Annotated Bibliography
Primary Sources
Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics. London: William Heinemann Ltd; Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1926.
This book by Aristotle is a treatise on ethics, designed to help people be good, and also includes his musings on human nature and ethics. It includes sections on character, justice, friendship, and happiness. This book was written by Aristotle, and is therefore a primary source. This book is written from the perspective of a man living in Greece in the 4th century B.C.E., and therefore there is not so much a bias as a wildly different point of view. The societies Aristotle comments on are a lot different than the ones today, so relating to them can be difficult. This primary source is essential when writing about his work with ethics, and is helpful with understanding Aristotle’s own point of view.
This book by Aristotle is a treatise on ethics, designed to help people be good, and also includes his musings on human nature and ethics. It includes sections on character, justice, friendship, and happiness. This book was written by Aristotle, and is therefore a primary source. This book is written from the perspective of a man living in Greece in the 4th century B.C.E., and therefore there is not so much a bias as a wildly different point of view. The societies Aristotle comments on are a lot different than the ones today, so relating to them can be difficult. This primary source is essential when writing about his work with ethics, and is helpful with understanding Aristotle’s own point of view.
Secondary sources
Boeree, Dr. C. George. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Shippensburg University, 2009, accessed October 1, 2011; available from
http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/athenians.html; Internet.
Dr. Boeree’s purpose in this web aritcle is to give a summary of the great Athenian philosophers. It compares and contrasts all three great men, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, so the reader can see each in the context of the other two. Dr. Boeree is a PhD psychologist and previously a professor at Shippensburg University. This source shows little or no actual bias, but seems to show all three philosophers in a favorable light. It is mostly about metaphysics, and summarizes his work in that field quite well. It is helpful when gaining a general understanding of Aristotle’s work with metaphysics, but is not enough to use when writing a lot about the subject.
Butcher, S. H. Some Aspects of the Greek Genius. Port Washington, N. Y.: Kennikat Press, 1969.
This book is mainly a collection of lectures for the Greek Class at the University of Edinburgh, and is designed to give a general impression of ancient Greek literature. The greater portion of the book is devoted to "Aristotle’s Conception of Fine Art and Poetry," but also covers "The Greek Idea of the State," "Sophocles," and a few other topics. Samuel Henry Butcher was a member of Parliament in the UK, but also a classical scholar. For a period, he was Professor of Greek at Edinburgh University, for which he prepared the lectures that comprise most of the book. This book seems to be rather balanced; in some places it criticizes Hellenism, but in other places it almost idolizes ancient Greek culture. It is useful mainly for writing about Aristotle’s work with the arts, and this book helps give a sense of ancient Greek literature on the whole, as opposed to solely Aristotle’s treatises.
Cohen, S. Marc. Introduction to Aristotle. Seattle, WA: University of Washington, 2008, accessed October 4, 2011; available from:
http://faculty.washington.edu/smcohen/433/arintro.htm; Internet.
This web article hosted by the University of Washington is, as it is entitled, an introduction to the life and works of Aristotle. It is much more comprehensive than many other web articles that are "summaries," yet it still covers ethics, physics, politics, biology, and Aristotle’s other fields of interest almost equally. S. Marc Cohen is a professor at the University of Washington who has written numerous books and papers about ancient philosophy. This is an informational article, not intended to present personal opinions. This article gives a summary of Aristotle’s life and works that is more comprehensive than most others, and is helpful when writing about Aristotle’s life just as much as his studies.
Fowler, Michael. Aristotle. University of Virginina, 2008, accessed September 28, 2011; available from
http://galileo.phys.virginia.edu/classes/109N/lectures/aristot2.html; Internet.
