PLEASE NOTE this is a sample reading list for the 2015-16 academic year – precise seminar content
may change from year to year.
Reading
Each week the reading that is essential lecture preparation consists of selections from the two set
texts. Instructions about preparation for seminars will be given during the module.
Set Texts:

Ackrill, J. L. (ed), A New Aristotle Reader. Clarendon, 2004

Lear. J. Aristotle: The Desire to Understand. C.U.P. 1988
On the lecture schedule, I also include a relevant further reading from the excellent:

Shields, C. Aristotle. London, Routledge. 2014.
Two very high quality collections of articles on topics relevant to all sections of the
module, are:

Anagnostopoulos, G. (ed.) The Blackwell Companion to Aristotle. Oxford, Blackwell. 2007

Shields, C. (ed.) The Oxford Handbook of Aristotle. Oxford, O.U.P. 2012
Further advanced readings will be given in essay reading lists at the start of term and lecture
material during the course of the term.
Short and Long Essay Questions
Weeks 1 & 2 Aristotle on Nature
These lectures start by offering a general introduction to our study of Aristotle. They then move on
to an introduction to the elements of Aristotle’s philosophy of nature; to notions of ‘matter’, ‘form’,
and Aristotle’s hylomorphism, and to the distinction between the ‘four causes’. We then focus in
more detail on one of the most important, but controversial elements of Aristotle’s philosophy, and
some questions about what it involves.
What are ‘final causes’? Are there any final causes in nature?
Lectures Notes and Slides
Essential Reading:

Metaphysics, Book I (A), chapters 1 and 2

Physics, Book II

Lear, J. Aristotle: The Desire to Understand. C.U.P. 1988. chapters 1 & 2
Introductory Reading:

Shields, C. Aristotle. Routledge. 2014. chs. 1 & 2
Seminar Reading Wk 2:
Physics, Book I, Chapters 6- 9.
Week 3 - Change
Central to Aristotle’s philosophy of nature is the notion of change and of different varieties of
change. This week we discuss the topic of change and some different puzzles about change.
What is change?
Essential Reading:

Physics, Book I, Book III, chapters 1- 8

Lear, J. Aristotle: The Desire to Understand. C.U.P. 1988. Chapter 3, sections 1- 2.
Further Introductory Reading:

Shields, C. Aristotle. Routledge. 2014. ch. 5
Robert Heineman, 'Is Aristotle's Definition of Change Circular?'
Lecture Notes and Slides
Week 3. Lecture Notes
Seminar Reading Wk 4:
Metaphysics, Book Theta (IX). (esp. 5- 7)
Week 4. Man’s Nature (1)
At the centre of Aristotle’s view of the nature of man is the idea of the soul as ‘substance qua form
of a natural body which has life potentially.’ We will explore this Aristotelian conception of the soul,
and questions about how exactly it is to be understood.
What is the soul? How does Aristotle think that soul is related to body?
Essential Reading:

The Soul: On the Soul (De Anima), Book I, chapters 1 & 4, Book II, chapters 1 – 4

Lear, J. Aristotle: The Desire to Understand. C.U.P. 1988. Chapter 4, section 1

Shields, C. Aristotle. Routledge. 2014. ch. 7, secs. 1- 5 (inclusive)
Lecture Notes
Week 4. Lecture Notes
Week 4. Slides
Week 5. Man’s Nature (2)
In this lecture we focus on Aristotle’s views about a fundamental capacity of the soul—the capacity
to perceive.
How does Aristotle explain perception?
Essential Reading:

On the Soul (De Anima), Book II, chapters 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, & 12; Book III, chapters 1 & 2

Lear, J. Aristotle: The Desire to Understand. C.U.P. 1988. Chapter 4, section 2

Shields, C. Aristotle. Routledge. 2014. ch. 7, section 6
Lecture Notes
Week 5. Lecture Notes
Week 5. Slides
Week 6 - Reading Week
Week 7 - Man’s Nature (3)
In this lecture we focus on Aristotle’s understanding of action, and on the interrelationships
between action, choice, deliberation and practical rationality.
What is the role of choice in action? What is the role of deliberation in action?
Essential Reading:

On the Soul, III.9- 13 Nicomachean Ethics III.1- 5, VI

On the Movement of Animals, VI- VII

Lear, J. Aristotle: The Desire to Understand. C.U.P. 1988. Chapter 4, section 5
Week 7. Lecture Notes
Week 7. Slides
Week 8. Ethics and the Organization of Desire (1)
In this lecture we focus on aspects of Aristotle’s ethical outlook as articulated in the Nicomachean
Ethics. Specifically, we look at what appear to be two quite different conceptions of eudaimonia
advanced in that text. We will return to this in our final lecture.
What does Aristotle take living well to involve?
Essential Reading:

Nicomachean Ethics, Book I, Book II, Book X, chapters 6, 7 & 8

Lear, J. Aristotle: The Desire to Understand. C.U.P. 1988. Chapter 5, sections 1- 3 inclusive
Further Introductory Reading:

Shields, C. Aristotle. Routledge. 2015. Chapter 8, secs 1- 4 inclusive.
Week 8. Lecture Notes
Week 8. Slides
Week 9. Ethics and the Organization of Desire (2)
This week we discuss Aristotle’s famous, but disputed treatment of akrasia (weakness of will or
‘incontinence’ in the vocabulary of Lear (1988)).
Essential Reading:

Nicomachean Ethics, Book VII

Lear, J. Aristotle: The Desire to Understand. C.U.P. 1988. Chapter 5, sections 1- 3 inclusive
Further Introductory Reading:

Shields, C. Aristotle. Routledge. 2015. Chapter 8, section 5.
Week 9. Lecture Notes
Week 9. Slides
Week 10 - Understanding the Broad Structure of Reality
Aristotle’s discussions of God and the divine are some of the most profound, yet mysterious, parts
of his philosophical work. In this lecture, we turn to Aristotle’s claims about God, and attempt to
understand the position that God occupies in Aristotle’s world. We will attempt to understand how
these ideas may integrate with what Aristotle says about eudaimonia and the contemplative life.
What is God? What role does God play in Aristotle’s philosophy?
Week 10. Lecture Notes
Week 10. Slides
Essential reading:

Metaphysics, Book XII (Λ)

On the Soul (De Anima), Book III, chapter 5

Physics, Book VIII, chapters 6 & 10

Nicomachean Ethics, Book X, chapters 6, 7 & 8

Lear, J. Aristotle: The Desire to Understand. C.U.P. 1988. Chapter 6, sections 7 & 8.