ARISTOTELIANISM

the philosophy of Aristotle, and of those later philosophic movements based on his thought. The range of Aristotle's thought was vast, covering logic, epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, physics, biology, zoology, psychology, literary theory, and politics. To Aristotle, logic was the basis for enunciating the conditions whereby thought can ascertain the causes of things. Aristotle was the first philosopher to have a clear understanding of some of the processes used in logic. He developed the system of syllogistic logic, whereby two valid propositions (the major and minor premises) give rise to a third and equally valid proposition (the conclusion). Aristotle also used inductive reasoning to try to establish the basic premises from which to make syllogistic deductions. He also mastered an extremely wide body of empirical data in the natural sciences, and much of his writing is descriptive in approach. Aristotle created an extremely broad ontology, or theory of the nature and relations of being, in which individual substances interact in various ways to produce objects differing in such properties as substance, quantity, quality, time, position, and condition of action. The resulting framework enabled Aristotle to devise a philosophy of nature in which matter, or material constituents, undergo processes of dynamic and spontaneous change that are in turn mediated by preexisting principles of form or structure. From this, Aristotle developed a hierarchy of existences that begin with the four primary bodies (earth, water, fire, and air), which make up more complex inorganic substances and then on to living organisms: plants possess the functions of growth, nutrition, and reproduction; animals possess in addition the functions of sensation, desire, and locomotion; and human beings in their turn possess the faculty of reason. With rational souls, humans can perform the highest activity, which is that of obtaining knowledge. Aristotle asserted that human goodness consists in the active exercise or use of the rational faculties. Aristotle's philosophy was continued after his death by other members of his school such as Theophrastus and Eudemos of Rhodes. After the rediscovery and editing of Aristotle's works by Andronicus of Rhodes about 50 BC, Aristotelian thought was the subject of many expositions and commentaries in the Greco-Roman world. With the fall of the Roman Empire, most of Aristotle's works were lost in the West, though the logical works were known; others were preserved by Arabic, Syriac, and Jewish scholars and commentators, chief among whom were Avicenna and Averros. Indeed, Isl amic philosophy between the 9th and 13th centuries was based on various interpretations of Aristotle's thought. Muslim scholars kept alive the Aristotelian heritage and passed it in the 12th and 13th centuries back to Europe, where Thomas Aquinas made Aristotelianism the philosophical basis for Christian theology (see Thomism). The authority of Aristotelianism declined with the rise of modern science, but it still subtly affects the orientation of Western modes of thought. the philosophy of Aristotle and of those later philosophical movements based on his thought. Additional reading Aristotelianism as covered in general histories Extensive treatment of Aristotelianism is included in the fundamental history of philosophy by Friedrich Ueberweg, A History of Philosophy, from Thales to the Present Time, 2 vol. (187274, reprinted 1972; originally published in German, 4th ed., 3 vol., 187173), with a vast bibliography. Useful histories of philosophy, general or partial, are Frederick C. Copleston, A History of Philosophy, 9 vol. (194674); Meyrick H. Carr, Phases of Thought in England (1949, reprinted 1972), which is particularly good on Aristotelianism; John Herman Randall, The Career of Philosophy, 2 vol. (196265, reissued 1970), imaginative and stimulating; and tienne Gilson, History of Christian Philosophy in the Middle Ages (1955, reissued 1980), a personal interpretation, with documentation and bibliography. Aristotelianism in various periods or cultures Ingemar Dring, Von Aristoteles bis Leibniz: Einige Hauptlinien in der Geschichte des Aristotelismus, Antike und Abendland, 4:118154 (1954), mostly on Greek and medieval Aristotelianism; Lorenzo Minio-Paluello, Opuscula: The Latin Aristotle (1972), a collection of articles and essays concerning the Latin transmission of Aristotle's works; and Richard McKeon, Aristotelianism in Western Christianity, in John Thomas McNeill, Matthew Spinka, and Harold R. Willoughby (eds.), Environmental Factors in Christian History, pp. 206231 (1939, reissued 1970). On Boethius, see Henry Chadwick, Boethius: The Consolation of Music, Logic, Theology, and Philosophy (1981); and Margaret Gibson (ed.), Boethius: His Life, Thought, and Influence (1981). (On Greek Aristotelianism): Eduard Zeller, Die Philosophie der Griechen, vol. 2, Sokrates, Plato, Aristoteles (1846), and vol. 3, parts 12, Die nacharistotelische Philosophie (1852), parts of which have been translated from various editions: Aristotle and the Earlier Peripatetics, trans. by B.F.C. Costelloe and J.H. Muirhead (1897); and A History of Eclecticism in Greek Philosophy, trans. by S.F. Alleyne (1883), fundamental for the first eight centuries; Paul Moraux, D'Aristote Bessarion: trois exposs sur l'histoire et la transmission de l'aristotlisme grec (1970); Rckblick: Der Peripatos in vorchristlicher Zeit, in Fritz R. Wehrli (ed.), Die Schule des Aristoteles, vol. 10, pp. 93128 (1959); Klaus Oehler, Aristotle in Byzantium, Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies, 5(2):133146 (Summer 1964); and Basile Tatakis, La Philosophie byzantine, 2nd ed. (1959), an extensive survey, with a rich bibliography. (On Latin Aristotelianism): Fernand van Steenberghen, Aristotle in the West: The Origins of Latin Aristotelianism, 2nd ed. (1970; originally published in French, 1946), a scholarly survey of contemporary studies; Richard J. Lemay, Abu Ma'shar and Latin Aristotelianism in the Twelfth Century: The Recovery of Aristotle's Natural Philosophy Through Arabic Astrology (1962), important contributions; D.A. Callus, Introduction of Aristotelian Learning to Oxford, Proceedings of the British Academy, 29:229281 (1943), original, fundamental research; Paul Moraux et al., Aristote et Saint Thomas d'Aquin (1957), which includes some of the most reliable studies on the subject; M.