ARISTOTLE.
BY GEORGE GROTE, F.R.S.,
D.C.L. OXFORD, AND LL.D. CAMBRIDGE;
LATE VICE-CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON;
PRESIDENT OF UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON;
AND FOREIGN MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE OF FRANCE.
EDITED BY
ALEXANDER BAIN, LL.D.,
PROFESSOR OF LOGIC IN THE UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN,
AND
G. CROOM ROBERTSON, M.A.,
PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY OF MIND AND LOGIC IN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE,
LONDON.
_SECOND EDITION, WITH ADDITIONS._
LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.
1880.
_The right of Translation is reserved._
PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS,
LONDON:
STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.
NOTICE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
This Edition is an exact reprint of the First Edition, with the
addition of two important Essays on the Ethics and Politics of
Aristotle, which were found among the author's posthumous papers.
They were originally published in 1876, in 'Fragments on Ethical
Subjects, by the late George Grote,' but would have been included in
the First Edition of this Work, had they been discovered in time.
These Essays are the fruit of long and laborious study, and, so far
as they extend, embody the writer's matured views upon the Ethics and
the Politics: the two treatises whose omission from his published
exposition of the Aristotelian philosophy has been most regretted.
The Essay on 'The Ethics of Aristotle' falls naturally into two
divisions; the first treats of Happiness; the second of what,
according to Aristotle, is the chief ingredient of Happiness, namely.
Virtue. On Aristotle's own conception of Happiness, Mr. Grote dwells
very minutely; turning it over on all sides, and looking at it from
every point of view. While fully acknowledging its merits, he gives
also the full measure of its defects. His criticisms on this head are
in the author's best style and are no less important as regards
Ethical discussion than as a commentary on Aristotle.
His handling of Aristotle's doctrine of Virtue is equally subtle and
instructive. Particularly striking are the remarks on the _Voluntary_
and the _Involuntary_, and on [Greek: proai/resis], or _deliberate
preference_.
The treatment of the Virtues in detail is, unhappily, more
fragmentary; but what he does say regarding Justice and Equity has a
permanent interest.
The Essay on 'The Politics of Aristotle' must be studied in
connection with the preceding. Although but a brief sketch, it is
remarkable for the insight which it affords us into the most
consummate political ideal of the ancient world.
PREFACE BY THE EDITORS
TO THE FIRST EDITION.
The Historian of Greece, when closing his great narrative in the year
1856, promised to follow out in a separate work that speculative
movement of the fourth century B.C. which upheld the supremacy of the
Hellenic intellect long after the decline of Hellenic liberty. He had
traced the beginnings of the movement in the famous chapter on
Sokrates, but to do justice to its chief heroes--Plato and
Aristotle--proved to be impossible within the limits of the History.
When, however, the promised work appeared, after nine laborious years,
it was found to compass only Plato and the other immediate companions
of Sokrates, leaving a full half of the appointed task unperformed.
Mr. Grote had already passed his 70th year, but saw in this only a
reason for turning, without a moment's pause, to the arduous labour
still before him. Thenceforth, in spite of failing strength and the
increasing distraction of public business, he held steadily on till
death overtook him in the middle of the course. What he was able to
accomplish, though not what study he had gone through towards the
remainder of his design, these volumes will show. The office of
preparing and superintending their publication was entrusted to the
present editors by Mrs. Grote, in the exercise of her discretion as
sole executrix under his last Will. As now printed, the work has its
form determined by the author himself up to the end of Chapter XI.
The first two chapters, containing a biography of Aristotle and a
general account of his works, are followed by a critical analysis, in
eight chapters, of all the treatises included under the title
'Organon;' and in the remaining chapter of the eleven the handling of
the Physica and Metaphysica (taken together for the reasons given) is
begun. What now stand as Chapters III., IV., &c., were marked,
however, as Chapters VI., VII., &c., by the author; his design
evidently being to interpolate before publication three other
chapters of an introductory cast. Unfortunately no positive
indication remains as to the subject of these; although there is
reason to believe that, for one thing, he intended to prefix to the
detailed consideration of the works a key to Aristotle's perplexing
terminology. Possibly also he designed to enter upon a more
particular discussion of the Canon, after having viewed it externally
in Chapter II.; citations and references bearing on such a discussion
being found among his loose notes.
