What can be ascribed in Alexander’s education to Aristotle’s
philosophic instruction is the fact that what was natural to him, the
inherent greatness of his mental disposition, acquired inward freedom
also, and became elevated into the perfect, self-conscious independence
which we see in his aims and deeds. Alexander attained to that perfect
certainty of himself which the infinite boldness of thought alone
gives, and to an independence of particular and limited projects, as
also to their elevation into the entirely universal end of bringing
about in the world a social life and intercourse of a mutual kind,
through the foundation of states which were free from contingent
individuality. Alexander thus carried out the plan which his father
had already conceived, which was, at the head of the Greeks, to avenge
Europe upon Asia, and to subject Asia to Greece; so that as it was in
the beginning of Greek history that the Greeks were united, and that
only for the Trojan war, this union likewise brought the Greek world
proper to an end. Alexander thereby also avenged the faithlessness and
cruelty perpetrated by the Persians on Aristotle’s friend Hermias. But
Alexander further disseminated Greek culture over Asia, in order to
elevate into a Greek world this wild medley of utter barbarism, bent
solely on destruction, and torn by internal dissensions, these lands
entirely sunk in indolence, negation, and spiritual degeneracy. And if
it be said that he was merely a conqueror who was unable to establish
an enduring kingdom, because his kingdom at his death once more fell to
pieces, we must acknowledge that, from a superficial view of the case,
this is true, as his family did not retain their rule; Greek rule was,
however, maintained. Thus Alexander did not found an extensive kingdom
for his family, but he founded a kingdom of the Greek nation over Asia;
for Greek culture and science have since his time taken root there.
The Greek kingdoms of Asia Minor, and particularly of Egypt, were for
centuries the home of science; and their influence may have extended
as far as to India and to China. We certainly do not know definitely
whether the Indians may not have obtained what is best in their
sciences in this way, but it is probable that at least the more exact
portion of Indian astronomy came to them from Greece. For it was from
the Syrian kingdom, stretching into Asia Minor as far as to a Greek
kingdom in Bactria, that there was doubtless conveyed to the interior
of India and China, by means of Greek colonies migrating thither, the
meagre scientific knowledge which has lingered there like a tradition,
though it has never flourished. For the Chinese, for example, are
not skilful enough to make a calendar of their own, or to think for
themselves. Yet they exhibited ancient instruments unsuited to any work
done by them, and the immediate conjecture was that these had come from
Bactria. The high idea that men had of the sciences of the Indians and
of the Chinese hence is false.
According to Ritter (Erdkunde, Vol. II. p. 839, of the first edition),
Alexander did not set out merely with a view of conquering, but with
the idea that he was the Lord. I do not think that Aristotle placed
this notion, which was connected with another Oriental conception, in
the mind of Alexander. The other idea is that in the East the name of
Alexander still flourishes as Ispander, and as Dul-k-ar-nein, _i.e._
the man with two horns, just as Jupiter Ammon is an ancient Eastern
hero. The question would now be whether the Macedonian kings did not,
through their descent from the ancient race of Indian heroes, claim
to rule this land; by this the progress of Dionysius from Thrace to
India could likewise be explained; whether the “knowledge of this was
not the real and fundamental religious idea inspiring the young hero’s
soul when, before his journey to Asia, he found on the lower Ister
(Danube) Indian priestly states where the immortality of the soul was
taught, and when, certainly not without the counsel of Aristotle, who,
through Plato and Pythagoras, was initiated into Indian wisdom, he
began the march into the East, and first of all visited the Oracle of
Ammonium (now Siwah), and then destroyed the Persian kingdom and burnt
Persepolis, the old enemy of Indian religion, in order to take revenge
upon it for all the violence exercised through Darius on the Buddhists
and their co-religionists.” This is an ingenious theory, formed from a
thorough investigation of the connection which exists between Oriental
and European ideas from the higher point of view in history. But, in
the first place, this conjecture is contrary to the historical basis
on which I take my stand. Alexander’s expedition has quite another
historic, military, and political character than this, and had not much
to do with his going to India; it was, on the face of it, an ordinary
conquest. In the second place, Aristotle’s metaphysic and philosophy
is far from recognizing any such foolish and extravagant imaginations.
