PHI 340 Aristotle



PHI 340 Aristotle

Metaphysics Book Theta ((, 9)

Stephen Makin

Spring Semester 2005-2006

Course Information

For the module web page go to the Departmental website at shef.ac.uk/philosophy/

and then follow the links

Current students → Information for current students → Level 3 modules → PHI 340

Contents

Plagiarism Notice . . . . . . p.3

Timetable . . . . . . p.4

Course Outline . . . . . . p.4

Course Text . . . . . . p.4

Aristotle’s Text - Alternative Translations . . p.5

Introductory Reading . . . . . p.6

Plagiarism

It is plagiarism to present the written work of an author or of another student as your own. (You are, however, encouraged to discuss your work with others on the course.)

In any essay or exam answer submitted for assessment, all passages taken from other people’s work, either word for word, or with small changes, must be placed within quotation marks, with specific reference to author, title and page. No excuse can be accepted for any failure to do so, nor will inclusion of the source in a bibliography be considered an adequate acknowledgement. Likewise, whenever material is paraphrased, this must be indicated by specific reference and acknowledgement. Credit should also be given for the use of someone else’s ideas.

If the marker decides that plagiarism has occurred, the student may be judged to have failed the essay and/or exam and/or module (depending on the degree of severity). The plagiarism will also be recorded on the student’s permanent record.

Note that the University has the resources to check any student's essay against an international electronic database, to detect whether any part of the essay reproduces either another student's work - even a student from another university - or work available on the internet.

Plagiarism from handouts

There has in the past been some scope for confusion on this issue, since many staff offer the advice that ideas deriving from the lecturer do not need to be cited when used. But the department has recently agreed that a distinction needs to be drawn between use of ideas or arguments expounded in lectures, on the one hand (which is legitimate without citation), and verbatim or near-verbatim reproduction of material from lecture handouts or lecture notes/transcripts, on the other hand (which is not).

Timetable

Monday 12-1 Arts Tower 8.27

Tuesday 12-1 Richard Roberts (New Chemistry) Building A87

Friday 10-11 Arts Tower 8.29

Course Outline

For this session the module will comprise an extended discussion of Aristotle’s Metaphysics Book Theta (Book (, Book 9). The aim of the module is to enable students to study in some detail a short and important Aristotelian text, to appreciate how the ideas and arguments of that text contribute towards some issues in contemporary metaphysics, and to engage critically with those Aristotelian ideas and arguments. By the end of the module students should have thought about questions of Aristotelian exegesis, and seen how close study of an ancient text both contributes to, and gains from, engagement with some of the central ideas and arguments of Aristotelian metaphysics.

Metaphysics ( is an examination of an important concept of Aristotelian metaphysics, the notion of potentiality. Particular topics to be covered will include the role of capacities in the explanation of change, reductive accounts of possibility, the provision of a criterion for assessing possibility, the relation between potentiality and actuality, and the use of the potentiality/actuality distinction in providing an account of the unity of natural substances

.

Course Text

There are three texts relevant to this module.

First, a photocopy of my translation of Aristotle’s Metaphysics (

Second a photocopy of my commentary on Aristotle’s Metaphysics (

Third, a Course Pack, which contains copies of a wide range of secondary reading.

The first two are essential, and are the core reading for the module

I think most students would find the third useful – but there will be an opportunity at the start of the course to talk about this, when I will gauge people’s views about, and assess the demand for, a Course Pack.

Aristotle’s Text: Alternative Translations

Aristotle’s text is difficult, and my translation may seem awkward and unnatural. There are a number of alternative translations which you could also look at. But bear in mind that in a careful discussion of a text a good deal can hang on issues of translation, and that I will be working from my translation.

Apostle H.G Aristotle’s Metaphysics (Indiana University Press, Bollington and London, 1966).

A complete translation of the Metaphysics with glossary, index and brief comment.

Furth M Aristotle Metaphysics Books Zeta, Eta, Theta and Iota (Books VII-X) (Hackett Publishing Company, Indianapolis, 1985).

An extremely literal translation, which is not really intended to answer to the constraints of natural English; Furth describes the translation as being into ‘Eek’, evoking a Greek-English hybrid; the virtue of this translation is that it gives an insight into the nature of Aristotle’s Greek text. The volume includes translations the surrounding books of the Metaphysics, to which some reference will be made (although books Z (7) and H (8) in particular are extremely obscure, and you will not be required to go into them in any detail)

Ross W.D The Works of Aristotle Translated into English Volume 8: Metaphysica (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 2nd edition 1928).

It is the twelve volume Oxford translation of Aristotle’s Complete Works which forms the basis of the two volume revision by Jonathan Barnes (see below). Ross’ translation of the Metaphysics is something of a classic, especially since Ross also produced an extensive edition of Aristotle’s Greek text.

