Aristotle: His Life and School

Aristotle's philosophy is best understood through a firm knowledge of his life and the school he founded. This authoritative account, by Carlo Natali, provides a chronological narrative of Aristotle's life and Lyceum, shedding new light on his role in its foundation. It offers a detailed argument for the school's purpose of fostering a new intellectual way of life among his followers, helping them fulfill an aristocratic ideal. The edition includes fresh translations, indexes, and updated scholarship.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 240 pages
Publication date: 20 December 2022
Publisher: Princeton University Press

This comprehensive biography reveals that Aristotle's philosophy can be most effectively understood by gaining a firm grasp of his life and the school he established. Originally published in Italian and now translated, updated, and expanded for English readers, this concise chronological narrative stands as the most authoritative account of Aristotle's life and his Lyceum available in any language. Compiling, distilling, and analyzing all available evidence and previous scholarship, Carlo Natali, one of the world's foremost Aristotle scholars, offers a masterful synthesis that is accessible to students while containing evidence and original interpretations that specialists will find informative and thought-provoking.

By cutting through the controversy and confusion that have surrounded Aristotle's biography, Natali tells the story of Aristotle's eventful life and sheds new light on his crucial role in founding the Lyceum. Natali presents the most detailed and compelling argument to date for the view that the school, an important institution of higher learning and scientific research, was designed to foster a new intellectual way of life among Aristotle's followers, helping them fulfill an aristocratic ideal of the best way to use the leisure they enjoyed. Drawing a wealth of connections between Aristotle's life and thinking, Natali demonstrates how the two are mutually illuminating.

For this edition, ancient texts have been freshly translated based on the most recent critical editions, indexes have been added, including a comprehensive index of sources and an index to previous scholarship, and scholarship that has emerged since the book's original publication has been incorporated.

Dimension: 216 x 140 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780691242170