Corpus AristotelicumFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Corpus Aristotelicum

Logic (Organon)

Categories On Interpretation

Prior Analytics

Posterior Analytics

Topics Sophistical Refutations

Natural philosophy (physics) Physics

On the Heavens On Generation and Corruption

Meteorology On the Soul

History of Animals

Metaphysics Metaphysics

Ethics Politics

Nicomachean Ethics Eudemian Ethics Magna Moralia

On Virtues and Vices Politics

Economics Constitution of the Athenians

Rhetoric Poetics Rhetoric

Poetics

Spurious works On the Universe

Mechanics

Aristotle Aristotelianism

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The end of Sophistical Refutations and beginning of Physics on page 184 ofBekker's 1831 edition.

The Corpus Aristotelicum is the collection of Aristotle's works that have survived from antiquity through Medieval manuscript transmission. These texts, as opposed to Aristotle's lost works, are technical philosophical treatises from within Aristotle's school. Reference to them is made according to the organization of Immanuel Bekker's nineteenth-century edition, which in turn is based on ancient classifications of these works.

Contents  [hide] 

1 Overview of the extant works 2 Bekker numbers 3 Aristotle's works by Bekker numbers 4 Aristotelian works lacking Bekker numbers

o 4.1 Constitution of the Athenianso 4.2 Fragments

5 Notes 6 External links

Overview of the extant works[edit]

The extant works of Aristotle are broken down according to the five categories in the Corpus Aristotelicum. Not all of these works are considered genuine, but differ with respect to their connection to Aristotle, his associates and his views. Some are regarded by most scholars as products of Aristotle's "school" and compiled under his direction or supervision. (The Constitution of Athens, the only major modern addition to the Corpus Aristotelicum, has also been so regarded.) Other works, such as On Colors may have been products of Aristotle's successors at the Lyceum, e.g., Theophrastus and Strato of Lampsacus. Still others acquired Aristotle's name through similarities in doctrine or content, such as the De Plantis, possibly by Nicolaus of Damascus. A final category, omitted here, includes medieval palmistries, astrological and magical texts whose connection to Aristotle is purely fanciful and self-promotional.

In several of the treatises, there are references to other works in the corpus. Based on such references, some scholars have suggested a possible chronological order for a number of Aristotle's writings. W.D. Ross, for instance, suggested the following broad chronology (which of course leaves out much): Categories, Topics, Sophistici

Elenchi, Analytics, Metaphysics Δ, the physical works, the Ethics, and the rest of the Metaphysics.[1] Many modern scholars, however, based simply on lack of evidence, are skeptical of such attempts to determine the chronological order of Aristotle's writings.[2]

Bekker numbers[edit]

Bekker numbers, the standard form of reference to works in the Corpus Aristotelicum, are based on the page numbers used in the Prussian Academy of Sciences edition of the complete works of Aristotle (Aristotelis Opera edidit Academia Regia Borussica, Berlin, 1831–1870). They take their name from the editor of that edition, the classical philologist August Immanuel Bekker (1785–1871).

Bekker numbers take the format of up to four digits, a letter for column 'a' or 'b', then the line number. For example, the beginning of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics is 1094a1, which corresponds to page 1094 of Bekker's edition of the Greek text of Aristotle's works, first column, line 1.

All modern editions or translations of Aristotle intended for scholarly readers use Bekker numbers, in addition to or instead of page numbers. Contemporary scholars writing on Aristotle use the Bekker number so that the author's citations can be checked by readers without having to use the same edition or translation that the author used.

While Bekker numbers are the dominant method used to refer to the works of Aristotle, Catholic or Thomist scholars often use the medieval method of reference by book, chapter, and sentence, albeit generally in addition to Bekker numbers.

Stephanus pagination is the comparable system for referring to the works of Plato.

Aristotle's works by Bekker numbers[edit]

The following list is complete. The titles are given in accordance with the standard set by the Revised Oxford Translation.[3] Latin titles, still often used by scholars, are also given.

Key

[?]Strikethrough

Authenticity disputed.Generally agreed to be spurious.

