AristoTele 4

14.
Aristotle’s Legacy
Aristotle’s influence is difficult to overestimate. After his death, his school, the Lyceum, carried
on for some period of time, though precisely how long is unclear. In the century immediately
after his death, Aristotle’s works seem to have fallen out of circulation; they reappear in the first
century B.C.E., after which time they began to be disseminated, at first narrowly, but then much
more broadly. They eventually came to form the backbone of some seven centuries of
philosophy, in the form of the commentary tradition, much of it original philosophy carried on
in a broadly Aristotelian framework. They also played a very significant, if subordinate role, in
the Neoplatonic philosophy of Plotinus and Porphyry. Thereafter, from the sixth through the
twelfth centuries, although the bulk of Aristotle’s writings were lost to the West, they received
extensive consideration in Byzantine Philosophy, and in Arabic Philosophy, where Aristotle
was so prominent that be became known simply as The First Teacher (see the entry on
the influence of Arabic and Islamic philosophy on the Latin West). In this tradition, the notably
rigorous and illuminating commentaries of Avicenna and Averroes interpreted and developed
Aristotle’s views in striking ways. These commentaries in turn proved exceedingly influential
in the earliest reception of the Aristotelian corpus into the Latin West in the twelfth century.
Among Aristotle’s greatest exponents during the early period of his reintroduction to the
West, Albertus Magnus, and above all his student Thomas Aquinas, sought to reconcile
Aristotle’s philosophy with Christian thought. Some Aristotelians disdain Aquinas as
bastardizing Aristotle, while some Christians disown Aquinas as pandering to pagan
philosophy. Many others in both camps take a much more positive view, seeing Thomism as a
brilliant synthesis of two towering traditions; arguably, the incisive commentaries written by
Aquinas towards the end of his life aim not so much at synthesis as straightforward exegesis
and exposition, and in these respects they have few equals in any period of philosophy. Partly
due to the attention of Aquinas, but for many other reasons as well, Aristotelian philosophy set
the framework for the Christian philosophy of the twelfth through the sixteenth centuries,
though, of course, that rich period contains a broad range of philosophical activity, some more
and some less in sympathy with Aristotelian themes. To see the extent of Aristotle’s influence,
however, it is necessary only to recall that the two concepts forming the so-called binarium
famosissimum (“the most famous pair”) of that period, namely universal hylomorphism and the
doctrine of the plurality of forms, found their first formulations in Aristotle’s texts.
Interest in Aristotle continued unabated throughout the renaissance in the form of Renaissance
Aristotelianism. The dominant figures of this period overlap with the last flowerings of
Medieval Aristotelian Scholasticism, which reached a rich and highly influential close in the
figure of Suárez, whose life in turn overlaps with Descartes. From the end of late Scholasticism,
the study of Aristotle has undergone various periods of relative neglect and intense interest, but
has been carried forward uninterrupted down to the present day.
Today, philosophers of various stripes continue to look to Aristotle for guidance and inspiration
in many different areas, ranging from the philosophy of mind to theories of the infinite, though
perhaps Aristotle’s influence is seen most overtly and avowedly in the resurgence of virtue
ethics which began in the last half of the twentieth century. It seems safe at this stage to predict
that Aristotle’s stature is unlikely to diminish in the new millennium. If it is any indication of
the direction of things to come, a quick search of the present Encyclopedia turns up more
citations to ‘Aristotle’ and ‘Aristotelianism’ than to any other philosopher or philosophical
movement. Only Plato comes close.
Bibliography
A. Translations
The Standard English Translation of Aristotle’s Complete Works into English is:
• Barnes, J., ed. The Complete Works of Aristotle, Volumes I and II, Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 1984.
An excellent translation of selections of Aristotle’s works is:
• Irwin, T. and Fine., G., Aristotle: Selections, Translated with Introduction, Notes, and Glossary,
Indianapolis: Hackett, 1995.
B. Translations with Commentaries