What might have been the course of the work from the point where it
is broken off, is altogether matter of inference, beyond an
indication of the subject of the chapter next to follow; but the
remarks at the beginning of Chapter III. point to some likely
conclusions. After the metaphysical discussions, which must have been
prolonged through several chapters, there would probably have been
taken in order the treatises De Coelo, De Generatione et Corruptione,
the Meteorologica, and next the various Biological works; though with
what detail in each case it is impossible to guess. Then must have
followed the De Animâ with the minor Psychological treatises summed
up as Parva Naturalia, and next, without doubt, the Ethica and
Politica; last of all, the Rhetorica and Poetica. That Mr. Grote had
carefully mastered all these works is evident from his marginal
annotations in the various copies which he read. With the Ethica and
Politica in particular he had early been familiar, and most there is
reason to regret that he has left nothing worked out upon this field
so specially his own.[1] Fortunately it happens that on the
psychological field next adjoining there is something considerable to
show.
[Footnote 1: It has been already stated that two important Essays on
these subjects have been discovered among Mr. Grote's posthumous
papers since the publication of the First Edition. They are printed
in this Edition after the chapter De Animâ.--Second Edition.]
In the autumn of 1867 Mr. Grote undertook to write a short account of
Aristotle's striking recognition of the physical aspect of mental
phenomena, to be appended to the third edition of the senior editor's
work, 'The Senses and the Intellect;' but, on following out the
indications relative to that point, he was gradually led by his
interest in the subject to elaborate a full abstract of the De Animâ
and the other psychological treatises. Several months were spent on
this task, and at the end he declared that it had greatly deepened
his insight into Aristotle's philosophy as a whole. He also expressed
his satisfaction at having thus completed an exposition of the
Psychology, fitted to stand as his contribution to that part of
Aristotle, in case he should never reach the subject in the regular
course of his general work. The exposition was printed in full at the
time (1868), and drew the attention of students. It is now reprinted,
with the prominence due to its literary finish and intrinsic value,
as a chapter--the last--in the body of the present work. The long
Appendix coming after is composed of elements somewhat heterogeneous;
but the different sections were all written in the period since 1865,
and all, not excepting the last two (treating briefly of Epikurus and
the Stoics), have a bearing upon the author's general design.
The first section--an historical account of ancient theories of
Universals--has already seen the light.[2] It brings together, as
nowhere else, all the chief references to the doctrine of Realism in
Plato, and exhibits the directly antagonistic position taken up by
Aristotle towards his master. This it does so impressively that there
could be no question of excluding it, even although it reproduces in
part some of the matter of Chapter III., on the Categories. Being
composed, in 1867, later than this Chapter, it is on that account
written with all the firmer a grasp. On finishing it as it stands,
Mr. Grote, in a private letter, expressed himself in terms that
deserve to be quoted:--"I never saw before so clearly the extreme
importance of Aristotle's speculations as the guides and stimulants
of mediæval philosophy. If I had time to carry the account further, I
should have been able to show how much the improved views of the
question of Universals depended on the fact that more and more of the
works of Aristotle, and better texts, became known to Albertus
Magnus, Thomas Aquinas, and their successors. During the centuries
immediately succeeding Boëthius, nothing of Aristotle except the
Categories and the treatise De Interpretatione was known, and these
in a Latin translation. Most fortunately the Categories was never put
out of sight; and it is there that the doctrine of _Substantia Prima_
stands clearly proclaimed."
[Footnote 2: In the Appendix to the senior editor's 'Manual of Mental
and Moral Science' (1867).]
The second section, or, rather, the part therein treating of
Aristotle's doctrine of First Principles, is also a reprint. It was
composed (in 1867) at the same time as the section on Universals, and
was printed along with that; shorn, however, of the critical
examination of Sir William Hamilton's views on Aristotle, which is
now prefixed to the statement of the Aristotelian doctrine. Hamilton
having (in Note A, appended to his edition of Reid's Works) claimed
Aristotle as a supporter of the Philosophy of Common Sense, basing
upon a long list of passages quoted, these were subjected by Mr.
Grote to a searching criticism, the pointed vigour of which will be
duly appreciated. The statement of his own view of Aristotle's
doctrine, though containing little that may not be found at more
places than one in the body of the present work, is yet reprinted,
because iteration was his favourite art for impressing anything to
which he attached as much importance as he did attach to this
conviction of his, regarding the very heart of Aristotle's thought.
The long abstracts of six books of the Metaphysica and two books of
the De Coelo, next following in the Appendix, are sections of a
character altogether different from the foregoing. Evidently not
intended for publication, they have been included, partly as
furnishing some indication of the labour the author underwent in
seeking to lay hold of his subject, partly because of their inherent
value. From the first motive, they are here reproduced as nearly as
possible in the guise they wore as preliminary drafts, bestrewed with
references. Their value consists in the fact that they give Mr.
