Aristotelian Writings | Aristotle; His Writings
Three Main Kinds
The writings of Aristotle fall into three main kinds. There are
literary essays intended for publications, such as the literary dialogues (now
lost except for fragments); there are the set works of his later years, such as
the Constitution of Athens, based on his study of 158 constitutions; and above
all there are what may be called treatises, intended for use in lectures or for
the reading of the students of the Lyceum, of which there are a large variety.
The Dialogues
The writing of Aristotle fall into two sharply differentiated
groups. First, there are the popular or exoteric works, most of them probably
in dialogue form, intended for a large reading public. These were composed for
the most parts during the period when Aristotle was a student at the Academy.
They survive at present only in the form of fragments quoted by later authors,
and even their titles convey the intimate tang of Platonism. They include the
Eudemus or On the Soul, a dialogue On Justice, the Statesman, the Sophist, the
menexenus, and the symposium. In addition, there is the proptrepticus, an
exhortation to philosophy, well known in ancient times, which was modelled
after certain portion of Plato's Euthydemus and in turn became the model for
Cicero's hortensius, which, as St. Augustine says in his confessions, aroused
him from his dogmatic slumber, and changed the whole course of his career by
turning him to philosophy. We also possess a few fragments of another popular
works, on philosophy, which was written later, during the second stage of
Aristotle's development at Assus. These works are all written in a simple style
with great care for literary expression. They were widely read in ancient times
and established Aristotle's reputation as a platonic author of great fervour
and eloquence, a reputation very difficult to understand, since the writings we
possess belong to a very different category and were not meant to be widely
read. They were meant to be heard by Aristotle's students and assistants, first
the smaller groups at Assus, and then the larger group at the lyceum in Athens.
Modern historical scholarship, particularly the work of Werner Jacger has now
made it clear that these writings, as they now survive, are not philosophical
and scientific "works." in the sense which this word conveys us
today. Their precise mode of origin cannot of course be establishes beyond all
doubt, but the following is the most probable theory of their nature.
Aristotle certainly gave regular less lectures on wide variety of topics to students and associates. These lectures were often repeated from year to ycar. Apparently Aristotle was in the habit of composing written versions, which he read to a specially trained audience, often with extemporaneous explanations and comments. These written lectures were circulated in the school and used for individual study what we now possess as a supposed single topic is rather a collection of many different written lectures on this topic often covering a considerable span of time. These versions were pieced together into single works by later editors. In some cases, it is probable that portions of a single text may be notes taken down by listeners, or original Aristotelian lectures, revised and edited by students. There is no reason to doubts however that the greater part of this literature was originally written by Aristotle himself to be heard or read by a well-trained groups of those co-operating with him in the great research of the lyceum. This explains the difficulty which the modern reader faces when he plunges into the translations of these works. For they are full of unexplained technical terms and abbreviations well known to a trained student, but unfamiliar to modern reader, and they often represent several different versions of one topic, written during an interval in which Aristotle's thought was developing; this leads to many apparent inconsistencies. Then, too, these versions were often piece together in an arbitrary and artificial manner by later editors, having little understanding of their original nature and purpose. And, finally, the original texts were probably badly damaged during the period of the roman civil wars and many owe their survival only to a queer accident of fate. As a result, the process of reconstructing the original texts, undertaken by the later Roman editor, was a task of great difficulty, subject to many errors and confusions. Nevertheless, it has been possible, by patient philosophical study, to recover the Basic Aristotelian doctrines and the general drift of his thought.
Literary Essays intended for Publication
Midway between the dialogues and the treatises of Aristotle come a
number of works which, like the dialogues, were set compositions in literary
form intended for publication. These were mainly of the nature of scientific
complications. Apart from an essay On Monarchy, which may belong to the time of
his residence at Pella, these works belong to the third and last period of his
life, during which he was occupied in investigation and teaching in the Lyceum.
They include the Alexander, or On Colonies; the accounts of 158 constitutions;
the complications of The Customs of Barbarians and of Cases of Constitutional
Law; the chronological tables of victors in the Pythian and Olympic games; and
list of the successful dramas produced at the festivals of Dionysus at Athens.
The Treatises
The treatises, in the form which they have come down to us, belong
to the final period between 335 and 322. They were all written by Aristotle in
connection with his courses of lectures.
The treatises may be grouped under some eight main heads. The first
head is what Aristotle calls "analytics," or, as we should say,
logic. Under this head there are half a dozen treatises which came to be known,
centuries afterward, as the Organon, or "instrument" of science and
scientific reasoning.
The second head we may call by the name of "physics,"
using that term in a wider sense than in which we use it today and taking it to
mean the general study of inorganic "nature" (Physics). Here we have
to reckon the treatise on Physics, the De Caelo, the De Generatione et
corruptione and the Meteorological.
The third head may be termed psychology of which (as also of logic)
Aristotle was the inventor. Under it fall the De anima and the Parva naturalia
- the latter a collection of essays on subjects such as sensation, memory,
sleep and dreams.
The fourth head may be called by the name of biology. His
biological treatises are the Historia animalium - a record of data in the
sphere of natural history.
The remaining heads under which his treatises may be grouped are
the metaphysical, the ethical, the political and the literary. Under the head
metaphysical we have the treatise called the Metaphysics. Under the head of
ethics there are two treatises - the Eudemian Ethics (so called from Eudemus,
one of Aristotle's pupils) and the Nicomachean Ethics ( which derives its name
from his son Nicomachus). It is now held that the former is a genuine work of
Aristotle, belonging to the middle-period of his life and was subsequently
edited by.Eudemus; and that the latter is a statement, edited by his son, of
his final views on ethics in the last period of his life. Under the head of
politics there is a treatise called the Politics, which falls into three parts
-- a philosophical "theory of the state" in books i -- iii, a
detailed study of the " forms and methods of government" in books iv-
vi and a torso of a sketch of an ideal state in book vii- viii. Finally we have
to count, under the head of literary criticism, the three books of the Rhetoric
and the short treatise called the Poetics.