The best set of English translations with commentaries is the Clarendon Aristotle Series:
• Ackrill, J., Categories and De Interpretatione, Translated with notes, Oxford: Oxford
• Annas, J., Metaphysics Books M and N, Translated with a commentary, Oxford: Oxford
• Balme, D., De Partibus Animalium I and De Generatione Animalium I, (with passages from
Book II. 1–3), Translated with an introduction and notes, Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1992.
• Barnes, J., Posterior Analytics, Second Edition, Translated with a commentary, Oxford: Oxford
• Bostock, D., Metaphysics Books Z and H, Translated with a commentary, Oxford: Oxford
• Charlton, W., Physics Books I and II, Translated with introduction, commentary, Note on
Recent Work, and revised Bibliography, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1984.
• Graham, D., Physics, Book VIII, Translated with a commentary, Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 1999.
• Hamlyn, D., De Anima II and III, with Passages from Book I, translated with a commentary,
and with a review of recent work by Christopher Shields, Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1999.
• Hussey, E., Physics Books III and IV, Translated with an introduction and notes, Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1983.
• Keyt, D., Politics, Books V and VI Animals, Translated with a commentary, Oxford: Oxford
• Kirwan, C., Metaphysics: Books gamma, delta, and epsilon, Second Edition, Translated with
notes, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993.
• Kraut, R., Politics Books VII and VIII, Translated with a commentary, Oxford: Oxford
• Lennox., J., On the Parts of Animals, Translated with a commentary, Oxford: Oxford
• Madigan, A., Aristotle: Metaphysics Books B and K 1–2, Translated with a commentary,
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
• Makin, S., Metaphysics Theta, Translated with an introduction and commentary, Oxford:
• Pakaluk, M., Nicomachean Ethics, Books VIII and IX, Translated with a commentary, Oxford:
• Robinson, R., Politics: Books III and IV, Translated with a commentary by Richard Robinson;
with a supplementary essay by David Keyt, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996.
• Saunders, T., Politics: Books I and II, Translated with a commentary, Oxford: Oxford
• Shields, Christopher, De Anima, Translated with an introduction and commentary, Oxford:
• Smith, R., Topics Books I and VIII, With excerpts from related texts, Translated with a
commentary, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.
• Striker, G., Prior Analytics,, translated with a commentary, Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1997.
• Taylor, C., Nicomachean Ethics, Books II-IV, Translated with an introduction and commentary,
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.
• Williams, C., De Generatione et Corruptione, Translated with a commentary, Oxford: Oxford
• Woods, M., Eudemian Ethics Books I, II, and VIII, Second Edition, Edited, and translated with
a commentary, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992.
C. General Works
1. Comprehensive Introductions to Aristotle
• Ackrill, J., Aristotle the Philosopher, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1981.
• Jaeger, W., Aristotle: Fundamentals of the History of his Development, Oxford: Oxford
• Lear, J., Aristotle: the Desire to Understand, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988.
• Ross, W. D., Aristotle, London: Methuen and Co., 1923.
• Shields, C., Aristotle 2nd edition, London: Routledge, 2014.
2. General Guide Books to Aristotle
• Barnes, J., The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1995.
• Anagnostopoulos, G., The Blackwell Guide to Aristotle, Oxford: Blackwell, 2007.
• Shields, C., The Oxford Handbook on Aristotle, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
3. Aristotle’s Life
• Natali, C., Aristotle: His Life and School, D. Hutchinson (ed.), Princeton: Princeton University
Press, 2013.
D. Bibliography of Works Cited