This web article by Michael Fowler is a lecture that was intended to be delivered to students at the University of Virginia. This lecture is mainly on Aristotle’s scientific studies, because the main sections include "Biology," "Elements," "Laws of Motion," and "Planetary Dynamics." This lecture was also written by someone working for the physics department, which explains the focus on the sciences. Michael Fowler is a professor at the University of Virginia, which is a well-known school. This lecture compliments Aristotle, but is more critical about his study of physics than other subjects, because physics is the main context of the lecture. It doesn’t discuss his works on ethics or the soul, but that is explained by the fact that the lecture is for a physics class. This lecture is most useful when writing about Aristotle’s scientific studies. This lecture helps the reader gain a much greater understanding of Aristotle’s studies in the field of physics.
Frede, Michael. Aristotle. Michigan Technological University, 1997, accessed September 26, 2011; available from
http://chemistry.mtu.edu/~pcharles/SCIHISTORY/aristotle.html; Internet.
This web article is designed to give the reader a general education about the life and studies of Aristotle, but the largest section is about "Thought," meaning that it focuses much more on his ideas than his life. Michael Frede was a well-known German professor who researched ancient philosophy extensively. He taught at multiple universities and wrote many books. This web page was created by a man who had extensively researched ancient philosophy, so it can be said that this source is factually accurate, and any personal opinions are identified as such. This source is helpful in gaining a general knowledge of Aristotle’s ideas, and can be helpful when writing generally about Aristotle’s studies, but especially in the natural sciences.
Kenny, Anthony. An Illustrated Brief History of Western Philosophy. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2006.
This book by Anthony Kenny is designed to give a summary of western philosophy, but because Aristotle was such an important figure, a large portion of the book is devoted to him. It is a useful source, because the person researching Aristotle needs not read all of Aristotle’s lengthy and toughly-worded treatises, but also can get more than just one web page summarizing him. Some sections of this book under "The System of Aristotle" are entitled; "The Foundation of Logic," "The Theory of Drama," "Soul, Sense, and Intellect," and "Moral Philosophy," among others. Anthony Kenny is a very well-known English philosopher, who has taught at many universities and written a great many books. This book does show the author’s opinions because it is his own interpretation of Aritotle’s works and ideas, but one can easily eliminate the bias by comparing it to other works, and many of the presented views are generally accepted as true. This source is especially useful when writing about Aristotle from a more modern perspective, for it was published only in 2006. This source is helpful in getting an overall understanding of Aristotle’s works that is still a bit more comprehensive than most web pages.
McKeon, Richard. Introduction to Aristotle, 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1947.
This book by Richard McKeon is meant to give the reader a general sense of what Aristotle’s philosophic works covered, and give a basic education of the texts. This book contains full translations of many of Aristotle’s works, along with introductions to each subject, which contain key background information. It includes Aristotle’s treatises on Logic, Physics, Psychology, Biology, Ethics, and others. Richard McKeon is Professor of Philosophy and Greek at the University of Chicago, and has written multiple books. This book seems to be very unbiased, because most of it consists of translations of Aristotle’s works, and it strives to be purely factual. This book is very helpful when writing about Aristotle’s own opinions, because one can quote his own works as primary sources. This source helps the reader understand the topic by enabling him/her to see exactly what he wrote, and not interpretations by other people.
Waggoner, Ben. Aristotle (384-322 B.C.E.). University of California, Berkeley, 1996, accessed September 26 2011; available from
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/aristotle.html; Internet.
This web page is most likely a lecture for Mr. Waggoner’s class at UC Berkeley, and it covers the general subject matter of Aristotle’s works and studies, especially biology. The greater portion of the page is about Aristotle’s classification of animals and study of biology, but it also covers his life, such as studying with Plato and teaching Alexander the Great. Ben Waggoner is a university professor who has taught at multiple schools, and has a PhD in Integrative Biology, so this is a reputable source. This piece is not very biased: it gives him credit for his amazing work on many fronts, but it acknowledges that his methods were not perfect. This source is most helpful when writing about Aristotle’s work in biology, and gives specific knowledge about his studies in that field.
Watson, Robert I. The Great Psychologists from Aristotle to Freud, 2nd ed. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1968.
