A New Aristotle Reader [Paperback]

J. L. Ackrill (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0691020434 | ISBN-13: 978-0691020433 | Publication Date: January 1, 1988

In a single volume that will be of service to philosophy students of all levels and to their teachers, this reader provides modern, accurate translations of the texts necessary for a careful study of most aspects of Aristotle's philosophy. In selecting the texts Professor J. L. Ackrill has drawn on his broad experience of teaching graduate classes, and his choice reflects issues of current philosophical interest as well as the perennial themes. Only recent translations which achieve a high level of accuracy have been chosen; the aim is to place the Greekless reader, as nearly as possible, in the position of a reader of Greek. As an aid to study, Professor Ackrill supplies a valuable guide to the key topics covered. The guide gives references to the works or passages contained in the reader, and indication of their interrelations, and current bibliography.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"Ackrill will probably be the text of choice for undergraduate courses on Aristotle."--Religious Studies Review

Product Details

• Paperback: 600 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (January 1, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691020434
• ISBN-13: 978-0691020433
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #173,369 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Compendium, August 11, 2001

By 

D. S. Heersink "D. Stephen Heersink" (San Francisco) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A New Aristotle Reader (Paperback)

For students who desire neither the whole Oxford corpus or who need a more condensed version of the Oxford translation, this edition, edited by the renowned Aristotlean scholar Ackrill, will be pleasantly kept in good company.

I own both books, and oddly find myself picking up this volume rather than the two-volume set, for easy reference. All the essential material is here, and none of the important elements are injudiciously edited. Thus for a single volume, it does double duty -- providing the most current translation of Aristotle, while appropriately editing the most salient parts for the specialist and non-specialist alike.

The book is appropriate for undergraduate and graduate semester courses as a complete enough text for either venue. It also has a nice topical index in the back that refers the reader to many essays written in the scondary literature.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very usable and useful, November 16, 2002

By 

T. Gwinn (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A New Aristotle Reader (Paperback)

This volume contains a well-chosen selection of Aristotle's works. As another reviewer suggests, this book is a welcome middle ground between 'pocket' editions and a full blown Oxford edition.

The translations (though I am by no means a scholar of Greek) seem to be quite proper, and despite the fact that different sections may be translated by different people, there is no apparent unevenness.

Ackrill laments in the introduction that it would have been more proper to leave about 30-40 Greek words (such as 'logos', 'aitia', 'ousia') untranslated, since no single English word does them justice. But that since there are translations by several people involved, that was not possible.

All in all, this would be a very handy book for anyone interested in Aristotle.

3.0 out of 5 stars Poorly formatted for Kindle, January 12, 2012

By 

ockeghem - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A New Aristotle Reader (Kindle Edition)

Even the best publishers can be careless about formatting their texts for Kindle. This excellent selection of Aristotle's works is a case in point. The table of contents links only to the major categories of Aristotle's specific works, and lines of text do not wrap as they should.