Aristotle: A Very Short Introduction

Aristóteles não é exatamente um autor divertido de ler, embora seu estilo de colecionador de problemas e catalogador possa brilhar (como na sua Física). Agora, um livro sobre o grande iniciador da biblioteconomia, da lógica e da biologia, não precisa ser chato. E nem é uma questão de mimese estilística; seria possível fazê-la mas ainda assim dar relevo para coisas interessantes e não apenas curiosas (como as teorias sobre órgãos reprodutores do polvo e da cobra), mostrando o grande legado e influência de Aristóteles, e não o quanto estas teorias estariam ou não dois-milênio-datadas. Ademais, em vários momentos, ao invés de enfatizar as disputas hermenêuticas em volta dos textos do 'príncipe da filosofia', o autor show more nos apresenta 'a visão correta', ou seja, a que o autor apoia, o que deveria ser evitado, sempre que possível, em livros de caráter introdutório. show less

Good overview of Aristotle's vast output, and lots of springboards for further reading. It gave me a deeper appreciation of Aristotle's valuable biological research, and also his creation of another scientific field, logic. Cross-referencing his political views with my current reading of Plato's Republic was also revealing, especially in that both flirt with totalitarianism. On the other hand, it confirmed my assumptions that Aristotle's very antiquated views on physics and metaphysics have nothing more than historical value. That said, this book made me want to revisit or read for the first time three areas of Aristotle's work: zoological research, Nicomachean Ethics and Poetics.

Good overview of Aristotle's vast output, and lots of springboards for further reading. It gave me a deeper appreciation of Aristotle's valuable biological research, and also his creation of another scientific field, logic. Cross-referencing his political views with my current reading of Plato's Republic was also revealing, especially in that both flirt with totalitarianism. On the other hand, it confirmed my assumptions that Aristotle's very antiquated views on physics and metaphysics have nothing more than historical value. That said, this book made me want to revisit or read for the first time three areas of Aristotle's work: zoological research, Nicomachean Ethics and Poetics.

Jonathan Barnes's book demonstrates the breadth of Aristotle's thought. However, his primary focus is on Aristotle's contribution to the sciences. As a result, he devotes just seven pages to his practical philosophy of ethics and politics. Ironically, in his final chapter, Barnes states that many of Aristotle's scientific ideas have become outdated and remain of interest only to historians of science. In contrast, contemporary philosophers still debate many of his ideas on ethics today. I would have liked the book more if he had gone into greater depth into Aristotle's views on ethics, especially his theory of virtue.

In his short chapters, author Jonathan Barnes describes Aristotle’s life and times in the 300s BCE. He does a wonderful job capturing how Aristotle’s development of thought was innovative for his time. Reading his works might reveal glaring errors (one that Mr Barnes pointed out made me laugh: Aristotle thought fire was an element from the moon) but Aristotle was doing the best thinking he could for his era, and in fact must have been a genius to be able to become so expert on everything from zoology to logic, philosophy, social culture, and literature (the Greek plays). If he wasn’t an expert, he certainly applied himself to every subject in depth.

Some of the chapters on logic and basic philosophy were confusing to me, since the show more subjects are new to me, so I was grateful for the short chapters. Careful reading made them very accessible, and I don’t think any readers should be concerned about the ability to follow Mr Barnes’ discussions. show less

For The Love of Knowledge
This volume of the Very Short Introduction series, written by an Aristotle's scholar, provides a good overview of his works and describes the position he has in the history of philosophy. Jonathan Barnes exposed the main concepts of Aristotle's thought and his most importants works. Some interpretations of Aristotle's assertions are rebutted in favor of rival conceptions. The author himself gave his understandings about Aristotle's works. Reading this small book, one has a pretty decent view about aristotelian thought and can, if wanted, submerges in his philosophy.

Useful if you don't know that much about Aristotle. The biographical information is helpful. Plate 23 is not referred to anywhere in the book or the index as far as I can tell, so it seems really out of place. The captions of the images seem lazily chosen.