• Annas, J., 1982, ‘Aristotle on inefficient causes,’ Philosophical Quarterly, 32: 311–326.
• Bakker, Paul J. J. M., 2007, ‘Natural Philosophy, Metaphysics, or Something in Between:
Agostino Nifo, Pietro Pompanazzi, and Marcantonio Genua on the Nature and Place of the
Science of Soul,’ in J. J. M. Bakker and Johannes M. M. H. Thijssen (eds.), Mind, Cognition,
and Representation: The Tradition of Commentaries on Aristotle’s De Anima, London:
Ashgate, 151–177.
• Barnes, Jonathan, 1994, Posterior Analytics, Second Edition, Translated with a commentary,
Oxford: Clarendon Press.
• Biondi, Paolo C. (ed. and trans.), (2004), Aristotle: Posterior Analytics ii 19, Paris: Librairie-
Philosophique-J-Vrin.
• Bostock, David, 1980/2006, ‘Aristotle’s Account of Time,‘ in Space, Time, Matter, and Form:
Essays on Aristotle’s Physics, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 135–157.
• Charles, David, 2001, “Teleological Causation in the Physics,” in L. Judson (ed.), Aristotle’s
Physics: A Collection of Essays, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 101–128.
• Cleary, John, 1994, ‘Phainomena in Aristotle’s Philosophic Method,’ International Journal of
Philosophical Studies, 2: 61–97.
• Coope, Ursula, 2005, Time for Aristotle: Physics IV 10–14, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Duarte, Shane, 2014, ‘Aristotle’s Theology and its Relation to the Science of
Being qua Being,’ Apeiron, 40: 267–318
• Frede, M., 1980, ‘The Original Notion of Cause,’ in M. Schofield, M. Burnyeat, and J. Barnes
edd., Doubt and Dogmatism, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 217–249.
• Furley, D. J., ‘What Kind of Cause is Aristotle’s Final Cause?,’ in M. Frede and G. Stricker
(eds.), Rationality in Greek Thought, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999, pp. 59–79.
• Gill, M. L., ‘Aristotle’s Metaphysics Reconsidered,’ Journal of the History of Philosophy, 43
(2005): 223–251
• Gotthelf, A., 1987, ‘Aristotle’s Conception of Final Causality,’ in A. Gotthelf and J. G. Lennox
(eds.), Philosophical Issues in Aristotle’s Biology, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
204–242.
• Grote, George, 1880, Aristotle, London: Thoemmes Continuum.
• Halliwell, Stephen, 1986, Aristotle’s Poetics, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
• Hocutt, M., 1974, ‘Aristotle’s Four Becauses.’ Philosophy, 49: 385–399.
• Irwin, Terence, 1981, ‘Homonymy in Aristotle,’ Review of Metaphysics, 34: 523–544.
• –––, 1988, Aristotle’s First Principles, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Johnson, Monte Ransom, 2005, Aristotle on Teleology, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Kraut, Richard, 1979, ‘Two Conceptions of Happiness, Philosophical Review, 88: 167–197.
• Lewis, Frank A., 2004, ‘Aristotle on the Homonymy of Being,’ Philosophy and
Phenomenological Research, 68: 1–36.
• Loux, Michael, 1973, ‘Aristotle on the Transcendentals,’ Phronesis, 18: 225–239.
• Moravcsik, J., 1975, ‘“Aitia” as generative factor in Aristotle’s philosophy,’ Dialogue, 14: 622–
638.
• Owen, G. E. L., 1960, ‘Logic and Metaphysics in Some Earlier Works of Aristotle,’ in I.
During and G. E. L. Owen (eds.), Plato and Aristotle in the Mid-Fourth Century, Göteborg:
Almquist and Wiksell, 163–190.
• –––, 1961/1986, ‘Tithenai ta phainomena,’ Logic, Science and Dialectic, London: Duckworth,
239–251.
• Owens, Joseph, 1978, The Doctrine of Being in the Aristotelian Metaphysics, 3 edition,
rd
Toronto: The Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies.

• Patzig, Gunther, 1979, ‘Theology and Ontology in Aristotle’s Metaphysics, in J. Barnes, M.
Schofied, and R. Sorabji (eds.), Articles on Aristotle, Volume 3: Metaphysics, London:
Duckworth, 33–49.
• Pellegrin, Pierre, 1996/2003, ‘Aristotle,’ in J. Brunschwig and G. E. R. Lloyd (eds.), A Guide to
Greek Thought, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 32–53.
• Ross, W. D., 1923, Aristotle, London: Methuen and Co.
• Sauvé Meyer, S., 1992, ‘Aristotle, Teleology, and Reduction,’ Philosophical Review, 101: 791–
825.
• Shields, Christopher, 1999, Order in Multiplicity: Homonymy in the Philosophy of Aristotle,
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• –––, 2014, Aristotle, London: Routledge.
• Shute, Richard, 1888, On the Process by which the Aristotelian Writings Arrived at their
Present Form, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Ward, Julie K., 2008, Aristotle on Homonymy, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Zeller, Eduard, 1883/1955, Outlines of the History of Greek Philosophy, rev. by W. Nestle,
trans. L. Palmer, London: Routledge.

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14.

B. Translations with Commentaries

D. Bibliography of Works Cited

Toronto: The Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies.

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