Anton-Hermann Chroust - Aristotle: New Light on His Life and On Some of His Lost Works, Volume 1: Some Novel Interpretations of the Man and His Life

ROUTLEDGE LIBRARY EDITIONS: ARISTOTLE

Volume 1

ARISTOTLE: NEW LIGHT ON HIS LIFE AND ON SOME OF HIS LOST WORKS VOLUME 1

ARISTOTLE: NEW LIGHT ON HIS LIFE AND ON SOME OF HIS LOST WORKS VOLUME 1

Some novel interpretations of the man and his life

ANTON-HERMANN CHROUST

First published in 1973

This edition first published in 2016
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1973 Anton-Hermann Chroust

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ISBN: 978-1-138-92762-9 (Set)
ISBN: 978-1-315-67490-2 (Set) (ebk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-93706-2 (Volume 1) (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-67494-0 (Volume 1) (ebk)

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ARISTOTLE

New light on his life and on some of his lost works

Volume I

Some novel interpretations of the man and his life

Anton-Hermann Chroust

First published in 1973
by Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd,
Broadway House, 68-74 Carter Lane,
London EC4V 5EL
Printed in Great Britain by
Richard Clay (The Chaucer Press) Ltd, Bungay, Suffolk
Copyright Anton-Hermann Chroust 1973

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except for the quotation of brief passages in criticism

ISBN 0 7100 7582 0

To the Memory of Roscoe Pound Teacher, Friend, Scholar

Contents

Volume I

Some novel interpretations of the man and his life

Volume II

Observations on some of Aristotles lost works

This book, which consists of two distinct volumes, essentially is a collection of papers which I wrote between 1963 and 1968, when I became interested in the historical Aristotlethe Aristotle revealed not merely in the highly problematic Corpus Aristotelicum , but also in the ancient biographical tradition and in the lost works of the young Stagirite. Some of the papers collected and edited here owe their origin to classroom discussions and lectures which I offered while on leave from the Notre Dame Law School. They have previously been published in various journals, both in the United States and elsewhere. When re-editing these papers for this book, I made some far-reaching alterations, important additions, incisive corrections and, it is hoped, some worthwhile improvements.

But let the reader beware. This book, which is neither pro-Aristotelian nor anti-Aristotelian, reflects a predominantly historical attitude towards Aristotle and the essentially enigmatic Aristotelian problem. Such an attitude might make it rather unpopular in certain quarters which, for reasons known only to the initiated, insist on the timeless impersonality and absolute philosophic sovereignty of Aristotelian philosophy. The historical approach, which is opposed to all forms of emotional idolatry and uncritical dogmatism, however, should not make this book completely useless to those who for reasons of their own prefer Aristotelianismwhatever that meansto Aristotle himself. Without an adequate grasp of Aristotle as a concrete historical phenomenon we may never gain an adequate understanding of his true position and concrete significance within the intellectual history of Western mankind. The particular human condition, being what it is, always was, and probably always will be, simply demands that mans deeds, from the most insignificant performance to the most exalted achievement, take place in a time continuum and, hence, in history. Timelessness and a-historicity always result in the deplorable loss of personality and individuality, and concomitantly, in the loss of real meaning. Dogmatic fervor, aside from impeding or retarding real scholarship, can never become an adequate substitute for historical facts.

Modern Aristotelian scholarship, which undoubtedly begins with Werner Jaeger, has brought about the realization that a more satisfactory and more adequate insight into Aristotle the philosopher requires a better understanding of Aristotle the man. Hence, we must know more about the historical personality called Aristotle and about the salient circumstances or events of his life. No attempt is made here, however, to write a coherent and exhaustive biography of the Stagirite. I limit myself to the scrutiny and discussion of several traditional biographies of Aristotle. Within the confines of these I further restrict myself to some significant incidents in his life and to certain characteristic traits of the man. Many of my discussions consist of educated guesses and what appear to be reasonable conjectures or hypotheses intended to stimulate further investigations, rather than to offer definite or final answers. In brief, aside from attempting to supply some tentative answers, this book is also a deliberate search for additional suggestions, informed challenges and scholarly disagreements. Only in the dispassionate confrontation of conflicting scholarly views may we ever hope to obtain true insights into the significant incidents in the ntellectual history of mankind.