The elevation of Alexander in the Oriental mind into an acknowledged
hero and god, which followed later, is, in the third place, not matter
for surprise; the Dalai-Lama is still thus honoured, and God and man
are never so very far asunder. Greece likewise worked its way to the
idea of a God becoming man, and that not as a remote and foreign image,
but as a present God in a godless world: Demetrius Phalereus and
others were thus soon after honoured and worshipped in Athens as God.
Was the infinite not also now transplanted into self-consciousness?
Fourthly, the Buddhists did not interest Alexander, and in his Indian
expedition they do not appear; the destruction of Persepolis is,
however, sufficiently justified as a measure of Greek vengeance for the
destruction by Xerxes of the temples in Greece, especially in Athens.
While Alexander accomplished this great work—for he was the greatest
individual at the head of Greece, he ever kept science and art in
mind. Just as in modern times we have once more met with warriors
who thought of science and of art in their campaigns, we also find
that Alexander made an arrangement whereby whatever was discovered in
the way of animals and plants in Asia should be sent to Aristotle,
or else drawings and descriptions of the same. This consideration on
Alexander’s part afforded to Aristotle a most favourable opportunity
of collecting treasures for his study of nature. Pliny (Histor. natur.
VIII., 17 ed. Bip.) relates that Alexander directed about a thousand
men, who lived by hunting, fishing and fowling, the overseers of the
zoological gardens, aviaries, and tanks of the Persian kingdom, to
supply Aristotle with what was remarkable from every place. In this
way Alexander’s campaign in Asia had the further effect of enabling
Aristotle to found the science of natural history, and to be the
author, according to Pliny, of a natural history in fifty parts.
After Alexander commenced his journey to Asia, Aristotle returned to
Athens, and made his appearance as a public teacher in the Lyceum,
a pleasure-ground which Pericles had made for the exercising of
recruits; it consisted of a temple dedicated to Apollo (Λύκειος), and
shady walks (περίπατοι), which were enlivened by trees, fountains
and colonnades. It was from these walks that his school received the
name of Peripatetics, and not from any walking about on the part of
Aristotle—because, it is said, he delivered his discourses usually
while walking. He lived and taught in Athens for thirteen years. But
after the death of Alexander there broke out a tempest which had, as
it appeared, been long held back through fear of Alexander; Aristotle
was accused of impiety. The facts are differently stated: amongst other
things it is said that his hymn to Hermias and the inscription on the
statue dedicated to him were laid to his charge. When he saw the storm
gathering, he escaped to Chalcis in Eub\na, the present Negropont,
in order, as he himself said, that the Athenians should not have an
opportunity of once more sinning against Philosophy. There he died,
in the next year, in the sixty-third year of his age, Ol. 114, 3 (322
B.C.).[83]
We derive Aristotle’s philosophy from his writings; but when we
consider their history and nature, so far as externals are concerned,
the difficulty of deriving a knowledge of his philosophy from them
seems much increased. I cannot certainly enter into details regarding
these last. Diogenes Laërtius (V. 21-27) mentions a very large
number of them, but by their titles we do not always quite know
which of those now in our possession are indicated, since the titles
are entirely different. Diogenes gives the number of lines as four
hundred and forty-five thousand, two hundred and seventy, and, if we
count about ten thousand lines in a printer’s alphabet, this gives
us forty-four alphabets. What we now have might perhaps amount to
about ten alphabets, so that we have only about the fourth part left
to us. The history of the Aristotelian manuscripts has been stated
to be such that it would really seem impossible, or almost hopeless,
that any one of his writings should have been preserved to us in its
original condition, and not corrupted. Doubts regarding their genuine
character could not in such circumstances fail to exist; and we can
only wonder at seeing them come down to us even in the condition in
which they are. For, as we have said, Aristotle made them known but
