A History of Greek Philosophy: Volume 6, Aristotle: An Encounter

All volumes of Professor Guthrie’s great history of Greek philosophy have won their due acclaim. The most striking merits of Guthrie’s work are his mastery of a tremendous range of ancient literature and modern scholarship, his fairness and balance of judgement and the lucidity and precision of his English prose. He has achieved clarity and comprehensiveness.

Obiter dicta; 1. Discovering Aristotle; 2. Aristotle’s life and philosophical pilgrimage; 3. The written remains; 4. Eudemus, Protrepticus, De Philosophia; 5. The mind of Aristotle; 6. Abstraction and the revelation of form; 7. Teleology and its defence: the concept of potentiality; 8. The divisions of knowledge; 9. Logic, the tool of philosophy; 10. The road to knowledge; 11. Substanced; 12. Causes; 13. Theory of motion and theology; 14. Psychology; 15. The philosophy of human life.

‘The earlier volumes of Professor Guthrie’s great history of Greek Philosophy won their due acclaim, and the series is now crowned by this massive volume, the records of what the author, with characteristic dry wit, calls an ‘Encounter’ … it carries an immense weight of learning in ancient philosophy and knowledge of modern thought, as well as total command of Aristotelian scholarship all neatly distributed between text and footnotes, so that it can be read with or without the latter, according to taste, grasp and knowledge of Greek … The end crowns the life not only of a great scholar but of a man whose modesty, humour and irony glint through many a page.’

– Bulletin of the Joint Association of Classical Teachers

‘… the record of the meeting of two minds. It is illuminated by a vivid intellectual excitement, and by an affection for Aristotle that may surprise those who find him too forbiddingly rational to be loved … For undergraduates, nervously approaching this philosopher for the first time, it will be the most encouraging, illuminating and informative account that they are likely to meet.’

– Andrew Barker, University of Warwick