A History of Greek Philosophy 6: Aristotle: An Encounter

A History of Greek Philosophy #6

by W.K.C. Guthrie

With this book, Professor Guthrie completed his six-volume A History of Greek Philosophy in the course of which he surveyed the whole field of Greek philosophy from the Presocratics to Aristotle. The History has won acclaim for the author's ability to take on a vast and challenging subject and to produce an account of it remarkable for its combination of learning with clarity of exposition. This is a book for students of classics and Greek philosophy, and indeed for anyone interested in reading a clear account of Aristotle's thought.

Genres: Philosophy, History, Classics, Nonfiction

476 pages, Hardcover

First published September 3, 1981

About the author

William Keith Chambers Guthrie was a Scottish classical scholar, best known for his History of Greek Philosophy, published in six volumes between 1962 and his death.

Reviews

[Dan DalMonte · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a strong overview of Aristotle's thought. I especially enjoyed the part at the end at which Guthrie describes the ideal life for Aristotle. We have to conform to what is highest in us, which is nous. The life of theoria, or contemplation of the truth, provides the most lasting joys. I also enjoyed Aristotle's description of the magnaminous man, who carries himself with noble aplomb. Aristotle viewed the forms as immanent instead of transcendent. Numbers for him were abstractions from real things, not self-existent abstractions. Nevertheless, those with higher understanding grasp the universal, and not merely the particular.