Aristotle: A Guide for the Perplexed »

Aristotle: A Guide for the Perplexed offers a clear and thorough account of the work and thought of this key thinker, providing an outline of his central ideas and the ways in which they have influenced the history of western philosophy.

Chronology

Introduction 1

Ch. 1 Science (episteme) 11

Division of the Sciences According to Aims and Objects 11

Demonstration (apodeixis) 16

The Axioms of the Sciences 20

Ch. 2 Being or Substance (ousia) 26

Being Before Aristotle 28

Being in the Categories 33

The Science of Being: First Philosophy 46

Being in Metaphysics Zeta (7) 54

Ch. 3 Nature (phusis) 63

Principles of Change 69

The Four Causes or Explanations (aitiai) 75

Defence of Teleology 80

Ch. 4 Soul (psuche) 87

Soul as Substance, Form and Actuality 90

What the Student of Soul Investigates 96

Perception 99

Thought 105

Ch. 5 Success (eudaimonia) 116

The Practical Science of Ethics 119

The Chief and Final Good for Human Beings 126

Virtues of Character 133

Virtues of Intellect 149

Conclusion 158

Notes 159

Bibliography 163

Index 165