Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/348

Rh 330 ARISTOTELES. mals and the organs of generation. The fifth book liowever does not belong to this work, but is a treatise on tlie changes which the several parts of the body suffer. 9. De Incessu AnimaUum ("rrepl ^uwv iropeias), the close of which (c. 19. p. 713, ed. Bekk.), after the external phaenomena of the animal kingdom and of animal organization have been treated of, leads us to the consideration of the internal cause of these, the sottl. The consideration of this is taken up by Aristotle in the 10. Three books on tlie Soul (irepl ^vxns). After he has criticised the views of earlier investigators, he himself defines the soul to be "the internal formative principle of a body which may be per- ceived by the senses, and is capable of life" (e/5os aca/xaTos (pvaiKov dvvdfiei fa>7)j/ exoyros). Such an internal formative principle is an evreAexf to ; (re- specting this expression, see Biese, Phil, des Ai-ist. pp. 355, 452, 479, &c.) ; the soul is therefore the entelccheia of a body capable of life, or organized : it is its essence (ouffjo), its x6yos. This work has been edited by Trendelenburg, Jenae, 1833, 8vo. — one of the most excellent editions of any separate portion of Aristotle's writings in point of criticism and explanation. With this work the following treatises are connected, in which individual sub- jects are carried out : 11. On the Motion of Animals {TrepX ^o&av kivt^- ffeas). 1 2. Parva Naturalia, a series of essays, which, according to their plan, form an entire work {de Sensu, c. 1) on sense and the sensible. These treatises come next in the following succession : (a) On Memory and Recollectio7i {irepL ixmjfirjs Kat dua/JLin^ffews). (b) On Sleep and Waking (irepl Svvov Kol iyprf- ySpcrecas). (c) On Dreams (Trepl ivwrviup). (d) Ufpl TTJs Kad' vTTVov fjLavTiKTJs (de Divinatione per Somnum). («) riepl ixaKpoSiSTTfTos Kol fipaxv€i6TTjT0S {d« Longitudine et Brevituie Vitae). (/) Ilepl viOT-qros koX yi'ipws (de Juventute et Scnectute). (9) Tlfpl dvawvorjs {de Respiraiione). (h) Tlepl ^uiijs Kal B-avdrov {de Vita et Morte). With these treatises closes the circle of the Aristotelian doctrine of animals and animal life. 13. The treatise de Sensti, according to Trendel- enburg's conjecture, has come down to us in an incomplete fonn, and the extant fragment irepl dKovcTTcov* probably belongs to it. The same is probably the case with the treatise 14. On Colours {trepl xpfyLictTcov), which, liow- ever, Titze (/. c.p. 67) regards as a fragment of the lost work on Plants. The fragment Trepl irve^ftaros (de Sjnritu), of doubtful authenticity, and, accord- ing to recent investigations, the production of a Stoic, is connected, as regards its subject, with the treatise irepl dvaTrvorjs. The treatise on Physio- gnomics ((^ucrio7J''&)iH£/ca) printed in Fitinz, Sc?-iptores Physiognoinici reteres, in like manner, is connected with the scientific consideration of animal life. monica, printed in Patrit. Discuss. Perip. p. 85, &c. and in Wallis, 0pp. Oxon. 1699, vol. iii. p. 246, &c. t See Arist. Hist. Anim. y., de Partib. Anim. ii. 10, deJarcnt. et Senect. vi. 1, de Generat, Anim. . 1, extr, i. 23, and in othor passages. ARISTOTELES. The organization of plants had been treated o{ by Aristotle in a separate work (ttipX ^xnuv).] The extant 15. Two books riepi ^xnoiv (de Plantis accord- ing to a remark in the preface, are a translation from a Latin translation, which again was founded on an Arabic version of the original. In spite of all the doubts which have been raised against their authenticity, there are many expressions found in them which bear an undoubtedly Aristotelian stamp. (Compare Henschel, tie ^ risi. Botan. Philos. Vratislaviae, 1823.) Several anatomical works of Aristotle have been lost. He was the first person who in any especial manner advocated anatomical investigations, and shewed the necessity of them for the study of the natural sciences. He- frequently refers to investi- gations of his own on the subject. (Hist. Anim. i. 17, extr., iii. 2, vi. 10.) Diog. Laert. (v. 25) mentions eight books dvaroiiwv, and one book cKKoyfi dvarofxav, by Aristotle. According to Aristotle's own intimations (de Gen. An. ii, 7, de Part. An. iv. 5), these writings were illustrated by drawings. The treatise Ei;57jjLtos rj irepl ij/ux'^s* a dialogue called after Eudemus of Cyprus, the friend of the philosopher, has also been lost. In this work, of which a considerable fragment has been preserved by Plutarch (de Consol. ad Apollon. p. 115, b.), Aristotle refuted the proposition, that the soul is no independent essence, but only the harmony of the body. Whether the treatise quoted by Diog. Laert., deVeis Trepl »|/i/x^s, belongs to this class of works, is doubtful. Respecting the lost medical works, see Buhle, /. c. p. 102. 3. Practical Philosophy^ or Politics. All that falls within the sphere of practical phi- losophy is comprehended in three principal works : the Ethics, the Politics, and the Oeconomies. In them Aristotle treats of the sciences which have reference to the operation of the reason manifesting itself in particular spheres. Their subject, there- fore, is actio?/, morality with reference to the indi- vidual, to the family, and to the stiite. Next to these we place the sciences which have for their object the exercise of the creative faculty (iroieiy), i. e. Art. Ethics. — The principal work on this subject is 1. 'ViQucd Nt/co/xa'xeia, in 10 books. Aristotle here begins with the highest and most universal end of life, for the individual as well as for the community in the state. This is happiness (ei)5ai- fiovia) ; and its conditions are, on the one hand, perfect virtue exhibiting itself in the actor, and on the other hand, corresponding bodily advantages and favourable external circumstances. Virtue is the readiness to act constantly and consciously according to the laws of the rational nature of man (opdos Aoyos). The nature of virtue shews itself in its appearing as the medium between two ex- tremes. In accordance with this, the several vir- tues are enumerated and characterized. The authenticity of the work, which an ancient tradi- tion ascribes to Nicomachus, the son of Aristotle, is indubitable, though there is some dispute as to the proper arrangement of the several books. The title Ni/cOjuaxeia /J-iKpd, under which David (l^ro- leg. ad Caieg. p. 25, a. 40, Schol. ed. Berolin.) quotes the work, has not yet been explained. The best editions are by Zell, Heidelberg, 1820, 2 vols. 8vo. ; Corais, Paris, 1822, 8vo. ; Cardwell, Oxon.
 * Preserved by Porphyrins, ad Ptolemaei Har-