little during his lifetime, and he left his writings to Theophrastus,
his successor, with the rest of his immense library. This, indeed,
is the first considerable library, collected as it was by means of
personal wealth along with Alexander’s assistance, and hence it also
reveals to us Aristotle’s learning. Later on, it came partially, or in
some cases in duplicate, to Alexandria, and formed the basis of the
Ptolemaic library, which, on the taking of Alexandria by Julius Cæsar,
became a prey to fire. But of the manuscripts of Aristotle himself
it is said that Theophrastus left them by will to a certain Neleus,
from whom they came into the hands of ignorant men, who either kept
them without care or estimation of their value, or else the heirs of
Neleus, in order to save them from the Kings of Pergamus, who were
very anxious to collect a library, hid them in a cellar, where they
lay forgotten for a hundred and thirty years, and thus got into bad
condition. Finally, the descendants of Theophrastus found them again
after long search, and sold them to Apellicon of Teos, who restored
what had been destroyed by worms and mould, but who did not possess
the learning or the capacity so to do. Hence others went over them,
filled up the blanks as they thought best, replaced what was damaged,
and thus they were sufficiently altered. But still it was not enough.
Just after Apellicon’s death, the Roman Sulla conquered Athens, and
amongst the spoil carried off to Rome were the works of Aristotle. The
Romans, who had just begun to become acquainted with Greek science and
art, but who did not yet appreciate Greek philosophy, did not know how
to profit from this spoil. A Greek, named Tyrannion, later on obtained
permission to make use of and publish the manuscripts of Aristotle, and
he prepared an edition of them, which, however, also bears the reproach
of being inaccurate, for here they had the fate of being given by the
dealers into the hands of ignorant copyists, who introduced a number of
additional corruptions.[84]
This is the way in which the Aristotelian philosophy has come to us.
Aristotle certainly made known much to his contemporaries, that is to
say, the writings in the Alexandrian library, but even those works do
not seem to have been widely known. In fact, many of them are most
corrupt, imperfect, and, as, for example, the Poetics, incomplete.
Several of them, such as the Metaphysical treatises, seem to be patched
up from different writings, so that the higher criticism can give rein
to all its ingenuity, and, according to one clever critic, the matter
may with much show of probability be decided in one particular way,
while another ingenious person has a different explanation to oppose
to this.[85] So much remains certain, that the writings of Aristotle
are corrupt, and often both in their details and in the main, not
consistent; and we often find whole paragraphs almost verbally
repeated. Since the evil is so old, no real cure can certainly be
looked for; however, the matter is not so bad as would appear from this
description. There are many and important works which may be considered
to be entire and uninjured, and though there are others corrupt here
and there, or not well arranged, yet, as far as the essentials are
concerned, no such great harm has been done as might appear. What we
possess therefore places us in a sufficiently good position to form a
definite idea of the Aristotelian philosophy, both as a whole, and in
many of its details.
But there is still an historic distinction to be noted. For there is
an old tradition that Aristotle’s teaching was of a twofold nature
and that his writings were of two different kinds, viz. esoteric or
acroamatic and exoteric—a distinction which was also made by the
Pythagoreans (Vol. I. p 202). The esoteric teaching was given within
the Lyceum in the morning, the exoteric in the evening; the latter
related to practice in the art of rhetoric and in disputation, as
also to civic business, but the other to the inward and more profound
philosophy, to the contemplation of nature and to dialectic proper.[86]
This circumstance is of no importance; we see by ourselves which of
his works are really speculative and philosophic, and which are rather
empirical in character; but they are not to be regarded as antagonistic
in their content, and as if Aristotle intended some for the people and
others for his more intimate disciples.