This book is a history of psychology, discussing the great psychologists and their advances, Aristotle being a very important one. The greatest part of the section devoted to Aristotle is, obviously, about psychology, but it also includes a brief summary of his other work. Robert I. Watson taught psychology at the University of New Hampshire, and wrote multiple books about psychology. This book is specialized, but not biased. As a source devoted to the history of a certain subject, this book only deals with facts, albeit mostly about psychology. This is a very good source for studying Aristotle’s works on psychology, because it combines the topics of each of his books that deal with mind and soul. It has comprehensive coverage of his work with psychology, and this book can also be used to see how Aristotle’s works affected the field later on.
NOTE: Where applicable, photos are linked to the URL where they were found.
http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/athenians.html; Internet.
Dr. Boeree’s purpose in this web aritcle is to give a summary of the great Athenian philosophers. It compares and contrasts all three great men, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, so the reader can see each in the context of the other two. Dr. Boeree is a PhD psychologist and previously a professor at Shippensburg University. This source shows little or no actual bias, but seems to show all three philosophers in a favorable light. It is mostly about metaphysics, and summarizes his work in that field quite well. It is helpful when gaining a general understanding of Aristotle’s work with metaphysics, but is not enough to use when writing a lot about the subject.
Butcher, S. H. Some Aspects of the Greek Genius. Port Washington, N. Y.: Kennikat Press, 1969.
This book is mainly a collection of lectures for the Greek Class at the University of Edinburgh, and is designed to give a general impression of ancient Greek literature. The greater portion of the book is devoted to "Aristotle’s Conception of Fine Art and Poetry," but also covers "The Greek Idea of the State," "Sophocles," and a few other topics. Samuel Henry Butcher was a member of Parliament in the UK, but also a classical scholar. For a period, he was Professor of Greek at Edinburgh University, for which he prepared the lectures that comprise most of the book. This book seems to be rather balanced; in some places it criticizes Hellenism, but in other places it almost idolizes ancient Greek culture. It is useful mainly for writing about Aristotle’s work with the arts, and this book helps give a sense of ancient Greek literature on the whole, as opposed to solely Aristotle’s treatises.
Cohen, S. Marc. Introduction to Aristotle. Seattle, WA: University of Washington, 2008, accessed October 4, 2011; available from:
http://faculty.washington.edu/smcohen/433/arintro.htm; Internet.
This web article hosted by the University of Washington is, as it is entitled, an introduction to the life and works of Aristotle. It is much more comprehensive than many other web articles that are "summaries," yet it still covers ethics, physics, politics, biology, and Aristotle’s other fields of interest almost equally. S. Marc Cohen is a professor at the University of Washington who has written numerous books and papers about ancient philosophy. This is an informational article, not intended to present personal opinions. This article gives a summary of Aristotle’s life and works that is more comprehensive than most others, and is helpful when writing about Aristotle’s life just as much as his studies.
Fowler, Michael. Aristotle. University of Virginina, 2008, accessed September 28, 2011; available from
http://galileo.phys.virginia.edu/classes/109N/lectures/aristot2.html; Internet.
This web article by Michael Fowler is a lecture that was intended to be delivered to students at the University of Virginia. This lecture is mainly on Aristotle’s scientific studies, because the main sections include "Biology," "Elements," "Laws of Motion," and "Planetary Dynamics." This lecture was also written by someone working for the physics department, which explains the focus on the sciences. Michael Fowler is a professor at the University of Virginia, which is a well-known school. This lecture compliments Aristotle, but is more critical about his study of physics than other subjects, because physics is the main context of the lecture. It doesn’t discuss his works on ethics or the soul, but that is explained by the fact that the lecture is for a physics class. This lecture is most useful when writing about Aristotle’s scientific studies. This lecture helps the reader gain a much greater understanding of Aristotle’s studies in the field of physics.
Frede, Michael. Aristotle. Michigan Technological University, 1997, accessed September 26, 2011; available from
http://chemistry.mtu.edu/~pcharles/SCIHISTORY/aristotle.html; Internet.
