Aristotle and Philosophy help in general

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WimpyPete

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Hi everyone,

I am studying for my BA in philosophy right now and my school is very heavy into Aristotle. I was just wondering if any one knows of any good general philosophy books that might be helpful learning aids for philosophy overall, or especially any kind of Aristotle commentaries or help books that you have found to be good? Any recommendations would be appreciated, or if you know any good philosophy websites or any other resources for help to learn more. Thanks a lot and God Bless
 
WimpyPete said:
Hi everyone,

I am studying for my BA in philosophy right now and my school is very heavy into Aristotle. I was just wondering if any one knows of any good general philosophy books that might be helpful learning aids for philosophy overall, or especially any kind of Aristotle commentaries or help books that you have found to be good? Any recommendations would be appreciated, or if you know any good philosophy websites or any other resources for help to learn more. Thanks a lot and God Bless
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Hello WimpyPete, 🙂

I would personally recommend to you The Complete Works of Aristotle the Revised Oxford Translation. It is in two volumes.

amazon.com/Complete-Works-Aristotle-Vol-1/dp/069101650X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1295935124&sr=8-2

amazon.com/Complete-Works-Aristotle-Translation-Bollingen/dp/0691016518/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1295934245&sr=8-1

I think it is best to read the text yourself and determine what you think without influence from others. Once you have the completed works, just pick a writing that interests you and read it, and continue on until you read it all. I think that it is best to read it yourself because there are people that have conflicting interpretations and if you read it yourself you will be in a better position to judge which understand you most agree with. Some people are way off and it makes you wonder if they even read the works.Read the bare text yourself.

Then, after you have read, let’s say Nicomechean Ethics, and pondered on it and understand it and decide if you agree or disagree with him; read the scholars commentaries. An excellent book that offers good commentaries and explanations is:

The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle (Cambridge Companions to Philosophy)
amazon.com/Cambridge-Companion-Aristotle-Companions-Philosophy/dp/0521422949/ref=pd_sim_b_5

I have all three, but, I have not read all of Aristotle.

Btw, check out YouTube. People are putting some great philosophy videos there, some are even funny, like the 3 minute philosophy except for the bad words here and there. There are some videos of university professors that have very peculiar interpretations and this is exactly the reason why you want to read the text yourself.

I like this guy, he sticks with the facts and the figures: youtube.com/user/wmiller24
Hope this helps,

Abba
 
Alright thank you. I have Aristotle’s basic works and it is what we mainly use for most of my classes. It’s just that the language and his style can be a bit hard to understand sometimes for me so I was hoping for other books that might help supplement it a bit and break down or spell out the concepts of his a little more clearly.
 
The cambridge companion looks really good thanks a lot, does any one know much about it? The reviews from amazon seem pretty good. Thanks again
 
“Aristotle for Everybody” by Mortimer J Adler I have heard is good.
 
St. Thomas Aquinas of course is probably the ultimate commentator. I especially like his commentaries on the De Anima.
 
Katholish said:
St. Thomas Aquinas of course is probably the ultimate commentator. I especially like his commentaries on the De Anima.
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Haha, oh dear. Don’t get me wrong, I’m Thomist through and through, but Aquinas is arguably way harder to understand than Aristotle himself. If you’re having trouble reading Aristotle, don’t start with Aquinas. Though once you have a basic understanding of Aristotle, Aquinas is your man!
 
WimpyPete said:
Hi everyone,

I am studying for my BA in philosophy right now and my school is very heavy into Aristotle. I was just wondering if any one knows of any good general philosophy books that might be helpful learning aids for philosophy overall, or especially any kind of Aristotle commentaries or help books that you have found to be good? Any recommendations would be appreciated, or if you know any good philosophy websites or any other resources for help to learn more. Thanks a lot and God Bless
Click to expand...
A great article by the late Dr. Ralph McInerny on the relationship between Aquinas and Aristotle. Along the way he explains alot about Aristotle amd why he lies at the core of Aquinas philosophy and why that is so important. I got a lot out of it.

payingattentiontothesky.com/2011/01/28/what-thomas-taught-by-ralph-mcinerny/

Also by McInerny, A Student’s Guide to Philosophy for a great overview. & bucks you can’t go wrong… A reading selection here to test the waters.

Best of luck,

dj
 
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