Help understanding Aristotle

[Writer_for_God]

Hi,
I have been reading “The Last Superstition” by Edward Feser. I recommend this book a great deal.
Not only does Dr Feser give some good refutation of the “New Atheists” such as Dawkins, Harris, and Hitchens, et al. but he has shown me that I had a very poor “straw man” image of Aristotle, and in a sense some of his followers, such as St. Thomas Aquinas and the Scholastics, especially on subjects such as causality and the relation of the senses to knowledge.

Are there any people on this forum who know a lot about Aristotle and perhaps St Thomas Aquinas? I particularly need to study Aristotle. What are the best books about him and also by him? I have barely read any of his writings, having thought he was wrong about almost everything, and having had leanings more to Plato, thinking that Aristotle was a step down. But having learned more about St. Thomas Aquinas and reading Dr Feser’s book, I have realized that I have been depriving myself of the very profound ideas of Aristotle, and I need to stop ignoring his writings, his ideas, and his influence, which modernism has suffered greatly from eliminating Aristotle from its supposed “reasonings”.

Let me know if you have any suggestions for studying Aristotle, including books about him and recommendations of which of his works to focus on.

Thank you all.
God bless you. Amen.

 

[Gorgias]

I have barely read any of his writings, having thought he was wrong about almost everything, and having had leanings more to Plato, thinking that Aristotle was a step down.

That’s not surprising. You have to keep in mind that, while Plato’s thought had long been translated into Latin and was available to those in the West in high quality translations, Aristotle was only available in the Greek (and in rather poor translations into Latin, due (IIRC) to the fact that his thought had been translated from Greek into Arabic and then from there into Latin). As a consequence, philosophers in the West (prior to Aquinas) had an excellent grasp of Plato, and a rather poor grasp of Aristotle’s thought.

Aristotle is difficult to read in the original; his phrasing and style are often confusing, at best. And, of course, scholars will bicker over whose translations are best and whose are mistaken. (I mean, of course, right? They’re scholars! )

Feser’s “Aristotle on Method and Metaphysics” looks interesting (I haven’t bought it yet, simply due to its price), but it itself isn’t a primer. His “Aquinas: A Beginner’s Guide” might be a good place for you to start (and it won’t break the bank, either!).

 

[SalamKhan]

Aristotle was the go to philosopher during the Middle Ages. Ibn Sina (aka Avicenna) was a giant in Aristotlean philosophy, so he may be the go to commentator. Unfortunately, Aristotle eventually came to be rejected by both Muslims and Christians, and as you can see they have noticeably stagnated intellectually in their theology.

Here are all of his works translated:
http://holybooks.lichtenbergpress.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/The-Complete-Aristotle.pdf

 

[Gorgias]

Aristotle was the go to philosopher during the Middle Ages.

Depends on how you frame up “the Middle Ages”. Moreover, he was understood by Islamic philosophers (since they had good translations). Philosophers in the West had only either the Greek (which wasn’t as widely known as Latin was) or the translations through Arabic (which you’ll have to agree were generally not good).

Aristotle was the go to philosopher of Islamic philsophers in the Middle Ages, but much less so in the West. Aquinas was among the first to help bring Aristotle to real prominence in Western philosophical thought…

 

[SalamKhan]

I agree that in the early Middle Ages, the West had only poor translations of Aristotle in Latin, since most were not familiar with Greek. Whereas in the East, the Caliph commissioned the Nestorian Christians and the like to translate the Ancient classics into Arabic, and so the Muslims had good translations. Aristotle began to be widely read in the West during the High Middle Ages, because they had access to the good Arabic translations through Muslim Spain, which were subsequently translated into Latin. There is a reason why Thomas Aquinas refers to Aristotle as ‘the Philosopher’, everyone knew who he was referring to, because Aristotle was already popular (or at least getting popular) even prior to Thomas Aquinas.

 

[Gorgias]

There is a reason why Thomas Aquinas refers to Aristotle as ‘the Philosopher’, everyone knew who he was referring to, because Aristotle was already popular (or at least getting popular) even prior to Thomas Aquinas.

Well… I don’t know that I’d say “popular”. Perhaps ‘well-known’ (or, more to the point, infamous). Aquinas was fully on board with Aristotle, but other established scholars were quite wary of his thought, given the fact that Aristotle asserted things that were contrary to Christian doctrine. Aquinas had to walk a tightrope at times, trying to maintain balance in the effort to uphold Aristotle’s notions while not running afoul of contemporary Christian theologians…

 

[SalamKhan]

You’re right, thanks for the correction.

 

[Quaestor]

I suggest the Paris lectures of Aquinas on Aristotle available from Dumb Ox books.