Barnes J

Ross W.D The Complete Works of Aristotle: the Revised Oxford Translation (Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ, 1984).

This is a two volume revision of the various translations in the twelve volume Oxford Complete Works, by Jonathan Barnes. Barnes’ revision of the Ross translation of Metaphysics is in volume two. Barnes explains in volume one’s Preface the sort of revisions which have been undertaken.

Tredennick H Aristotle: the Metaphysics (The Loeb Classical Library: Harvard University Press/Heinemann, Harvard/London, 1925)

Aristotle’s Metaphysics is to be found in volumes 17-18 of the Loeb collection of the Complete Works of Aristotle; book ( is included in volume 17. The Loeb volumes contain the Greek text with a translation facing.

There is also a recent Clarendon Aristotle series volume of the books of the Metaphysics immediately preceding book (:

Bostock D Aristotle Metaphysics Books Z and H (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994)

This contains an extensive commentary: but as mentioned above, you should so far as possible avoid getting bogged down in these books (though some reference to them is necessary for understanding the project of book ().

Finally, should anyone be interested in looking at Aristotle’s Greek text, there are three alternatives. There is the Loeb text (see above), but critical apparatus is minimal. There is the two volume edition by W.D.Ross, with extensive Introduction and Commentary (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1924: Ross’ Comments on ( are included in the Coursepack). And there is the edition by Werner Jaeger (Oxford Classical Texts: Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1957), with critical apparatus.

Of the alternative translations Furth is useful for getting a flavour of the Greek text; and Barnes/Ross is easily available in the Library. But you should rely on the translation provided in the class. The alternatives are useful primarily as revealing what a difference translation can make.

Introductory Reading

Metaphysics ( is a difficult text. There are two sorts of introduction which you might find useful. One aims to provide a general introduction to Aristotle’s philosophy as a whole. If you are going to find time to read one of these, then you probably want to pick a short one. The best short choice is

Barnes J Aristotle (Past Masters Series: Oxford University Press, 1981):

This volume also appeared along with R.M.Hare’s volume on Plato and Henry Chadwick’s volume on Augustine under the title Founders of Thought (Oxford University Press, 1991)

Other reliable introductions include

Ackrill J.L Aristotle the Philosopher (Oxford University Press, 1981)

Allen D.J The Philosophy of Aristotle (Oxford University Press, 1952)

Lear J Aristotle: the Desire to Understand (Cambridge University Press, 1988)

Lloyd G.E.R Aristotle: the Growth and Structure of his Thought (Cambridge University Press, 1968)

Ross W.D Aristotle (Methuen, London, 5th Edition 1949)

In addition there will be articles on Aristotle (of varying length and detail) in any reliable encyclopedia or dictionary of philosophy

In particular you can consult the article on Aristotle by Terence Irwin in the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy: which article will also offer further bibliographical advice. This is available in electronic form via the course webpage.

The second type of introduction which you might want, and which will probably be more useful to you, is an introduction to Aristotle’s metaphysics (for this course you won’t need to know, for example, about Aristotle’s logic, ethics, political philosophy, or aesthetics, which would usually be covered in a general introduction to Aristotle’s philosophy). Any general introduction to Aristotle’s philosophy (either the books mentioned above, or an encyclopedia article) will include a chapter or section on Aristotle’s metaphysics; and you could limit your introductory reading to those chapters/sections. There is also an excellent section on Aristotle’s metaphysics by Jonathan Barnes in

Barnes J The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle (Cambridge University Press, 1995)

Barnes’ Introduction to the Cambridge Companion is also well worth reading, for a stimulating discussion of why philosophers should be interested in the work of Aristotle at all (this raises, in a particular case, many important questions about the relation between philosophy and its history).

Finally a highly accessible, although longer, discussion of the central issues of Aristotle’s metaphysics is Charlotte Witt’s book

Witt C Substance and Essence in Aristotle (Cornell University Press, Ithaca and London, 1989)

You should be aware, though, that while Witt’s book provides a stimulating and clearly written way in to Aristotelian metaphysics, it is not intended as an introductory text, and she adopts and defends positions on a number of disputed questions.

My hope is that the material I will provide on Metaphysics ( will be comprehensible in its own right: Clarendon Aristotle volumes are intended as stand-alone books. But you might well find an introduction to the broader context of Aristotle’s metaphysics helpful. Of the works mentioned above I would recommend Jonathan Barnes’ section in the Cambridge Companion as a brief introduction, and Charlotte Witt’s book as something longer though more controversial. However you should not worry unduly if the issues discussed seem very opaque on first reading.

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