest thinkers in the Western tradition, but also one of the most difficult. The contributors to this volume do not attempt to disguise the nature of that difficulty, but at the same time they offer a clear exposition of the central philosophical concerns in his work. Approaches and methods vary and the volume editor has not imposed any single interpretation, but has rather allowed legitimate differences of interpretation to stand. An introductory chapter provides an account of Aristotle's life, and then guides the reader through the complex subject of what Aristotle actually wrote as a basis for characterising his philosophical development. Subsequent chapters cover Aristotle's writings on logic, metaphysics, science, psychology, ethics, politics, rhetoric, and poetics. It is a basic assumption of the Companion that its readers will not know Greek Contents......Page 3 List of contributors......Page 5 Introduction......Page 7 Aristotle's writings......Page 18 1. Life and work......Page 23 2. Logic......Page 49 3. Metaphysics......Page 88 4. Philosophy of science......Page 131 5. Science......Page 162 6. Psychology......Page 190 7. Ethics......Page 217 8. Politics......Page 255 9. Rhetoric and poetics......Page 281 Suggestions for reading......Page 308 Bibliography......Page 313 Index of passages......Page 401 Index of names......Page 409 Index of Greek terms......Page 411 Index of subjects......Page 412 Aristotle is one of the greatest thinkers in the Western tradition as well as one of the most difficult to understand. Contributors to this volume do not attempt to disguise the nature of that difficulty in the course of offering a clear exposition of the central philosophical concerns in his work.