Aristotle: A Contemporary Appreciation

by Henry Babcock Veatch

Under the guidance of Professor Veatch, Aristotle stands forth again as the philosopher who, above all, speaks simply and directly to the common sense of all mankind. Today, Professor Veatch believes, the time may be ripe for a belated recognition that Aristotle is "a truly live option in philosophy."

The discussion begins with the Physics ―for Aristotle, the discipline embracing all aspects of the natural world―and examines Aristotle's doctrine of categories and his celebrated "four causes." Turning to the De Anima , Professor Veatch casts aside many errors of interpretation which have come about because of mistaken readings of the term soul and gives an intelligible account of Aristotle's psychology, seen within the context of his system as a whole. Next, the varieties of human achievement are surveyed in Aristotelian terms, with introductory discussions of the Ethics , Politics , and the Poetics . Turning to the Metaphysics , the author demonstrates that the question of the unity of subject matter in Aristotle's metaphysics does not warrant the great difficulty that has been made of it. Finally―reversing to good effect the traditional order―Aristotelian logic is presented with superb clarity and ease.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction

214 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1974

About the author

Veatch was born in Evansville, Indiana. He obtained his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1937 and spent his career at Indiana University (1937–1965), Northwestern University (1965–1973), and Georgetown University (1973–1983) where he was Philosophy Department Chair from 1973 to 1976. He also had visiting professorships at Colby College, Haverford College and St. Thomas University.

Veatch was active in the Episcopal Church and served as president of the American Catholic Philosophical Association. He served as president of the Metaphysical Society of America in 1961. In 1970–71 he served as president of the Western Division of the American Philosophical Association. He was a member of the Guild of Scholars of The Episcopal Church.

Henry Veatch died in Bloomington, Indiana. Indiana University maintains the archive of his collected papers (1941–1997).

Reviews

[Peter Howarth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although originally published nearly fifty years ago (1974), Henry B. Veatch’s concise account of Aristotle’s philosophy still stands out as one of the most lucid and engaging available. It is a pity that it is no longer in print. The clarity and straightforward style of his writing is testament to his reputation as a popular and plain speaking teacher. Aristotle, on the other hand, perhaps undeservedly given that only his unpolished lecture notes have survived, has a reputation for being difficult to read and challenging to understand. But Veatch’s little book which emphasises the common sense approach that Aristotle takes to understanding the world is a masterpiece of exegesis. His chapter on Aristotle’s metaphysics, and his explanation of how Aristotle’s logical and categorical system should be understood, are particularly well done. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a better understanding of why Aristotle’s philosophy remains relevant to current issues in philosophy and especially to the metaphysical background to the physical and biological sciences.

[Finnegan Buck · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm sold. Reject modernity, embrace Ἀριστοτέλης.

[Michael Dorais · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great little book on Aristotle. I think you would find this most useful if you already had some exposure to philosophy and already have grappled a bit with questions about realism, and what are things, objects, essences, etc. and whether are they real or not and have been wondering if modern and postmodern thinking went wrong somewhere along the way.

Whether or not you agree with Aristotle or Veatch, it is good to put the material presented in this book alongside your study of modern philosophers. I, for one, think that much of modern philosophy can be mad more useful if it is some how mapped to or checked against Aristotle's philosophy. Aristotle is the philosopher of common sense so it is always comforting if, after exploring the hall of mirrors of modern and postmodern philosophy to return to some sense that the way we see the world is pretty much the way it is. I think that modern philosophy and the sciences have in some ways revealed some errors in Aristotle's philosophy, but in my view what they have done is shed light on specific subtleties rather than completely overthrown Aristotle's philosophy. After all we have to start with common sense philosophy to even begin to do modern philosophy and science. And in the end we still have to live out our day to day lives with the furniture of the universe that is at our scale. The commentary here is mine, not a summary of Veatch's, but I would not be surprised is some readers come away with perspectives similar to mine. I have to confess that I am somewhat of a Kantian "realist" myself, with a great deal of respect for Aristotle's philosophy, which I think continues to be relevant. Veatch's book is one that I plan on returning to for re-reads in the future after pondering some other philosophers.

[Erik]

Recommended by James Schall in Another Sort of Learning, Chapter 7, as one of several books to quietly read to stir thoughts of the highest things.

Recommended by James Schall in Another Sort of Learning, Chapter 13, as one of Four Other Books by Henry Veatch.

Recommended by James Schall in Another Sort of Learning, Chapter 17, as one of Ten Books on Grace and Thought.