This web article is designed to give the reader a general education about the life and studies of Aristotle, but the largest section is about "Thought," meaning that it focuses much more on his ideas than his life. Michael Frede was a well-known German professor who researched ancient philosophy extensively. He taught at multiple universities and wrote many books. This web page was created by a man who had extensively researched ancient philosophy, so it can be said that this source is factually accurate, and any personal opinions are identified as such. This source is helpful in gaining a general knowledge of Aristotle’s ideas, and can be helpful when writing generally about Aristotle’s studies, but especially in the natural sciences.
Kenny, Anthony. An Illustrated Brief History of Western Philosophy. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2006.
This book by Anthony Kenny is designed to give a summary of western philosophy, but because Aristotle was such an important figure, a large portion of the book is devoted to him. It is a useful source, because the person researching Aristotle needs not read all of Aristotle’s lengthy and toughly-worded treatises, but also can get more than just one web page summarizing him. Some sections of this book under "The System of Aristotle" are entitled; "The Foundation of Logic," "The Theory of Drama," "Soul, Sense, and Intellect," and "Moral Philosophy," among others. Anthony Kenny is a very well-known English philosopher, who has taught at many universities and written a great many books. This book does show the author’s opinions because it is his own interpretation of Aritotle’s works and ideas, but one can easily eliminate the bias by comparing it to other works, and many of the presented views are generally accepted as true. This source is especially useful when writing about Aristotle from a more modern perspective, for it was published only in 2006. This source is helpful in getting an overall understanding of Aristotle’s works that is still a bit more comprehensive than most web pages.
McKeon, Richard. Introduction to Aristotle, 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1947.
This book by Richard McKeon is meant to give the reader a general sense of what Aristotle’s philosophic works covered, and give a basic education of the texts. This book contains full translations of many of Aristotle’s works, along with introductions to each subject, which contain key background information. It includes Aristotle’s treatises on Logic, Physics, Psychology, Biology, Ethics, and others. Richard McKeon is Professor of Philosophy and Greek at the University of Chicago, and has written multiple books. This book seems to be very unbiased, because most of it consists of translations of Aristotle’s works, and it strives to be purely factual. This book is very helpful when writing about Aristotle’s own opinions, because one can quote his own works as primary sources. This source helps the reader understand the topic by enabling him/her to see exactly what he wrote, and not interpretations by other people.
Waggoner, Ben. Aristotle (384-322 B.C.E.). University of California, Berkeley, 1996, accessed September 26 2011; available from
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/aristotle.html; Internet.
This web page is most likely a lecture for Mr. Waggoner’s class at UC Berkeley, and it covers the general subject matter of Aristotle’s works and studies, especially biology. The greater portion of the page is about Aristotle’s classification of animals and study of biology, but it also covers his life, such as studying with Plato and teaching Alexander the Great. Ben Waggoner is a university professor who has taught at multiple schools, and has a PhD in Integrative Biology, so this is a reputable source. This piece is not very biased: it gives him credit for his amazing work on many fronts, but it acknowledges that his methods were not perfect. This source is most helpful when writing about Aristotle’s work in biology, and gives specific knowledge about his studies in that field.
Watson, Robert I. The Great Psychologists from Aristotle to Freud, 2nd ed. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1968.
This book is a history of psychology, discussing the great psychologists and their advances, Aristotle being a very important one. The greatest part of the section devoted to Aristotle is, obviously, about psychology, but it also includes a brief summary of his other work. Robert I. Watson taught psychology at the University of New Hampshire, and wrote multiple books about psychology. This book is specialized, but not biased. As a source devoted to the history of a certain subject, this book only deals with facts, albeit mostly about psychology. This is a very good source for studying Aristotle’s works on psychology, because it combines the topics of each of his books that deal with mind and soul. It has comprehensive coverage of his work with psychology, and this book can also be used to see how Aristotle’s works affected the field later on.
NOTE: Where applicable, photos are linked to the URL where they were found.