Aristotle - Contemporary Perspectives on his Thought : On the 2400th Anniversary of Aristotle’s Birth

370 Pages·2018·2.55 MB·English

by  Demetra Sfendoni-Mentzou

Aristotle – Contemporary Perspectives on his Thought

Aristotle –
Contemporary
Perspectives
on his Thought
On the 2400th Anniversary of Aristotle’s Birth
Edited by
Demetra Sfendoni-Mentzou
ISBN 978-3-11-056417-4
e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-056642-0
e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-056454-9
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Aristotle, honouree. | Sfendoni-Mentzou, Demetra, editor.
Title: Aristotle - contemporary perspectives on his thought : on the 2400th anniversary of
Aristotle’s birth / edited by Demetra Sfendoni-Mentzou.
Description: 1 [edition].. | Boston : De Gruyter, 2018. | Includes bibliographical references and
index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018014900 (print) | LCCN 2018026078 (ebook) | ISBN 9783110566420 |
ISBN 9783110564174 (print : alk. paper) | ISBN 9783110564549 (e-book epub) |
ISBN 9783110566420 (e-book pdf)
Subjects: LCSH: Aristotle.
Classification: LCC B485 (ebook) | LCC B485 .A6435 2018 (print) | DDC 185--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018014900
Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie;
detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de.
© 2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Printing and binding: CPI books GmbH, Leck
www.degruyter.com
Contents
Preface  IX
I Philosophy of Nature
Physics
Gottfried Heinemann
Aristotelian Supervenience: Potentialities and Powers in Aristotle’s Definition
of Change  3
Demetra Sfendoni-Mentzou
Aristotle’s Dynamic Vision of Nature. Α Neo-Aristotelian Perspective on
Contemporary Science  27
Biology
James G. Lennox
“For a Human Being Reproduces a Human Being”: A Mundane, Profound,
Aristotelian Truth  57
David Lefebvre
Aristotle’s Generation of Animals on the Separation of the Sexes  75
Psychology
Tomás Calvo
On the Notions of Ψυχή and Ζωή in the Aristotelian Biology  95
Abraham P. Bos
Aristotle on Life-Bearing Pneuma and on God as Begetter of the
Cosmos  109
Ron Polansky and John Fritz
Aristotle on Accidental Perception  125
VI   Contents
Meteorology
Theodossios P. Tassios
Mechanical Properties of Solids in Aristotle’s Meteorologica  151
II Philosophy of Human Action
Ethics
Theodore Scaltsas
Extended and Embodied Values and Ideas  167
Myrto Dragona-Monachou
The Relevance of Aristotle’s Views of Ethics and Medicine to Bioethics  179
Politics
Pierre Pellegrin
Aristotle and Democracy  197
George Contogeorgis
Aristotle and the Democracy of the City-state  211
Rhetoric
Christof Rapp
Aristotle and the Dialectical Turn of Rhetoric  223
Poetics
Evanghelos Moutsopoulos
Aesthetic Judgement according to Aristotle’s Politics  237
III First Philosophy
Ontology
Enrico Berti
What is Aristotle’s Metaphysics?  245
Contents   VII
Lambros Couloubaritsis
The Complex Organization of Aristotle’s Thought  257
Theology
Teresa Pentzopoulou-Valalas
Interpretation Problems in Aristotle’s Metaphysics Λ. The Case of the Sentence:
καὶ ἔστιν ἡ νόησις νοήσεως νόησις  269
IV Theory of Thinking
Epistemology
Robert Bolton
Two Conceptions of Practical Skill (Τέχνη) in Aristotle  279
Richard McKirahan
“As in a Battle When a Rout has Occurred”  297
V Aristotle in the History of Philosophy
Aristotelian Tradition
Dermot Moran
Aristotle’s Conception of οὐσία in the Medieval Christian Tradition: Some
Neoplatonic Reflections  325