_a._ We have first to remark that the name Aristotelian philosophy is
most ambiguous, because what is called Aristotelian philosophy has at
different times taken very different forms. It first of all signifies
Aristotelian philosophy proper. As regards the other forms of the
Aristotelian philosophy, however, it had, in the second place, at the
time of Cicero, and specially under the name of Peripatetic philosophy,
more of the form of a popular philosophy, in which attention was
principally directed to natural history and to morals (Vol. I. p. 479).
This period does not appear to have taken any interest in working
out and bringing to consciousness the deep and properly speaking
speculative side of Aristotelian philosophy, and indeed with Cicero
there is no notion of it present. A third form of this philosophy
is the highly speculative form of the Alexandrine philosophy, which
is also called the Neo-Pythagorean or Neo-Platonic philosophy, but
which may just as well be called Neo-Aristotelian—the form as it is
regarded and worked up by the Alexandrines, as being identical with
the Platonic. An important signification of the expression, in the
fourth place, is that which it had in the middle ages where, through
insufficient knowledge, the scholastic philosophy was designated
Aristotelian. The Scholastics occupied themselves much with it, but the
form that the philosophy of Aristotle took with them cannot be held by
us to be the true form. All their achievements, and the whole extent of
the metaphysics of the understanding and formal logic which we discover
in them, do not belong to Aristotle at all. Scholasticism is derived
only from traditions of the Aristotelian doctrines. And it was not
until the writings of Aristotle became better known in the West, that
a fifth Aristotelian philosophy was formed, which was in part opposed
to the Scholastic—it arose on the decline of scholasticism and with the
revival of the sciences. For it was only after the Reformation that
men went back to the fountainhead, to Aristotle himself. The sixth
signification which Aristotelian philosophy bears, is found in false
modern ideas and conceptions, such as those that we find in Tennemann,
who is gifted with too little philosophic understanding to be able
to grasp the Aristotelian philosophy (Vol. I. p. 113). Indeed, the
general opinion of Aristotelian philosophy now held is that it made
what is called experience the principle of knowledge.
_b._ However false this point of view on the one hand is, the occasion
for it may be found in the Aristotelian manner. Some particular
passages to which in this reference great importance has been given,
and which have been almost the only passages understood, are made use
of to prove this idea. Hence we have now to speak of the character of
the Aristotelian manner. Since in Aristotle, as we already said (p.
118), we need not seek a system of philosophy the particular parts of
which have been deduced, but since he seems to take an external point
of departure and to advance empirically, his manner is often that
of ordinary ratiocination. But because in so doing Aristotle has a
quality, altogether his own, of being throughout intensely speculative
in his manner, it is further signified that in the first place he
has comprehended the phenomenal as a thinking observer. He has the
world of appearance before himself complete and in entirety, and sets
nothing aside, however common it may appear. All sides of knowledge
have entered into his mind, all have interest for him, and he has
thoroughly dealt with all. In the empirical details of a phenomenon
abstraction may easily be lost sight of, and its application may be
difficult: our progress may be one-sided, and we may not be able to
reach the root of the matter at all. But Aristotle, because he looks at
all sides of the universe, takes up all those units as a speculative
philosopher, and so works upon them that the profoundest speculative
Notion proceeds therefrom. We saw, moreover, thought first proceeding
from the sensuous, and, in Sophistry, still exercising itself
immediately in the phenomenal. In perception, in ordinary conception,
the categories appear: the absolute essence, the speculative view of
these elements, is always expressed in expressing perceptions. This
pure essence in perception Aristotle takes up. When, in the second
place, he begins conversely with the universal or the simple, and
passes to its determination, this looks as if he were enumerating the
number of significations in which it appears; and, after dealing with
them all, he again passes all their forms in review, even the quite
ordinary and sensuous. He thus speaks of the many significations that
we find, for example, is the words οὐσία, ἀρχή, αἰτία, ὁμοῦ, &c. It
is in some measure wearisome to follow him in this mere enumeration,
which proceeds without any necessity being present, and in which the
significations, of which a list is given, manifest themselves as
