CHAPTER I

THE LIFE OF ARISTOTLE

The lives and circumstances of the three great philosophers of Athens show a certain analogy to the character and scope of their work. As the Attic philosophy began by searching the inner nature of man and went on from this beginning to extend itself over the whole field of existence, so we find that the life of its great masters was at first confined in narrow limits, and gained, as time went on, a wider range. Socrates is not only a pure Athenian citizen, but a citizen who feels no desire to pass beyond the borders of his city. Plato is also an Athenian, but tho love of knowledge takes him to foreign lands and he is connected by many personal interests with other cities. Aristotle owes to Athens his scientific training and his sphere of work; bathe belongs by birth and origin to another part of Greece, he spends his youth and a considerable part of his manhood out of Athens, chiefly in the rising Macedonian kingdom; and even when he is in Athens, it

Table of Contents

CHAPTER I; the life of aristotle; Year of his birth, his family and youth, 2 Entrance into the Platonic School, relation to Plato, development of his opinions 6 Sojourn in Atarneus, 18 The Macedonian Court, 21 Return to Athens, teaching and research, 25 Coolness of Alexander, 31 Flight from Athens and death, 33 Character, 39; CHAPTER II; Aristotle's writings; A Consideration of the particular Works seriatim; The Catalogues, 48 Letters and poems, 53 Dialogues and earlier writings, 55 Works on Logic, 64 Rhetoric, 72 Metaphysics, 75 Natural Philosophy: the Material Universe and Inorganic Nature, 81 Organic Nature, 87 Ethics and Politics, 97 Theory and History of Art, 102; B General Questions touching the Aristotelian Writings Different classes of Writings 105 Exoteric, 10(i Scientific, 123; CHAPTER III history and order of the works of aristotle Fate of Aristotle's Works, 137 Date and sequence of