-D. Chenu, La Thologie comme science au XIIIe sicle, 3rd ed. rev. (1957, reissued 1969), on the interplay of Aristotelian methodology and dogma; and Hastings Rashdall, The Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages, new ed., 3 vol. (1936, reissued 1969), basic for Aristotelianism in the schools. (On Syriac, Arabic, and Jewish Aristotelianism): Anton Baumstark, Geschichte der syrischen Literatur mit Ausschluss der christlich-palstinensischen Texte (1922, reprinted 1968), with exhaustive factual information and a bibliography; Anton Baumstark (ed.), Aristoteles bei den Syrern vom 5. bis 8. Jahrhundert: Syrische Texte (1900, reprinted 1975), specialized research and texts; T.J. de Boer, The History of Philosophy in Islam (1903, reprinted 1983; originally published in German, 1901); Carl Brockelmann, Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur, 2 vol. (18981902), exhaustive factual information and bibliography; F.E. Peters, Aristoteles Arabus: The Oriental Translations and Commentaries of the Aristotelian Corpus (1968), from Syriac and Arabic; R. Walzer, Aristutalis, in The Encyclopaedia of Islam, new ed., vol. 1, pp. 630633, and related articles; Isaac Husik, A History of Mediaeval Jewish Philosophy (1916, reissued 1974); Georges Vajda, Introduction la pense juive du Moyen Age (1947), limited in scope, with a good bibliography; Harry A. Wolfson, Revised Plan for the Publication of a Corpus Commentariorum Averrois in Aristotelem, Speculum, 38(1):88104 (January 1963), complete lists of Arabic, Latin, and Hebrew texts of Averros' commentaries, and Crescas' Critique of Aristotle: Problems of Aristotle's Physics in Jewish and Arabic Philosophy (1929, reprinted 1971); and Aristotle, in Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol. 3, col. 445449 (1971), and related articles. (On Renaissance and later Aristotelianism): Paul Oskar Kristeller, Renaissance Philosophy and the Mediaeval Tradition (1966), a brilliant survey, with bibliography, and Studies in Renaissance Thought and Letters (1956, reprinted 1969), many relevant essays; Bruno Nardi, Saggi sull'Aristotelismo padovano dal secolo XIV al XVI (1958), one of several fundamental works by this author; Peter Petersen, Geschichte der aristotelischen Philosophie in protestantischen Deutschland (1921, reprinted 1964), and Die Philosophie Friedrich Adolf Trendelenburgs: ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des Aristoteles im 19. Jahrhundert (1913); and Charles B. Schmitt, Aristotle and the Renaissance (1983). Aristotelianism in various areas or disciplines (On logic): William Kneale and Martha Kneale, The Development of Logic (1962, reprinted 1984), an objective assessment of the Aristotelian and non-Aristotelian elements in the history of logic; and I.M. Bochenski, A History of Formal Logic, 2nd ed. (1970; originally published in German, 1956), technical, with much bibliography. (On science): George Sarton, Introduction to the History of Science, 3 vol. in 5 (192748, reprinted 1975), fundamental, with extensive information and bibliography; Ren Taton (ed.), A General History of the Sciences, 4 vol. (196366; originally published in French, 195764); Alastair C. Crombie, Robert Grosseteste and the Origins of Experimental Science, 11001700 (1953, reissued 1971), which upholds the view of Aristotelian impact on experimental method; Anneliese Maier, Studien zur Naturphilosophie der Sptscholastik, 5 vol. (194958), fundamental research; and Alexandre Koyr, Galileo Studies (1978; originally published in French, 1939), indispensable for a proper evaluation of anti-Aristotelianism. (On politics): George H. Sabine, A History of Political Theory, 4th ed. rev. by Thomas Landon Thorson (1973); Alexander Passerin d'Entrves, The Medieval Contribution to Political Thought: Thomas Aquinas, Marsilius of Padua, Richard Hooker (1939, reprinted 1959); Georges de Lagarde, La Naissance de l'esprit laque au dclin du Moyen Age, 3rd ed., 5 vol. (195670), fundamental for the 14th century; and Horst Dreitzel, Protestantischer Aristotelismus und absoluter Staat: Die Politica des Henning Arnisaeus (ca. 15751636) (1970), excellent, with an extensive bibliography on German Aristotelianism. (Poetics and rhetoric): Bernard Weinberg, A History of Literary Criticism in the Italian Renaissance, 2 vol. (1961, reprinted 1974), containing good surveys concerning Aristotle; Lane Cooper, The Poetics of Aristotle: Its Meaning and Influence (1923, reissued 1972); Marvin T. Herrick, The Fusion of Horatian and Aristotelian Literary Criticism, 15311555 (1946), and The Poetics of Aristotle in England (1930, reprinted 1976), indispensable complements to Cooper's book; and Charles S. Baldwin. Renaissance Literary Theory and Practice: Classicism in the Rhetoric and Poetic of Italy, France, and England, 14001600 (1939, reissued 1959), useful for both poetics and rhetoric.