comprehended only in their essence, or in that which is common to all,
and not in their determinations; and thus the comprehension is only
external. But, on the one hand, this mode presents a complete series of
the moments, and on the other, it arouses personal investigation for
the discovery of necessity. In the third place, Aristotle takes up the
different thoughts which earlier philosophers have had, contradicts
them—often empirically—justifies them, reasoning in all sorts of ways,
and then attains to the truly speculative point of view. And finally,
in the fourth place, Aristotle passes on thoughtfully to consider
the object itself of which he treats, _e.g._ the soul, feeling,
recollection, thought, motion, time, place, warmth, cold, &c. Because
he takes all the moments that are contained within the conception to
be, so to speak, united, he does not omit determinations; he does not
hold now to one determination and then to another, but takes them as
all in one; while reflection of the understanding, which has identity
as the rule by which it goes, can only preserve harmony with this by
always, while in one determination, forgetting and withholding the
other. But Aristotle has the patience to go through all conceptions and
questions, and from the investigation of the individual determinations,
we have the fixed, and once more restored determination of every
object. Aristotle thus forms the Notion, and is in the highest
degree really philosophic, while he appears to be only empiric. For
Aristotle’s empiricism is a totality because he always leads it back
again immediately to speculation; he may thus be said to be a perfect
empiricist, yet at the same time a thinking one. If, for example, we
take away from space all its empirical determinations, the result will
be in the highest degree speculative, for the empirical, comprehended
in its synthesis, is the speculative Notion.
In this gathering up of determinations into one Notion, Aristotle
is great and masterly, as he also is in regard to the simplicity of
his method of progression, and in the giving of his decisions in few
words. This is a method of treating of Philosophy which has great
efficacy, and which in our time has likewise been applied, _e.g._ by
the French. It deserves to come into larger use, for it is a good
thing to lead the determinations of the ordinary conception from an
object to thought, and then to unite them in a unity, in the Notion.
But undoubtedly this method in one respect appears to be empirical,
and that, indeed, in the acceptation of objects as we know them in our
consciousness; for if no necessity is present, this still more appears
merely to pertain to manner externally regarded. And yet it cannot
be denied that with Aristotle the object was not to bring everything
to a unity, or to reduce determinations to a unity of opposites,
but, on the contrary, to retain each in its determination and thus
to follow it up. That may, on the one hand, be a superficial method,
_e.g._ when everything is brought to an empty determinateness, such
as those of irritability and sensibility, sthenic and asthenic, but,
on the other, it is likewise necessary to grasp reality in simple
determinateness, though without making the latter in this superficial
way the starting point. Aristotle, on the other hand, simply forsakes
determination in another sphere where it no longer has this form; but
he shows what it is like here, or what change has taken place within
it, and thus it comes to pass that he often treats one determination
after the other without showing their connection. However, in his
genuine speculation Aristotle is as profound as Plato, and at the
same time more developed and explicit, for with him the opposites
receive a higher determination. Certainly we miss in him the beauty of
Plato’s form, the melodious speech, or, as we might almost call it,
chatting—the conversational tone adopted, which is as lively as it is
cultured and human. But where in Plato we find, as we do in his Timæus,
the speculative Idea definitely expressed in the thesis form, we see in
it a lack both of comprehension and purity; the pure element escapes
it, while Aristotle’s form of expression is marked both by purity and
intelligibility. We learn to know the object in its determination
and its determinate Notion; but Aristotle presses further into the
speculative nature of the object, though in such a way that the latter
remains in its concrete determination, and Aristotle seldom leads
it back to abstract thought-determinations. The study of Aristotle
is hence inexhaustible, but to give an account of him is difficult,
because his teaching must be reduced to universal principles. Thus in
order to set forth Aristotelian philosophy, the particular content
of each thing would have to be specified. But if we would be serious
with Philosophy, nothing would be more desirable than to lecture upon
Aristotle, for he is of all the ancients the most deserving of study.