ŷ

Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Coffee with...

Coffee with Aristotle

Rate this book
Not many people can claim to have invented a new science, but the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle invented two—zoology and logic. Today, we are still influenced by Aristotelian thought. When we use words such as "potential" and "actual," "theory" and "practice," we are speaking Aristotle's language. Talking to him, however, you'll realize that some of his ideas have crossed the centuries more successfully than others...

144 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

6 people are currently reading
152 people want to read

About the author

Jonathan Barnes

139books39followers
Jonathan Barnes, FBA (born 26 December 1942 in Wenlock, Shropshire) is an English scholar of ancient philosophy.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

See also Jonathan Barnes or Jonathan Barnes

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
16 (16%)
4 stars
28 (29%)
3 stars
41 (43%)
2 stars
7 (7%)
1 star
3 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
Profile Image for Azar.
168 reviews54 followers
June 28, 2021
به نظرم کتاب بامزه ای بود. نظریات ارسطو را به زبان خیلی ساده بیان می کند و ارسطو درباره هر آنچه در ذهن فرد مقابل است توضیح می دهد.
125 reviews2 followers
Read
July 27, 2011
Not a bad little book. It is very short and is easy to get through in a few hours. Anyone who already knows something about Aristotle and his ideas will not find anything new to discover. But it is a good book for someone just starting to learn about the ancient Greek thinker.
215 reviews6 followers
March 27, 2023
This is an amusing and short introduction to Aristotle's ideas written by Jonathan Barnes who taught philosophy at the universities of Oxford, Geneva, and Paris. As with other books in this series, the conceit is that the modern author is sitting down with the subject of the book for a casual chat over coffee about the subject's ideas. The Aristotle Barnes creates could easily be a character out of Monty Python. Of course, since many of the members of Monty Python attended Oxford, this may be a chicken-and-egg question.
Profile Image for Ely.
334 reviews5 followers
April 28, 2020
well despite of many people have said that this book is not as charming as it is. I found it quite understanding and cool! Why not? Aristotle explain errthing and whatever it is on his mind and never care about anything else. I think it’s quite wonderful, because most of the time people only show of what the world want it to see (means being fake or anything). But he didn’t. This book clearly open my eyes ☺️☺️
Profile Image for Robert.
76 reviews3 followers
October 2, 2024
Johnathan Barnes attempts to distill most of Aritstotle into a 'conversation' with the Greek philosopher. If you know nothing of the Greek philosopher, you will know something after reading this. This series from Duncan Baird Publishing in the UK uses this idea for other Famous thinkers and artists.

Its a bit twee, tbh. Actually makes me want to thumb through my copy of the Nicomachean Ethics. Not a bad thing.
Profile Image for Faith Thomas.
6 reviews
January 18, 2023
The book is good, but Barnes fails to list where he got the sources for formulating Aristotle's answers. He mentions the works of Aristotle but never says like in a synopsis or appendix where exactly he formulated his responses. The conversation style of the entire series is fantastic and captivating, giving an easy feel to the reads.
Profile Image for Jericho Eames.
389 reviews
June 23, 2018
I feel like Aristotle can be quite the asshole. I would say that this is a fun way to be introduced to Aristotle and his works, ancient philosophy isn't everyone's cup of tea but I think this is nonetheless, a great way to start.
9 reviews
April 30, 2022
A nice brief overview of the works of Aristotle. This fictional interview was well written and the words dissolved into what seemed like I was listening to an actual interview. A must read for anyone remotely interested in Aristotle.
Profile Image for Megan.
339 reviews53 followers
January 10, 2019
Rather certain Aristotle and I wouldn't have gotten along. However, it was fun to read what he might have said based on an experts knowledge of him.
Profile Image for Wen-wei Wong.
24 reviews
October 7, 2021
Very concise book that summarised the thoughts of Aristotle in a dialogue format that is easier to digest for busy person like me.
Profile Image for Michael Vick.
11 reviews2 followers
April 11, 2022
Share's Aristotle's thoughts and ideas in a conversational and concise way. Quick read
Profile Image for S..
671 reviews142 followers
March 24, 2016
When I first saw this book, I thought it could help me reconcile with Aristotle again, I expected deep insights considering his "philosophy" but it turned out that it's just some unreal interview with Aristotle about everything and nothing...It was about slavery, zoology, poetry (that I misunderstood and misinterpreted as Poesis, and got a bit overwhelmed),Ethics, Soul, Female of the species,... some little biography of Aristotle, even a glimpse at the life of Alexander.... But this wasn't what I've expected ! I declare this book as a cute biography of Aristotle but not an abstract of his philosophy !
798 reviews7 followers
April 6, 2022
This is a short book I bought about 12 years ago. I was probably looking for some lunch reading. It is a light dip into Aristotle from someone who has devoted a career to translating his works. I buy Introductory books a lot in order to look at ways to introduce topics to others. This was not substantial, but it was fair.
Profile Image for Tom Sutton.
23 reviews3 followers
August 1, 2012
A concise summary of Aristotle's philosophy. Even though it is presented as a dialogue, it falls short of imitating the round-about yet razor sharp reasoning style of Aristotle the man, as you might find in a translated work. Good for novices, as a pocket book.
Profile Image for Mark Knapke.
13 reviews
Read
August 30, 2011
A simple way to make a this kind of subject accessible. All of Aristotle's extant works are basically lecture notes. This book give him a face, so to speak.
1 review
March 18, 2016
It was a nice, well written, and neatly put together. Allows you to be in the mind of a great thinker without having to read the philosophy itself.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.