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...
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.
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.
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 ☺️☺️
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 !
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.
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.
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.