Preface
ThiscollectionoftwentyessaysbyleadingAristotlescholarsworldwideincludes
a thorough investigation of a wide range of themes on the Stagereite’s work in
philosophyandthesciences.ThethemesspreadfromPhysics,Biology,Psychol-
ogy, Meteorology toEthics, Politics, Rhetoric, Poetics,Ontology,Theology, Epis-
temology and Aristotelian Tradition.Through avarietyof approaches and thor-
ough analyses, the contributors provide an in-depth exploration of the issues
investigated,suggestingatthesametimenewperspectivesonthestudyofAris-
totle.
Earlier versions of these essays were presented at the Plenary and Invited
Speakers Sessions of the World Congress “Aristotle 2400 Years,” whichwas or-
ganized by the “Interdisciplinary Centre for Aristotle Studies” (DI.K.A.M.), of
the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (A.U.Th.), on May 23–28, 2016, in cele-
bration of the 2400th anniversary of Aristotle’s birth. The aim of the Congress
was to advance scholarship on all aspects of Aristotle’s work, which had a
unique impact in the history of human thought for more than two millennia
and continues to be present in our intellectual lives; a work which spreads
over the broadest range of topics, covering all major branches of Philosophy
andextendingin animpressivewayintoareasrelatedtoall fundamentalfields
of Science.
Inthe62yearsAristotlelived(384–322B.C.)hewrotemorethan200treatis-
es,onlyone-fifthofwhichhavesurvived.Histeachingsinareas,suchasLogic,
Metaphysics, Ontology, Political and Moral Philosophy, Rhetoric, Poetics, have
put an everlasting seal on the Hellenistic and Graeco-Roman world, on Byzan-
tinescholarlytradition,ontheArabworld,ontheMedievalandModernthought
ofEurope.Forallthis,alreadyintheLateMiddleAges,Dantecharacterizedhim
as “the master of those who know.”¹
Indeed,Aristotlewasthefirstinthehistoryofmankindtoprovidethelaws
ofthehumanmind.HisLogicwasthebasicinstrumentofMedievalPhilosophy,
underthegeneralnameofὌργανον,anddominatedunchangedtheintellectual
lifeoftheEasternandtheWesternworlduntilatleastthe17thcentury.Aristotle’s
ΠρώτηΦιλοσοφίαwasembracedbytheHellenisticworld,theArabs,theByzan-
tines,theEuropean-WesternPhilosophers,theModernWesternWorldandleftan
indelible mark on Metaphysics. His writings on the question of ὂν ᾗ ὄν (being
qua being), and his concepts of οὐσία(substance), εἶδος (eidos), μορφή
 Dante,TheDevineComedy,Inf.4.131.
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110566420001
X Preface
(form), γένος (species), δύναμις (dynamis), ἐνέργεια (actuality), ἐντελέχεια (en-
telechy),thathewasfirsttouseandanalyse,remainthemostsignificantcontri-
butiontoΜetaphysics.Hisphilosophy,duetotheprestigethatitacquiredbythe
workofSt.ThomasAquinas,laidthefoundationsfortheeducationoftheEuro-
pean Universities until the 17th century.
Aristotle’scontributiontomoralandpoliticalphilosophyisadiachronically
worthy treasure. His ideas of δημοκρατία (democracy) and πολιτεία (polity) are
someofthedebtsoftheWesternworldtotheStageirite.Hisviewsonthebest,or
mostpreferable,state(ἀρίστηπολιτεία),basedondemocraticprinciples,laidthe
foundations for most of the Western democracies in Europe and the United
StatesofAmerica. InhisPolitics,Aristotlehighlightsthesignificanceofπαιδεία
(paideia) for the development of φρόνιμος and ἀγαθός (good and wise) citizen
and suggests for the first time in the history of education that παιδεία should
bepublic,statutoryandcompulsory.Aristotle’streatiseΠερὶΠοιητικῆς(Poetics)
hasbeentheemblematictextonthetheoryofArtsandhisdefinitionofτραγω-
δία, stands as an inexhaustible source of inspiration through the centuries.
FortheStageiritephilosopher,bothpoliticsandethicsaredirectlyrelatedto
Law and Society. In the center is always ὁ ἄνθρωπος, defined by Aristotle as
“φύσει ζῷον λογικὸν πολιτικόν” (“animal by nature rational and political”),
thusexpressingthephilosopher’sstrongbeliefthatὁἄνθρωποςisbynaturegov-
erned by logic and acquires its meaning only within the community.Concepts,
such as ἀρετή (virtue), εὐδαιμονία (eudemonia), μεσότης (mean, middle),
φρόνησις (practical wisdom), φιλία (friendship), are fundamental, both to his
moralandpoliticaltheory.Aristotleteachesus,thatἀρετή(virtue)shoulddom-
inateourimpulsesandinstincts,sothatwecanbeabletoachieveμέτρον(mea-
sure),betweenthetwoends:ὑπερβολὴandἔλλειψις(excessanddeficiency).To
accomplish the ἀγαθόν and finally εὐδαιμονία, passions must be in reasonable
control,andinagreementwithλόγος(reason).Thiscanbeachievedbyanexer-
cise of φρόνησις, practical wisdom. Finally, friendship is even more important
than justice for the achievement of ὁμόνοια (amity) in the city-state.
Aristotle’s contribution to Logic, Metaphysics, Political and Moral Philoso-
phy,Rhetoric,Arts,PoetryandDramahas,undoubtedly,beenthemostappreci-
atedpartofhisworkthroughthecenturies.However,theStageiritewasnotonly
aphilosophicalmind,butalsoascientificone,aπανεπιστήμωνφιλόσοφος.His
contribution to Natural Science and scientific thinking is enormous. His work
covers an impressive number of scientific disciplines, such as Physics, Biology,
Marine Biology, Zoology, Embryology, Teratology, Developmental Biology, Bot-
any,Taxonomy,Psychology,Medicine,Agriculture,Mathematics,Chemistry,Me-
teorology, Astronomy,Geology and Mechanics.The incredible wealth of his ob-
servations in all areas of Philosophy of Nature and the number and kind of