Classical Theism, Philosophy, and Religion Forum / Aristotelian Resources

**Posted by Jeremy Taylor** 7/04/2015 8:56 pm

Post here any important or noteworthy Aristotelian resources, including Scholastic ones.

I will start with Dr. Feser's Blog and his Aquinas and Scholastic Metaphysics: A Contemporary Introdution.

**Posted by John West** 7/04/2015 8:58 pm

Michael Sullivan and Lee Faber's Scotus hub, The Smithy.

**Posted by Scott** 7/04/2015 9:19 pm

Here are three strictly limited to Aristotle:

One of my favorite introductions to The Philosopher is Jonathan Lear's Aristotle: The Desire to Understand (here: http://www.amazon.com/Aristotle-Desire-Understand-Jonathan-Lear/dp/0521347629).

And in The Lagoon: How Aristotle Invented Science (here: http://www.amazon.com/Lagoon-How-Aristotle-Invented-Science/dp/0670026743), Armand Marie Leroi finally gives him some of the credit he deserves for his role in the development of science, specifically biology (though Leroi is untrustworthy and unfair on the subject of Plato and Platonism).

And I probably don't need to mention Lloyd Gerson's Aristotle and other Platonists (here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0801473373), but I just did anyway. It's an effective antidote to the common view (shared by Leroi) that Aristotle was a sort of anti-Plato.

Last edited by Scott (7/04/2015 9:24 pm)

**Posted by John West** 7/04/2015 9:41 pm

Aquinas
Feser, Edward. Aquinas: A Beginner's Guide.
Stump, Eleanore. Aquinas.

Ockham
Keele, Rondo. Ockham Explained: From Razor to Rebellion.

**Posted by iwpoe** 7/04/2015 10:39 pm

If we accept the view that Aristotle is not an anti-Plato, then the platonic resources we list in the other thread should also to a certain extent, count as Aristotelian resources. I have a book or two on classical logic that I can list when I get home.

**Posted by DanielCC** 7/05/2015 4:58 am

I would shy away from lumping the Scholastics in with Aristotle himself. Following Augustine most of the schoolmen implicitly accepting uninstantiated universals in the form of Divine Exemplars, which, though their modern champions would hate to admit it, pushes them towards the Platonist or better Neoplatonist camp. Certainly the Scholastics deserve a thread of their own if not one dedicated to each of the major figures.

So, now for some classic Aristotelean Resources:

Franz Brentano

On the Several Senses of Being in Aristotle

(A famous text which inspired Heidegger’s ‘quest for Being’)

The Psychology of Aristotle: In Particular His Doctrine of the Active Intellect : With an Appendix Concerning the Activity of Aristotle's God

(An excellent defence of what amounts to Thomas’ interpretation of Aristotle’s De Anima against the dominant Neo-Averoesistic readings)

Aristotle and His World View

Werner Jaeger

Aristotle;: Fundamentals of the history of his development

(Jaeger is of course obligatory to students of Classical philosophy. This volume defends an interpretation of Aristotle’s philosophical development as a move from theology to the natural sciences)

Christopher Shields

Aristotle

(Solid modern interpretation of Aristotle’s philosophy which ends by mentioning the modern Neo-Aristotelean revival

**Posted by iwpoe** 7/05/2015 5:10 am

There are three books I recommend on logic most directly related to getting out something like a traditional view of logic. I'll list them in order of complexity:

An Introduction To Traditional Logic: Classical Reasoning For Contemporary Minds – Scott M. Sullivan – October 26, 2005

Aristotelian Logic – by William T. Parry & Edward A. Hacker – September 3, 1991

Introduction to Medieval Logic – Alexander Broadie – June 24, 1993

Three additional more specialized books that may be of interest:

The Many Roots of Medieval Logic:The Aristotelian and the Non-Aristotelian Traditions – John Marenbon – December 12, 2007

Articulating Medieval Logic – Terence Parsons – May 10, 2014

Dialectic and Its Place in the Development of Medieval Logic – Eleonore Stump – August 1, 1989

(As per usual these are expensive and I'm not to speak of any alternate sources publicly. )

Last edited by iwpoe (7/05/2015 5:13 am)

**Posted by iwpoe** 7/05/2015 5:31 am

DanielCC wrote:
(Jaeger is of course obligatory to students of Classical philosophy. This volume defends an interpretation of Aristotle’s philosophical development as a move from theology to the natural sciences)

Funny how that's a development and story rarely told, praised, or recommended by any ancient figure. Indeed, the Platonic Socrates tells a nearly reverse auto-biography. I've never understood why philosophers of the history of philosophy are so rarely willing to permit their figures to not have a story that challenges them as an alien approach outside their own expectations. If you're just going to turn Aristotle into an ancient Greek Charles Darwin why not just read Charles Darwin's middling little Englishman's biography?

**Posted by John West** 7/05/2015 9:12 am

Both Broadie and Parsons's books are good, but don't expect a system anywhere near as powerful as the first-order predicate calculus unless you buy Parsons's work.

**Posted by Scott** 7/05/2015 9:17 am

iwpoe wrote:
If we accept the view that Aristotle is not an anti-Plato, then the platonic resources we list in the other thread should also to a certain extent, count as Aristotelian resources.

I agree, with the obvious caveat that resources on Platonism provide general background but not necessarily anything much specifically about Aristotle's own version of it. No doubt that's exactly why you say "to a certain extent."