Bekkernumber Work Latin name

Logic

Organon

1a Categories Categoriae

16a On Interpretation De Interpretatione

24a Prior Analytics Analytica Priora

71a Posterior Analytics Analytica Posteriora

100a Topics Topica

164a Sophistical Refutations De Sophisticis Elenchis

Physics (natural philosophy)

184a Physics Physica

268a On the Heavens De Caelo

314a On Generation and Corruption De Generatione et Corruptione

338a Meteorology Meteorologica

391a On the Universe De Mundo

402a On the Soul De Anima

 

Parva Naturalia  ("Little Physical Treatises")

436a Sense and Sensibilia De Sensu et Sensibilibus

449b On Memory De Memoria et Reminiscentia

453b On Sleep De Somno et Vigilia

458a On Dreams De Insomniis

462b On Divination in Sleep De Divinatione per Somnum

464b On Length and Shortnessof Life

De Longitudine et Brevitate Vitae

467b On Youth, Old Age, Life De Juventute et Senectute, De

and Death, and Respiration Vita et Morte, De Respiratione

 

481a On Breath De Spiritu

 

486a History of Animals Historia Animalium

639a Parts of Animals De Partibus Animalium

698a Movement of Animals De Motu Animalium

704a Progression of Animals De Incessu Animalium

715a Generation of Animals De Generatione Animalium

 

791a On Colors De Coloribus

800a On Things Heard De audibilibus

805a Physiognomonics Physiognomonica

815a On Plants De Plantis

830a On Marvellous Things Heard De mirabilibus auscultationibus

847a Mechanics Mechanica

859a [?] Problems [?] Problemata

968a On Indivisible Lines De Lineis Insecabilibus

973a The Situations and Names Ventorum Situs

of Winds

974a On Melissus, Xenophanes,and Gorgias

Metaphysics

980a Metaphysics Metaphysica

Ethics and politics

1094a Nicomachean Ethics Ethica Nicomachea

1181a [?] Great Ethics [?] Magna Moralia

1214a Eudemian Ethics Ethica Eudemia

1249a On Virtues and Vices De Virtutibus et Vitiis Libellus

1252a Politics Politica

1343a [?] Economics [?] Oeconomica

Rhetoric and poetics

1354a Rhetoric Ars Rhetorica

1420a Rhetoric to Alexander Rhetorica ad Alexandrum

1447a Poetics Ars Poetica

Aristotelian works lacking Bekker numbers[edit]

Constitution of the Athenians[edit]The Constitution of the Athenians (or Athenaiōn Politeia) was not included in Bekker's edition, because it was first edited in 1891 from papyrus rolls acquired in 1890 by the British Museum. The standard reference to it is by section (and subsection) numbers.

Fragments[edit]Surviving fragments of the many lost works of Aristotle were included in the fifth volume of Bekker's edition, edited by Valentin Rose. These are not cited by Bekker numbers, however, but according to fragment numbers. Rose's first edition of the fragments of Aristotle was Aristoteles Pseudepigraphus (1863). As the title suggests, Rose considered these all to be spurious. The numeration of the fragments in a revised edition by

Rose, published in the Teubner series, Aristotelis qui ferebantur librorum fragmenta, Leipzig, 1886, is still commonly used (indicated by R3), although there is a more current edition with a different numeration by Olof Gigon (published in 1987 as a new vol. 3 in Walter de Gruyter's reprint of the Bekker edition), and a new de Gruyter edition by Eckart Schütrumpf is in preparation.[4]

For a selection of the fragments in English translation, see W.D. Ross, Select Fragments (Oxford 1952), and Jonathan Barnes (ed.), The Complete Works of Aristotle: The Revised Oxford Translation, vol. 2, Princeton 1984, pp. 2384–2465.

The works surviving only in fragments include the dialogues On Philosophy (or On the Good), Eudemus (or On the Soul), Protrepticus, On Justice, and On Good Birth. The possibly spurious work, On Ideas survives in quotations by Alexander of Aphrodisias in his commentary on Aristotle's Metaphysics. For the dialogues, see also the editions ofRichard Rudolf Walzer, Aristotelis Dialogorum fragmenta, in usum scholarum (Florence 1934), and Renato Laurenti, Aristotele: I frammenti dei dialoghi (2 vols.), Naples: Luigi Loffredo, 1987.