Introducing Aristotle: A Graphic Guide by Rupert Woodfin

Introducing Graphic Guides

by Rupert Woodfin

Aristole was the master of those who know. He was a polymath who touched and contributed to every field of intellectual inquiry, or, in many cases, invented them. This book explores his life and work. It offers a clear and accessible outline of all his significant ideas, explains their origins in contemporary Greek thought, and explores their legacy.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, History, Graphic Novels, Biography, Comics, Science

Paperback

First published April 23, 1997

Reviews

[KamRun · Rating 2 out of 5]

به عنوان یک کتاب مقدماتی برای کسب اطلاع از اندیشه و آراء ارسطو، انتخاب بدی نیست، خیلی بهتر از کتاب آشنایی با ارسطو

[John Angerer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good basic overview

This is a good, basic review of Aristotle's basic premises and his historical effect and value. I would recommend it to anyone who was looking for an easy way to start understanding Aristotle.

[Wilde Sky · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides a brief overview of the life and theories of a famous philosopher / scientific thinker.

The biography sections (on the man's life / time period) were good / interesting but the explanation of some of his theories was a bit muddled.

[Kyaw Zayar Lwin]

Universal and particular
Potentiality and Actuality
Four causes
Matter and Form
Categories

[Castles · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice little introduction and a good place to start I guess.

[Kirk Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The illustrations didn't have the verve that some of the others in the series have, but I'm not sure how you would throw out a lot of verve when it comes to Aristotle. What's important is that this is as advertised: a highly digestible and useful tract on a difficult and potentially boring subject.

[Skeptical Leftist · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent enough review for the laymen and an interesting read for myself who wished to brush up on this old father of science and logic, but of course it does not go far enough nor could it so it can be forgiven on that basis.

[Mircah Foxwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was exactly what I wanted it to be. It provided a simple overview to Aristotle and his major thoughts.

I had previously tried to read some Aristotle, and been put off by the writing. Unlike Plato's Dialogues, which are a pleasure to read, Aristotle's works can feel dense and opaque -- I had found myself struggling to understand what he meant by certain terms, and getting lost in arguments I couldn't quite decipher. Later, I learned that what remains of Aristotle today is likely his lecture notes; his more polished writing, intended for public consumption, has been lost to the ages. Presumably, if we still had all his work, we would have a different experience of his writing.

But Aristotle is so central to the ancient world, the middle ages, and the development of philosophical thought in the West, I can't just ignore him because I don't like reading his lecture notes. I decided to try to find a quick and dirty introduction to Aristotle that would at least give me something to hang my hat on, and "Introducing Aristotle: A Graphic Guide" was just the ticket for me.

In graphic novel form, the book breaks Aristotle's ideas into easily digestible summaries of just a few sentences. The entire book can be read in a day. It also suggested context for understanding Aristotle's ideas -- the culture and rival systems of thought in his day. And the graphics are diverting.

Is it oversimplified? For sure. Have I now got a complete grasp of Aristotle? Absolutely not. But if someone were to start talking to me about Aristotle, I feel that I could now intelligently nod my head and say "Uh-huh," and not be completely lost.

Next in my ancient philosopher's queue is "Aristotle" by Christopher Shields, a book listed in the "further reading" section in the back of this book. It looks like it will teach me a lot more about Aristotle. Unfortunately, it has no pictures.

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciated it as an introduction. It falls issue to the same things as the rest of the series, it's too conversational so it lacks any inline references and they're almost all written by conties and have continental conclusions although the author in this book is a bit more explicit about where he makes a continental conclusion from Aristotle.
I enjoyed the pace and structure. Whenever I got stuck on putting the metaphysics together he addressed what I was going through in the next. So this is a very good introduction for anyone interested in understanding Aristotle's metaphysics but obviously some references to his quotes would make it more justifiable.
I clearly had some different conclusions but it was obvious that he was writing in the same process and that he was well-read and thought about Aristotle's work. The only issue with his process is he seemed a bit too consequentualist. I'm not sure how a faulty conclusion of his metaphysics into his physics etc is that big a deal whatsoever but the author seemed to have some linear conception of science. He didn't criticize the metaphysics because of it and his treatment of the metaphysics is spectacular so the author's scientific framework doesn't get in the way of it (although it does get in the way of Aristotle's conclusions).
Glad to have read it. The Plato treatment by this series actually turned me off him (is it that necessary to view everything he did through a political lens and then skip out on platonist math). The math book is horrendous hogwash which is just pure propaganda with some gathered wiki articles and enough finger-wagging to make you wonder if we screwed up by reading Euclid and not female textile artisans from the medieval age. -1 because the series doesn't allow particular references.

[stephanie suh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Socrate was a liberal, Plato was a conservative, and Aristotle? Well, he was an educator, an academic, an intellectual with perks and passions who was never dull. His school of thought dominated western Europe during the Middle Ages. It became a foundation of Christian theology because of the conciliation of humanities with science, especially biology, to approach the hows in the quest of whys and whats. But don't be intimidated by the dauntingly impressive resume of the philosopher. You don't have to strain yourself with a burden to know the wondrous truth of our human life and the universe beyond. Woodfin's illustrated guide to Aristotle will become your scholarly and witty Virgil to his circles of knowledge as seen in his mind's casements. Through them, you are welcome to appreciate the panorama of Teleology, Thinness, the Four Causes, Beauty, Ethics, and the Cosmos like you never realized in plain language. Suppose you want to know more about the man who taught Alexander the Great and Thomas Aquinas, the top Doctor of the Church, and assured the distraught that excellence comes from habit. In that case, this book deserves your attention - with delightful knowledge.