Grote's interpretation of the text of treatises at once exceedingly
difficult and important: difficult, as is proved by the great
divergence, among commentators at many points; important, not more
for the deeper aspects of Aristotle's own system, than for the
speculations of the earlier Greek philosophers on which they are the
classical authority. What relation, in the case of each treatise, the
books abstracted (often translated) hold to the other books left
untouched, is specially indicated at the beginning of the third
section and at the end of the fourth. Here let it suffice to mention
that each abstract has a certain completeness in itself, and at the
same time a bond of connection with the other. The abstract of the
Metaphysica closes where Aristotle descends to speak of the concrete
heavenly bodies, and just as much of the De Coelo is given as treats
specially of these. This connection, whether or not it was present to
the author's mind, enhances the value of the abstracts as here
presented.[3]
[Footnote 3: The author carried the abstract of De Coelo a little
farther, and then abruptly broke it off; probably finding himself
borne too far away from the logical treatises with which he was at
the time dealing.]
In the remaining sections of the Appendix, not dealing with
Aristotle, the short account of Epikurus aims at setting in its true
light a much-maligned system of thought. On writing it, in 1867, Mr.
Grote remarked that the last word had not yet been said on Epikurus.
The ethical part of the sketch was printed at the time:[4] the whole
is now given. More fragmentary is the notice of the Stoics, as merely
replacing passages that he considered inadequate in a sketch
submitted to him. Since it formed part of his entire design to add to
the treatment of Aristotle a full exposition both of Stoic and
Epikurean doctrines, considered as the outgrowth of the Cynic and
Kyrenaic theories already handled at the end of the 'Plato,' the two
fragments may not unfitly close the present work.
[Footnote 4: Also in the 'Manual of Mental and Moral Science,' among
'Ethical Systems.']
Taken altogether, the two volumes are undoubtedly a most important
contribution to the history of ancient thought. As regards Aristotle,
the author's design must be gathered chiefly from the first eleven
chapters,--begun as these were in 1865, and proceeded with in their
order, till he was overtaken, in the act of composing the last, by
the insidious malady which, after six months, finally carried him
off. Perhaps the most striking feature in the exposition of the
Organon, is the very full analysis given of the long treatise called
Topica. While the other treatises have all, more or less, been drawn
upon for the ordinary theory of Logic, the Topica, with its mixed
logical and rhetorical bearings, has ceased to be embodied in modern
schemes of discipline or study. Mr. Grote's profound interest in
everything pertaining to Dialectic drew him especially to this work,
as the exhibition in detail of that habit of methodized discussion so
deep rooted in the Hellenic mind. And in the same connection it may
be noted how the natural course of his work brought him, in the last
months of his intellectual activity, to tread again old and familiar
ground. A plea--this time against Aristotle--for the decried
Sophists, and, once more, a picture of that **dialectical mission of
Sokrates which for him had an imperishable charm, were among the very
last efforts of his pen.
. . . . . . .
Besides making up the Second Volume from the end of Chapter XI., the
editors have, throughout the whole work, bestowed much attention on
the notes and references set down by the author with his usual
copious minuteness. It was deemed advisable to subject these
everywhere to a detailed verification; and, though the editors speak
on the matter with a diffidence best understood by those who may have
undergone a similar labour, it is hoped that a result not unworthy of
the author has been attained. In different places additional
references have been supplied, either where there was an obvious
omission on the author's part, or in farther confirmation of his
views given in the text: such references, mostly to the works of
Aristotle himself, it has not been thought necessary to signalize.
Where, as once or twice in the Appendix, a longer note in explanation
seemed called for, this has been printed within square brackets.
From the text some passages, where the iterations seemed excessive,
have been withheld, but only such as it was thought the author would
himself have struck out upon revision: wherever there was evidence
that revision had been made, the iterations, freely employed for
emphasis, have been allowed to stand. On rare occasions,
interpolations and verbal changes have been made with the view of
bringing out more clearly the meaning sought to be conveyed. It is
impossible to be more deeply sensible than the editors are, of the
responsibility they have thus incurred; but they have been guided by
their very respect for the venerable author, and they were fortunate
in the many opportunities they enjoyed of learning from his own lips
the cast of his views on Aristotle.[5]
[Footnote 5: It is but due to the younger editor to state that the
heaviest part of all the work here indicated has been done by
him.--A. B.]
An index has been drawn up with some care; as was needful, if meant
to be of real service to the readers of so elaborate a work.
It only remains to add that in printing the Greek of the notes, &c.,
the text of Waitz has been followed for the Organon (everywhere short
of the beginning); the text of Bonitz, for the Metaphysica; and for
other works of Aristotle, generally the Berlin edition. Regard was
had, as far as the editors' knowledge went, to the author's own
preferences in his reading.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
LIFE OF ARISTOTLE 1