Slavery is fine

Took me three months to finish but, while at times it certainly wasn't easy, I'd have to say that it was time well spent, if only for the fact that it helped me gain a deeper appreciation for the revolutionary synthesis that Aristotle introduced into ancient Greek thought (a fact that is only glimpsed when reading his works individually). In this respect, understanding his logic and epistemology was the key. In practice that meant slogging through the Organon, including the extremely dry but here thankfully truncated Prior Analytics. The last two books of the Metaphysics were also no treat. Apart from that, while not exactly a literary "river of gold", as thought-provoking as one would expect from the western world's most influential philosopher. The De Anima was for me a new-found gem, along with its non-individuated interpretation of the human soul.

Despite the fact that the shorter selections aren't really necissary, for those who are already familiar with Aristotle and are looking for a comprehensive collection of his core works this 1500-page brick of an edition really is the best bang for your buck. Newcomers should start with his individual works though, as he can be quite daunting to the uninitiated. Time and effort are required not only to understand his thought but also the form that this thought has reached us in. The results can be astounding.

Aristotle is the man.

I admit that I skimmed through a lot of this book.
Physics? Metaphysics? Rhetoric? How to give speeches? Poetics? That's OK. I'll pass.
I did try to read some and had no idea what the heck I was reading. It was unreadable.

The early part of the book dealt more with observational writing than philosophical writing. And much of this was in the category of "duh, master of the obvious" writing.
Example: A mountain can be both small and large at the same time. When compared to a larger mountain, it is small. When compared to a smaller mountain, it is large.
Wow, I never thought of that before.
As a co-worker who knows a great deal about history told me, "Perhaps 2,000 years ago people were in awe of this discovery because maybe they hadn't thought of that before."
OK, maybe so.

I read almost all of his views on morality, human interaction and the human psyche and enjoyed this a great deal. This was pretty easy to read.

I also enjoyed his view on politics, even though I didn't agree with much.
Surprisingly, as Greece was the birthplace of democracy, he seemed extremely anti-democracy.
He was very anti-poor and pro-wealthy.
He was pro-slavery as well. Although back then I know it was commonplace and I believe most of them were prisoners of war really.
All of this surprised me as it didn't appear to be in line with his predecessors, Socrates and Plato.
As a matter of fact, many times he said Socrates was flat out wrong "when he said this" or "when he said that."
Hmmmm, maybe he should have been nicknamed "Aristotle the Arrogant."
This is a far cry from Socrates (who I enjoyed much more) who said, "The only thing I know is that I know nothing" and who also was known for asking more questions of others in order to learn other people's points of view rather than preach and make sermons.
Still, the writing in this area was decent so I can't criticize this part of the book just because I didn't agree with some of his philosophies.

However, out of 1500 pages, I could really only easily handle about 500 pages. The other 1,000 were absolutely either unreadable or a waste of time.
2 stars.

Great translation! Very easy to read and understand. Highly recommended.

Read parts of: Nicomachean Ethics, Physics, De Anima, Metaphysics

Aristotle is really hard to follow and understand!

Continuing my tour of the foundational texts of the so-called "Axial Age" (the 1st millenium BC when these texts, that defined most subsequent religion and philosophy, were written), after Chinese Analects and Indian Upanishads it made sense to venture into Greek philosophy. Past attempts to read Aristotle failed, this time was more successful, with partially complete forays into the Metaphysica and the Politica. Aristotle wrote many treatises, why read these two? Aristotle seems to have set out to classify all pursuits of knowledge as he knew it (all the "sciences" in his parlance), and he put most into 2 big baskets, the "theoretic sciences" and the "practical sciences", and it was, well, practical for me to read the most important treatise (as far as I could tell from Aristotle) from each basket: Metaphysica and Politica. I ended up not finishing either treatise, but I do think I succeeded in reading the most important parts of these most important treatises. Metaphysica is literally "beyond Physica", another treatise, where Aristotle seeks to explain change and motion in nature. He also calls the topic of Metaphysica "first philosophy", implying it is more fundamental than the other theoretic sciences. Metaphysica is not an easy read. Unlike the Analects or the Upanishads or Plato's dialogues, Aristotle's treatises are extremely dry, with no attempt at art or poetry or wit. This dry prose is in itself interesting, as it may mark a turn from most Axial Age literary style and anticipates how many academic papers are written today. In addition to being artless, the text is filled with familiar words being used in unfamiliar ways. Aristotle is aware of this, even deliberate, and includes a glossary of terms inside Metaphysica. Depsite the denseness, and the confusing multiple uses of the word "cause", the argument that Aristotle makes for a "prime mover" (what has been interpreted as "God" by countless later Christian and Islamic thinkers) is clear. However, modern day philosophers, theologians, and scientists don't seem to place must stock with this argument, and more generally it is unclear to me what is the specific influence of the theoretic sciences on contemporary thought. In contrast, the influence of the Politica is clear. Aristotle says that the state (for him, likely a Greek city-state) is the culmination of both Man and Nature; to function well in a well-functioning polity is the true and ultimate purpose of the ethical life. Putting aside his presumably at-the-time-standard views of the natural inferiority of women, slaves, and barbarians, his classification of forms of government is lucid. He concludes that the best polity is probably a sort of mixture of aristocracy and democracy, and he even classifies public official functions into legislative, executive, and judicial. This anticipates America's constitution (3 branches of government, bicameral legislature), or perhaps more accurately shows that America's founders knew their Aristotle. A foundational text after all.

I read bits and pieces in Philosophy. I need to go back and read it cover to cover.

He invented practical reason theorizing.

Only read 1 section for the Catherine Project Readin for the Mind group. Dense. Hope to re-read that section this summer.

I read this book to understand the meaning of 'Soul', from a Western point of view, after I've read quite a few books on this subject from the East.
The chapter 'De Anima' in this book does a great job in illuminating this, if one takes the patience to read through it, and if one remembers that it was Aristotle who developed the notion of rhetorics in the first place.

It's a dense but complete read, not only one the subject of soul, but also on everything, from Physics to Medicine to Politics!! It's amazing how a man can be so versatile, and can have insight into so many truths.

Aristoteles lived in the ancient Greece (around the Aegean Sea) in 5. Century B.C. Aristoteles' works spread in the different social, natural sciences, arts. Aristoteles founded "Lise" ("High School") for educate students with his methodology, philosophy and understanding the world. Aristoteles worked with ancient city states, one of the sources of Aristoteles' knowledge is his work with political ruling classes of his age in the different countries. In "The Basic Works of Aristotle", we see the most of his books in the one volume, Aristoteles is living in his book although the changes of world since his writing.