[Biblioteca de evocaciones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Como su nombre indica, es un manual para personas no iniciadas en filosofía, aunque yo recomiendo leerlo si antes estudiaste a los presocráticos y el sistema de Platón. Como todo libro introductorio, no navega en aguas demasiado profundas y se queda sólo con lo superficial de un pensamiento terriblemente profundo como es el de Aristóteles. En general explica bien, aunque en algunos conceptos es bastante confuso; con la METAFÍSICA comete un error que es intentar seguir la estructura del texto de Aristóteles que tiene continuas digresiones y contradicciones en lugar de ir directo a explicar las conclusiones (que es lo que interesa a un "principiante"). La POLÍTICA, la ÉTICA, la POÉTICA y sus tratados científicos se explican de manera clara y concisa, es la mejor parte del libro. LA LÓGICA y la POLÍTICA no están del todo bien desarrolladas, uno que nunca leyó sobre Aristóteles seguramente quede confundido. El libro contiene también comentarios sobre política actual completamente fuera de lugar y hasta mal escritos, más allá de lo cual cumple con el objetivo que es introducir las principales ideas de Aristóteles a un principiante.

[Troy Nguyen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick and concise introduction to Aristotle.
Not as snappy read as the book on Plato in the series but it's not too hard to trawl through.
Pretty good series in general, being informative & easy to digest for the novices.
Can be used as a general map to explore more in depth works if you so desire.

[Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good introduction to the thought of Aristotle

This book introduces the major ideas of Aristotle and describes his importance to thought today. His ethics and diabetic sketch are emphasised.

[Glynn Alexander · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ideologically one sided which results in many assumptions about Aristotles principles and life completely destroying the purpose of creating a book like this that is supposed to be a foundation start into a subject. This one book has put me off the whole series that I had lined up to read.

[1 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read , important concepts of early Aristotlean ontology and epistemology

Goes into Aristotles history and development of his school of philosophical thought. The pictures are a light addition to the well curated definition of concepts.

[Peter Lambert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellentl introduction.

[Begum · Rating 3 out of 5]

Compact, clear, and comprehensible with little depths that provide a broader understanding of Aristotle's concepts. I also enjoyed the way the author put Aristotle's work into a modern perspective.

[TB · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought the pictures would be more beautiful but I guess I was in the wrong for expecting . Gives a good intro to Aristotle's thought with proper contextualization and importance in today's time.

[Matthew · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a lot of stuff that went over my head but some stuff was really interesting.

[Nizami]

If your brain is tired after the work day and you want to read something both informative and easy to process, this series may be a good choice.

[Mark Freeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gave four stars rather than 3 because I liked the way it fitted in some broader philosophy at the end. This is not an in depth study, and it may be a style thing but I rarely found the images offered much additional insight.
But it did what I wanted which was to draw together some bits and pieces of knowledge that I had into a coherent block and provides a good starting point for understanding

[Hesham Sheir · Rating 3 out of 5]

بشكل عام لم أحب كثيراً طريقة سلسلة (أقدم لك)؛ حيث أرى أنها تغالي في التبسيط طلبا للوصول لشريحة واسعة من القراء غير المتخصصين، وهو هدف جيد، ولكن العبارات القصيرة والمعلومات السريعة تجعل أسلوب الكتاب مفكك لا يساعد على بناء فكرة واضحة ومتماسكة عن الموضوع.
ورغم ذلك فالكتاب يحوي بعض الفائدة بإعطاء نظرة عامة سريعة على مؤلفات وأفكار أرسطو، ويقدم بعض الملاحظات الهامة، ويحاول مساعدة القارئ على يكتشف مكانة أرسطو المميزة في الفكر الإنساني.
لا أنصح بالكتاب للقارئ المتعمق والملم بالفلسفة، ولكنه يبقى خيار جيد للقارئ المتعجل أو لمن لا يزال يستكشف طريقه.

[Remy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The graphics help break up the info and make this book easier to read. I wish they were a bit "nicer" looking, as it's not my favorite style of illustration. There is a lot of heavy stuff packed into a small book, with vocabulary that is likely to be intimidating to some students, but is presented in a way that is more accessible than it otherwise would be. I enjoyed the overview of the philosophy topics, as well as some of the early scientific exploration(s).

[Robert Monk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aristotle is really, really hard stuff. I was trying to read "On the Soul," and it was simply confounding me. Finding one's way in can be tricky, so I was looking for a nice entry-level introduction to help. This book seemed like it might do the job. It was a quick read, entertaining, and didn't pull its punches on the fact that people have been debating about just what Aristotle *meant* in some of his more obscure texts for thousands of years. Now, I'm off to try "On the Soul" again.

[JP · Rating 3 out of 5]

Creative and fast overview that still conveys some of the deeper concepts and the impact on later schools of thought. I find this series very effective relative to many of the other approaches to survey.

[Adrienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's really great so far...

[Deke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Effective, dense (needs to be, it's Aristotle!), but struck me as less whimsical than others of its ilk, which removes some of the value/joy of having the material presented in this graphical format.

[Ci · Rating 1 out of 5]

The graphics are very distracting. A collage of photos (by the way, who are these people) and adaption of ancient clay tablets pictures work no wonders but tedium. It is exceedingly ungainly.

[Public_enemy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well organized book.

[Ill D · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it.

Hops around a bit near the end. A good editor could have tightened it up a bit.